Walking at an incline can intensify your cardio workout by burning more calories and strengthening your leg muscles more quickly. In fact, a research team at the University of Colorado found that walking at a 9-degree incline led to 635 percent more hamstring activity and up to 345 percent more glute activity than walking on a level surface. By walking uphill outside, doing incline interval training on the treadmill or progressively increasing the incline setting on the elliptical machine, you can tone your legs efficiently while building aerobic endurance.
You can walk uphill outside to add intensity to your walking routine. This exercise is ideal if you don't use a gym or you simply enjoy a natural setting when you work out. Walking up and down hills will tone your glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps and calf muscles. The natural terrain can provide variable inclines, so portions of your walk can be more or less intense depending on where you choose to walk. When you're hiking on a mountain, make sure you wear appropriate hiking or mountain-climbing shoes to give you good traction and help you avoid injury.
Treadmill with Intervals
Walking on a treadmill using the incline setting can make this exercise more difficult. The treadmill also allows you to adjust the incline slope to your preference, which is not possible when walking on natural terrain. Take advantage of this option by doing incline interval training. Start out walking with no incline for about 15 minutes at a moderate pace. Increase the incline 4 to 6 percent and walk quickly for two minutes. Return to a zero incline and normal walking pace for five minutes before doing another two-minute incline interval. Continue alternating two minutes of incline work with five minutes of level walking for the duration of your workout. If you're more advanced, reduce the zero incline portions of the workout to two minutes.
Elliptical machines provide a similar movement to walking and can tone both the legs and arms if you choose a model with arm levers. Your arms and legs will both respond to your speed, so going faster tones them more quickly. Keeping your heels down with each step can also focus the exercise on your glutes. Gradually increase the incline every five minutes to continually rev up your workout and burn more calories. This strategy can help a 145-pound person burn up to 300 calories in 30 minutes, according to Shape.com.
Always consult your doctor before beginning any new fitness routine to ensure you are healthy enough to participate. Warm up properly before you exercise by doing dynamic stretches such as leg kicks or walking with high knees to get your muscles loose and blood pumping; this will help you avoid injury. Wear appropriate walking, running, hiking or mountain climbing shoes, depending on your walking pace and terrain. Evaluate any injuries you have before you begin. You may need to avoid walking on hard surfaces such as concrete and opt for softer surfaces like dirt or grass. If you have a history of knee injuries, using a low-impact elliptical machine may be preferable to walking outside or on a treadmill, especially if you prefer interval training, which forces your joints to absorb more shock.
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