I tried this 3-2-1 walking workout — and it boosted my energy level and my mood

I’ve been doing a lot of walking workouts lately. It all started with the Japanese walking method, and since then, I’ve experimented with the 5-2-4 fartlek workout and the 6-6-6 walking challenge to mix up my cardio. Next on my list, the 3-2-1 walking workout — read on to find out more.

What is the workout?

I’ll admit, I’ve stolen the 3-2-1 walking workout from a running fartlek session my running coach used to set me up. I’ve run five marathons and am currently rebuilding my fitness, having given birth 16 months ago.

It’s been a while since I ran the 3-2-1 session, but the principle remains the same — you change between faster paces and slower recoveries throughout.

If you’re running, you’re switching between hard and recovery pace during this session. If you’re walking, it’s a brisk walk and then a slower walk to let your heart rate and breathing return to normal.

Here’s the breakdown:

• 3 minutes brisk walking pace
• 1 minute slow recovery walk
• 2 minutes brisk walk
• 1 minute recovery
• 1 minute brisk walk
• 1 minute recovery

Repeat the circuit three times, taking an extra minute of recovery between each of your sets. The workout will take you 30 minutes in total.

This walking workout is suitable for most people, as you’re basing the speed of your walk on your fitness level. That said, if you’re a complete beginner or you’re recovering from an injury or pregnancy, it’s always a good idea to seek advice from a medical professional.

You can complete the workout on a treadmill or outside. All you’ll need is a comfortable pair of sneakers, like the best running shoes, and, if you’d like, you can strap one of the best fitness trackers to your wrist to keep an eye on your pace, distance, and calories burned.

What are the benefits?

As with a lot of these HIIT-style walking workouts, you’re likely to burn more calories than you would if you were walking at a steady pace for the same amount of time. This makes this a great choice if you’re short on time, as you’ll get results faster.

The higher intensity sessions will raise your heart rate, helping you work on your endurance and cardiovascular fitness. Over time, when paired with a nutritious diet, walking workouts can help you lose weight, strengthen your bones and joints, and build and maintain muscle definition.

Here’s what happened when I tried this workout for a week.

I enjoyed the variety

This is what my coach would call a pyramid session, where the intervals got shorter as the workout progressed. I enjoyed it and felt like I was able to push myself a little harder each time I picked up the pace, as I knew it would be shorter than the last one.

The killer was starting back at three minutes on the second and final set. Maybe next time I’d start at five or six minutes, and work my way down from there.

When setting the brisk pace, I walked to feel — remember this should be a six or seven out of ten effort, but you shouldn’t be completely out of breath, and should still be able to maintain a conversation with someone walking next to you.

The minute recovery flew by

A minute sounds like a long enough recovery period, but it flew by. As I slowed my pace down I focused on taking big breaths in and out to bring my heart rate back down.

It helped to build the workout beforehand

This isn’t my first fartlek walking workout, and I learned the hard way with my other challenges that using the stopwatch on your phone quickly gets confusing, and means you walk along concentrating on your device, rather than the walk itself.

As with other walks, I built this as a workout on my Apple Watch 10 so my watch buzzed each time I needed to change pace — here’s how to build a custom walking workout on your Apple Watch.

My verdict

This is a fantastic, accessible walking workout. I felt like I’d worked hard in 30-minutes, and it mixes things up a little if you’re getting bored of the Japanese walking method’s three minutes on, three minutes off pattern.

I think, next time, I’d start at a higher number and work my way down to a minute of brisk walking to negate the need for repeats. Either way, if you’re short on time and want a fun fartlek walking workout, give this one a go.

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