If you want to enhance your health and wellness, incorporating the 6-6-6 walking routine into your daily life may be just what you need. A simple yet powerful walking routine will help you build overall fitness, support mental clarity, and reduce stress. In an exclusive interaction with the editorial team of Onlymyhealth, Dr Shaista Sehar - Department of Physiotherapy at Kinder Hospitals - Bangalore,l breaks down what the 6-6-6 walking routine is, its many benefits, and why you should consider incorporating it into your daily schedule. Here is what she shared with us.
What Is The 6-6-6 Walking Routine?
“The 6-6-6 walking routine involves walking for 6 minutes at a moderate pace, followed by a 6-minute brisk pace, and then finishing with another 6 minutes of slow walking. This structured approach alternates between moderate and brisk walking, with periods of slower walking in between,” Dr Sehar explained.
Simply put, the goal is to combine the benefits of light, moderate, and vigorous activity within one session, which in turn helps in enhancing both aerobic capacity and muscular endurance.
Health Benefits Of 6-6-6 Walking Routine
We asked Dr Sehar to share a few health benefits of the 6-6-6 walking routine, here’s how she explained to us:
1. Helps Improve Cardiovascular Health
The 6-6-6 method means alternating between moderate and brisk walks. It gives one a real heart-pumping workout feel to maintain the health of the heart. Talking about the many benefits, increasing the heart rate during the brisk walking phase strengthens the heart, improves circulation, and helps reduce cardiovascular diseases.
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2. Boosts Metabolism
This walking routine also helps to enhance the metabolism, as different calories are burned and good weight maintenance occurs. It increases your post-exercise calorie burn, which helps if you intend to lose weight or keep the body composition at a healthy level.
3. Muscular Endurance Enhancement
Walking long distances, especially at a brisk pace, engages the different muscles of the legs, hips, and core. In time, what this does is that it will strengthen your muscles and build endurance, so it becomes easy to handle daily activities and other physical challenges.
4. Encourages Mental Well-Being
In general, walking is said to release endorphins-the body's self-produced mood-boosters. The 6-6-6 routine helps to have a balanced activity to move around, relax during its slower phases, and have a feeling of having completed the exercise routine at the end. This also helps reduce stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms as circulation is upgraded and a restful, clear mind is developed.
5. Improves Flexibility and Posture
The slow walk and pace of the 6-6-6 routine also help stretch your muscles and joints in a mild way. If done regularly, it can even enhance your posture and mobility, especially your lower back, hips, and legs.
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6. Durable and Low-Impact
A combination of the 6-6-6 walking routine has proven to be gentle on the joints as well and can be adapted for all ages. While high-impact activities may cause stress for the body, walking has been quite a low-stress exercise for the body, rendering it an excellent choice for people affected with joint issues, arthritis, or other sorts of mobility problems.
Bottomline
The 6-6-6 walking routine is a simple yet effective way to improve your overall fitness and health. Combining moderate and brisk walking, it provides cardiovascular benefits, improves muscular endurance, and supports mental wellness. This routine is customisable, time-efficient, and accessible for anyone looking to improve their fitness and well-being, whether you are a beginner or an experienced walker.