Lose Weight Walking Downhill
Walking up and down hills can help you lose weight by adding an element of intensity to your workout. It also helps strengthen the muscles in your legs, which may feel sore at first until they adapt to the new challenge of hill walking. Walking at a steep incline burns more calories than walking on level ground. It also places a greater demand on the muscles of your posterior chain, which include your glutes and hamstrings.
Burn Calories
Walking uphill is a great way to burn calories, but walking downhill can actually be even more effective. According to one study, a person who weighs 150 pounds burns about 100 calories per hour walking downhill on an even surface. This is because your body has to work harder to control your balance when going downhill.
This extra effort burns more calories, as well as strengthens your knees and hip flexors. You also use the muscles in your calves, thighs and abdomen. Walking uphill and downhill is a great way to increase your cardio workout without having to spend more time in the gym.
To maximize your calorie burn while walking downhill, avoid using the incline on your treadmill and walk outside whenever possible. Vary your terrain, if possible, and make sure to wear ankle-supporting footwear. Also, try not to lean back while you're walking downhill -- this can put you off balance. Instead, keep your torso upright over your hips and lean forward slightly for stability.
Strengthen Muscles
Walking downhill requires you to use your quads and other lower leg muscles in a different way than you do when walking on flat ground. These eccentric contractions are a good thing because they help to slow you down and prevent overuse injuries in your knees, hips and ankles.
However, if your quads aren't strong enough to control the eccentric contraction you can get that dreaded pain in the front of your knee (patellar tendonitis). This happens when the load across the quad muscle is too great for those structures to tolerate.
To help avoid this, shorten and slow down your stride when walking downhill. This also helps to reduce the pounding impact on your joints. It is important to keep your core muscles engaged too, so try focusing on keeping a straight posture or leaning forward slightly as you walk. The steeper the slope, the more you should lean. This helps to engage your glutes or butt muscles which are much stronger than your quads.
Increase Flexibility
As you get older, you may find walking downhill difficult due to reduced core strength. Regular exercises such as squats, walking lunges and kettlebell deadlifts can help strengthen your core muscles. Core strength can help you stay balanced while walking downhill, which will prevent falls or slips.
While walking downhill can cause more muscle and joint stress than flat walking, proper technique will minimize the impact on your body. Bending your knees will take some of the pressure off your quad and patellar tendons, especially as you walk uphill and downhill for long periods of time. It will also force you to shorten your stride, which will make you feel lighter and faster without increasing your exertion.
If you suffer from a vestibular problem, which affects balance reactions and spatial awareness, you may find walking downhill challenging. If you experience this, you should consult a Vestibular Specialist to learn how to train and strengthen your balance and spatial awareness.
Improve Balance
Walking downhill can be hard on the knees, and may lead to injuries if you're not careful. Incorporating downhill walking into your workout can help you improve balance, which is important because it reduces the risk of falls and injury.
When you walk downhill, you engage a different set of muscles than you do while walking uphill or on level ground. The descent causes a greater demand on your knee and hip extensors, which need to contract eccentrically to slow your downhill stride and reduce impact force on your weight-bearing leg.
To minimize impact, try to keep your knees slightly bent on each impact, allowing the muscle rather than the joint to absorb the shock. Also, focusing on shortening your steps -- instead of trying to take bigger strides -- can reduce the amount of force each step has. Using trekking poles can also help, as they can reduce the impact of each stride and allow you to lean into them for stability.
