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Physical activity is one of the most important things you can do for your health. Exercise reduces the risk of many chronic diseases, relieves stress, and may help you live longer. Walking, for example, can reduce your risk of heart disease, heart attack, and even chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).1 And a recent study shows that those health benefits increase the faster you walk.2
Whether your workout routine includes walking or you’re looking for a new way to work up a sweat, you might be interested in race walking.
Race walking is an increasingly popular international sport in track and field where competitors walk as fast as possible to the finish line. It’s also a great low-impact alternative to jogging that still burns calories, according to Dr. Dennis Khalili-Borna, MD, a regional physician lead of sports medicine at Kaiser Permanente.
“Walking improves your cardiovascular health and musculoskeletal strength while burning calories, which helps with weight management, improves your mood and energy, lowers insulin resistance, and ultimately extends your life,” Dr. Khalili-Borna explains. “Race walking requires a higher level of exertion, so it can lead to even greater improvements in those areas. You get health benefits like those you’d get from jogging, but race walking has far less impact to your joints.”
If you’d like to burn more calories while limiting the stress you put on your body, race walking might be a fun way to step up your workout routine. Here you’ll find all you need to know about race walking, from how to practice the sport safely to the basic rules of competition.
What’s the best race walking form?
Professional race walkers have a unique way of moving their bodies that helps them increase their speed without running. Here are some key race walking techniques that can help you move faster and more efficiently:
- Stand up straight Leaning too far forward or too far back can lower your speed.
- Bend your elbows Bending your elbows about 90 degrees and pumping them forward and backward can help you create momentum.
- Rotate your hips This is the most important physical movement in race walking — and it takes time to practice and perfect. Race walkers rotate their hips forward and toward the center of their bodies before rotating them backward, which gives them more speed.
- Land on the heel of your foot It’s best to land on your midfoot when running, but you walk much faster when the heel of your front leg hits the ground first.
How can I start race walking?
If you feel physically ready to race walk, you might want to watch some videos of professional race walkers. That way you can see proper form in action.
Once you understand the form, start by setting small goals. Add a few minutes of race walking to your weekly walks, then increase your pace and time as your body adjusts. Dr. Khalili-Borna says you can avoid many common race walking injuries to the knee, shin, ankle, and foot by increasing your mileage and pace gradually.
“Any increase in exercise intensity should be done gradually,” he explains. “A good way to do this for race walking is to do interval training, with periodic brisk walking alternating with slower walking.”
What else can you do to avoid race walking injuries?
Dr. Khalili-Borna says resting between your walks is important, but there are a few other things you can do to race walk safely.
Watch the road
If you walk on an uneven surface, you can put too much strain on one leg or wear down your shoes unevenly. Dr. Khalili-Borna recommends walking on flat, even ground and changing your walking course to prevent those things from happening.
Wear the right shoes and socks
Many injuries start from the ground up. That’s why having the proper footwear is so important for race walking.
“I recommend supportive shoes with good arches. Thick flexible soles and a firm heel can minimize excessive impact to the foot,” Dr. Khalili-Borna explains. “Sweat-wicking socks can keep sweat away from the skin and reduce the risk of developing blisters.”
Practice strength training
Adding strength training to your workout routine can help build the muscles you need to improve your race walking. Dr. Khalili-Borna recommends these strength training exercises for race walkers:
- Squats
- Planks and side planks
- Calf raises
- Hip bridges
What should you do if you get injured?
Injuries happen to everyone. The first and most important thing you can do after an injury to recover is rest. After a period of rest, Dr. Khalili-Borna says you can try slowly getting back to your regular walking routine. If your symptoms don’t improve with rest, he recommends talking to your doctor to get a proper diagnosis and treatment plan. When appropriate, he instructs patients to do another form of exercise that doesn’t affect their injury.
“Cross-training with alternate forms of exercise can be helpful to minimize the stress to the affected area while maintaining strength and cardiovascular fitness,” he says. “It’s important to be patient in the recovery and rehabilitation process with any injury.”
What are the rules of race walking?
Professional race walkers, like professional runners, want to cross the finish line first. But unlike running, where you can bend your knees at any time, race walking has rules about how you can move your body.
One foot must always touch the ground
During races, judges look at walkers’ feet to make sure at least one foot is touching the ground. Having both feet off the ground at the same time — sometimes called “lifting” — is against the rules.
Don't bend your front leg
Your front leg must stay straight until it passes under your body. Judges can give you a penalty for bending the knee of your front leg.
Get too many penalties and you’re disqualified
Judges watch each race to make sure race walkers aren’t lifting or bending their front leg. They also hold up different warning paddles to show which rule a walker has broken. If a race walker gets 3 warnings, they’re disqualified.
How far do race walkers walk?
Indoor races are usually 3 kilometers (km), or 1.86 miles, and 5km (3.1 miles). Outdoor races can be 5km, 10km (6.2 miles), 20km (12.43 miles), or 50km (31.1 miles).
How fast do race walkers walk?
The world record for a 50km race (31.1 miles) is 3 hours, 32 minutes, and 33 seconds. That’s about 6 minutes and 50 seconds per mile. Noncompetitive runners in good shape run a mile in about 9 to 10 minutes — so race walkers are really moving.3 And race walkers burn a healthy number of calories. According to most estimates, race walkers who move at a pace of 6 miles per hour would burn about 800 calories per hour.4
Of course, everyone walks at their own pace. And nobody starts race walking at a record-setting pace.
If you’ve never done any race walking, remember to be patient with yourself as you start. It’s a fun sport that can help you improve your fitness, and it’s something you can enjoy alone or with a group of friends. Just be sure to practice the sport safely by doing things like buying the proper footwear, increasing your speed slowly, and giving yourself time to recover. And don’t forget to always keep one foot on the ground.
For more tips and resources for staying healthy, explore our healthy living articles.