Fitness Walkers
You’re a fitness walker or want to be one. You walk to keep fit, even walking in road races possibly as far as marathons, but the word competition doesn’t get your juices flowing. You want an activity, not a sport.
Racewalking can help. There are two rules in racewalking; one foot on the ground at all times, and the knee must straighten when you land on the heel of the foot striding in front of you, and remain straight until the upright position under your body. Because racewalking developed under these two rules, it is the most efficient, fastest way to walk. Even if you only use just most of this form, your walking speed will increase, because racewalking emphasizes shorter steps and a rolling, heel to toe,
motion that helps you walk faster.
Powerwalking, hiking, and normal walking, all emphasize a long stride and long arm movements. In racewalking, you emphasize a quick rhythm with your feet and the arms bent approximately 90 degrees at the elbow (an L shape), while leaning into the walk from the ankle of each trailing foot. This helps raise your heart rate and get a better workout effect as you can walk much faster.
Walking and weight loss.
There are controversies about walking and weight loss. The main issue is that it’s still a moderate effort, slower paced activity, compared to running, or something like singles tennis or basketball. Walking burns about 100 calories a mile for the average sized person. If you are walking 12 minutes a mile, very doable with racewalk form, that’s still only 2.5 miles in a half hour. If you then eat a power bar or have a cappuccino, the calorie burning is negated. Weight loss only works if you eat whatever you do today for weight maintenance, and then add the exercise. It’s best to do some exercise activity daily for a weight loss focus. Adding some weight training, for example, rowing, free weights, core work like situps, etc, is needed to convert fat to muscle. Walking does burn some calories, but won’t reshape your body. So, you basically need exercise and to watch your diet. Racewalking employs 30 percent more muscles than running, due to the vigorous upper body activity.
I’m currently doing about 40 miles a week of aerobic activity, mainly racewalking, but a little elliptical and Nordic track when I’m indoors. This means I’m burning about 4,000 calories a week through exercise. Unless I do an intense day, where there might be a lingering calorie burning effect, that’s it. (Interval training, or hard efforts for short periods, are recommended to get this intensity.) If my goal was weight loss, that’s basically a pound a week. Losing faster doesn’t really work as it’s just water weight. The body has an ability to only lose about 2.5 pounds a week of real weight, and even this is difficult. Slow and steady is the best method.
If your goal is weight loss, and you burn the 4,000 calories or 2,000 calories via exercise, you’ll need to increase your eating less than that. Exercise does need fuel so you will need to eat a little more when exercising heavily. And yes, you will feel hungry at times. For motivation, think of those who feel that way all the time, a big percentage of the world’s population!
So, when you go out for a longer walk, don’t load yourself down with bottles of energy drinks and gels and bars. You want access to these just in case, but your body, at a point about an hour into a longer walk, resorts to fat burning, the “second wind” feeling, and this is where a great benefit comes in. I used to do 5 hours walks to prepare for long races, and wouldn’t carry anything but some money. About halfway through I’d pop into a Seven Eleven and buy a root beer and a chocolate chip cookie, about 500 calories, and continue on my way. That’s the upside and downside of walking. If I tried to do this while running, I’d probably throw that cookie up a mile later, but walking you don’t get the bouncing action that affects the stomach so it’s like biking, you can eat without that penalty. But that doesn’t mean to eat the 100 calories for every mile you do. Let the body burn some fat and eat some extra before and after but remember, it’s the deficit that counts in weight loss.
The other good news about racewalking, is that you don’t need to be as lean as a Kenyan marathoner to be successful in walking fast. Because you are not lifting your body off the ground like in running, you can carry more weight, hopefully most is extra muscle, than runners can. You can also improve your speed in two ways; becoming fitter, and developing better technique.
A downside in racewalking is it looks a little funny as there is a hip wiggle involved and there are not many folks out there doing it. So, having a partner or friend who walks with you helps. Once you get the form down decently, and are gliding along, you’ll get the raised eyebrows of spectators who are thinking, “Wow, that’s some fast walking.”
Runners and Cross-training
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Ever get in a slump running where you know you can’t do more miles because you get one ache or pain after another, or maybe your knee or back get sore, or your quads are strong but your hamstrings act up? Ever feel like just one of the pack and you get lost in the crowd? Racewalking may be the answer.
Racewalking, because one of the rules is one foot must be on the ground at all times, doesn’t beat you up like running does. The skeletal system gets a break. Even in my best marathoning days, I could do 2-3 hours running and be trashed for several days. In racewalking, I did five hour walks at times, and the only symptom was I got tired. The only real limit, unless some specific overuse injury crops up, is how much energy do you want to use? Even there, I could pop into a Seven Eleven and chug a soda and cookie, and continue on. Racewalking is thus much easier on the knees and back than running because running works against gravity, while walking works with gravity. You don’t need to leave the ground to walk.
Because of a straight knee on landing, racewalking doesn’t require lifting the quads, but instead the calf and hamstrings do the main work. This helps balance the leg muscles used in running and strengthens the hamstrings and provides excellent cross-training. Racewalking doesn’t pound you while providing aerobic work and this muscle strengthening work. Since racewalking also emphasizes armswing, this can carry over to running as I see many runners who could use better arm action. And the vigorous arm action also strengthens your core chest and abdominal muscles. I’ve found I need much less sit-up type work now versus running.
I’ve also had minor running or racewalk injuries, during a time I both ran and racewalked, where I couldn’t run but could racewalk, and vice versa, so had a fitness option. I’ve had several friends who switched to racewalking temporarily while a running injury healed, with great success in maintaining fitness. There is enough carry over from the two sports that you can compete successfully in both and many racewalkers use running as their cross-training.
So, give racewalking a try to spice up and vary your training. Another advantage is there are fewer racewalkers so when you show up for a racewalk event, your odds of a high finish increase dramatically. With a little talent and effort, you can be at the front of the pack, versus the middle, and may decide this is the new sport for you.
Racewalking for Competition
The US remains in a running boom. There are many thousands of marathoners and road racers. Money and the Olympics are the goals of the elites. While money may not be as plentiful in walking, if you’re a talented runner, but can’t break through to the next level, note that in all three prior Olympic racewalking events, 20K for men and women, and 50K for men, the US only sent one athlete in each event because not enough athletes qualified! Meeting the Olympic A standard would have guaranteed a spot. (The Olympis changed the long walk to 35 K for 2024.)
We’ve had many local racewalkers make past Olympic teams, most recently Allen James, and Herm Nelson. Herm was a 10 minute steeplechaser in college, not an Olympic qualifying time for that event, yet he made several national teams including the Olympics as a racewalker. We are ready for the next group of local Olympians.
NAIA colleges still have racewalk as part of their track and field programs and these were the source of many high level walkers. Local schools now are mainly NCAA division schools that do not support racewalking. There are still many NAIA schools in the US (see our Youth page link for more information) that do offer racewalk scholarships as part of their track and field programs. There is currently a young walker, Trevor Barron, who came up in a college program, and represented us well at the London Olympics. It can be done. If you already have a fitness base from running, and some speed and endurance, why not see if you also have the coordination and rhythm to succeed at racewalking?
Nationally, racewalking is a much smaller sport than running, so it’s a little lonely at times, but the opportunities are limitless. There are local events but there are also many opportunities around the country at high level national races at many distances, from 3K to 50K. There are also Olympic training centers that welcome racewalkers as the source for our International teams. Another upside is that once you reach national level, you can continue for many years as racewalking is an endurance and technique sport so as speed declines over time, the endurance and form carry the day.
An example of running times compared to racewalking times is the one-third rule: multiply your mile running time by one and 1/3, or 1.33, to get an idea of your racewalking potential. If you now run 6 minutes for a mile, you should be able to racewalk about 8 minutes for that mile. While a 6 minute mile won’t win many running events, an 8 minute racewalking will qualify you for many NAIA championship events. The top male racewalkers in the world cover 20K in about 6:30 per minute mile pace, after a few years of training. If you are an even more talented runner, faster than the six minute example above, your potential at racewalking could produce world class results for you. The women are not far behind, and there are many opportunities available for those who can walk at about 7:30 minutes per mile
Youth athletes
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Not every young athlete is cut out to be an exceptional runner. Also, developing runners are prone to injury. Racewalking may be a great alternative to running, or additional competitive activity, for many youngsters. Local, regional, and national level events, including Junior Olympics, often have racewalk events that go begging for competitors and a little talent goes a long way in the sport. As the young athlete progresses, the opportunities for competition are unlimited. The US only sent one each to the three Olympic racewalks because not enough athletes qualified. Various other national and international competitions are available for a successful young walker.
There are also college opportunities to compete as a racewalker at the NAIA colleges. Here is an excerpt from the Racewalk.com Website.
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The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has been conducting the race walk as a scored event at its National Track & Field Championships for nearly 35 years. Since 1980 nearly 75% of all race walkers on the USA Olympic Team have graduated from NAIA member colleges and universities.
The NAIA has always been the forward thinking, driving force for the inclusion, not exclusion, of all Olympic Events at the collegiate level. Not only are the race walks a scoring event at both the indoor and outdoor National T&F Championships but the NAIA also includes the marathon with its outdoor T&F championships.
There are many advantages to competing in the NAIA as a race walker. Besides the benefit of the close-knit communities and small class sizes typically found on a NAIA member school campus, NAIA athletics offer:
1. A maximum opportunity to participate in regular season competitions and National Championships
2. Greater opportunities to transfer without losing a season of eligibility
3. Fewer recruiting restrictions and No NCAA Clearing house requirements
4. The focus is on education and character development of the student athlete
The NAIA is comprised of almost 300 member institutions, each dedicated to the ideals of excellence in character and respect in both athletics and academics. About 200 of these schools have T&F programs. About two dozen of these currently have race walkers. The rest are looking for that one walker that will lead their program.
Here is the link to racewalk.com.
Local racewalkers are happy to help youngsters learn all about racewalking.