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Walking is one of the most basic and primal human movements that is done to get the body from point a to point B, of course before the creation of vehicles. Those who walk a lot, swear by its benefits on overall feeling of the body and mood. And if walking is done in nature, then the benefits become 10x.
In this short article we will discuss the benefits of walking for building muscle. By no means I am saying that only walking will help you build muscle, however the point is relevant to people who are into building muscle through resistance training and are hesitant to walk for distance believing that it will eat up their hard earned muscle. Instead they opt for high intensity interval training or HIIT which is typically bouts of exercise followed by rest for example 100m all out sprint followed by rest for 2-5 min and continue doing the same for 15-20 min.
The problem with your mindset
In case you were wondering I would mention the cons of HIIT, you're wrong. The issue isn't in some method of exercise or intensity. Every means of training and food is there to help you. The problem occurs when you start misusing the stuff and blame your lack of results on them.
Recovery is one of the key components of building lean muscle tissue. Gym is the place where your body undergoes wear and tear, but as you get back home, your repair process starts with your food intake and rest. Most people take the recovery portion for granted, they would party all night the entire weekend, deprive themselves of sleep, fuel their bodies with alcohol and then go on and perform high intensity training wondering why they don't build muscle and reach their true potential.
When you don't give your muscles sufficient time to restore themselves by beating your body further with HIIT which is nothing more than another resistance training session done faster, you take away a lot more recovery potential out of the window. This slowly leads your body to stop getting bigger and stronger.
You see, the problem isn't in HIIT, it is with your lifestyle where you are basically taking your body for granted. There is only so much that your body can take and this becomes highly critical if you are an advanced athlete (who has been lifting weights since 3-5 years) or an older lifter.
If you were to incorporate HIIT into your weight training routine for cardiovascular benefits, general health and also to save time (which is essentially the prime reason why most people prefer doing it) then you might want to modify your other lifting sessions in such a way so as to make recovery a priority or you might want to improve your lifestyle and reduce the other stressors (like heavy drinking and lack of sleep which are also stressors) to make your body tolerate the external stimulus through your workout routine.
How does walking preserve muscle?
The best part of walking apart from the ease of access is that it doesn't require your sympathetic nervous system or your "survival" brain to operate as in the case of heavy heart rate inducing HIIT cardio. Thus, there is little to no fatigue factor involved and you're basically into a parasympathetic or "recovery mode" while you walk. So, when you include walking sessions as cardio workout in between your resistance training sessions, your cardio workout is helping you recover from your lifting sessions and this aids in muscle building with better blood circulation, nutrient accumulation and no neural fatigue. More so, you get to gather your thoughts, breathe deep into your torso and learn along the way by listening to your favourite podcasts like I do :).
A counter argument on CrossFit
You must be wondering that if walking is so muscle reserving, then how come crossfitters seem so jacked? I love crossfit, I love competition and the way the exercises and events are staged. We, at the Outlaw Army also compete in crossfit events in the entire year.
Inarguably, the crossfit athletes would be prioritising recovery from the gruelling workouts they perform. Also, they also train with a lot of rest and progressive overload apart from just your low rest and circuit style workouts to get stronger.
The most important thing that you are forgetting is what I mentioned a bit earlier - None of the workout methods are detrimental to your progress. they are there to help you in one way or the other. The problem occurs when we perform crossfit style workouts and then don't recover from it, that is when we will not create an environment for building muscle. We will only accumulate fatigue and then blame it on crossfit.
Walking is something that can be done anytime anywhere with little to no fuss over workout gear and the benefits it brings isn't just limited to preserving muscle, it also helps us unwind from a long day, let's us get out in the sun in the morning and helps us clear our minds to make better calculative decisions.
Do you include walking into your routine? if not then would you do it from now?
More Strength!
Be The Outlaw!!!
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