If you’re in need of some added motivation to get active, this beginner-friendly walking challenge is for you.
You can complete it at your own pace, start it whenever you want, and do it wherever you are in the world… and you can even make it harder by following along to one of the tips we’ve included below (making it adaptable for all sorts of fitness goals and levels).
Walking helps to fight against conditions associated with a sedentary lifestyle, improves cardiovascular health, improves muscular endurance, strengthens muscles and bones, and burns calories….
So, without further ado, lace up those sneakers and join in with our 30 day virtual walking challenge.
30 Day Walking Challenge
So, what is our 30 day walking challenge anyway?
The challenge involves progressively increasing the duration of your walk over the 30 days as shown in the table below. This will help demonstrate your improvements and keep pushing you throughout the month.
It starts with just a 15 minute walk and finishes with a 1:15 hour walk.
To make things easier, you could break up the walks each day into multiple smaller walks.
| Day | Duration |
|---|---|
| Day 1 | 15 minutes |
| Day 2 | 17 minutes |
| Day 3 | 20 minutes |
| Day 4 | 22 minutes |
| Day 5 | 25 minutes |
| Day 6 | 27 minutes |
| Day 7 | 30 minutes |
| Day 8 | 32 minutes |
| Day 9 | 34 minutes |
| Day 10 | 36 minutes |
| Day 11 | 38 minutes |
| Day 12 | 40 minutes |
| Day 13 | 42 minutes |
| Day 14 | 44 minutes |
| Day 15 | 46 minutes |
| Day 16 | 48 minutes |
| Day 17 | 50 minutes |
| Day 18 | 51 minutes |
| Day 19 | 52 minutes |
| Day 20 | 53 minutes |
| Day 21 | 54 minutes |
| Day 22 | 55 minutes |
| Day 23 | 56 minutes |
| Day 24 | 57 minutes |
| Day 25 | 58 minutes |
| Day 26 | 59 minutes |
| Day 27 | 60 minutes |
| Day 28 | 1 hour 5 minutes |
| Day 29 | 1 hour 10 minutes |
| Day 30 | 1 hour 15 minutes |
Print This Walking Challenge Off (Free PDF)
If you’d like to print this walking challenge off so you can keep it on your desk or at home for added motivation, then simply click below to access the PDF version of this walking challenge.
Benefits of Following a Virtual Walking Challenge
Following a walking challenge, as opposed to simply trying to “walk more”, provides clear structure and guidance for you to follow. This helps boost motivation and also helps you track your progress.
When it comes to reaching any sort of fitness goal, whether that’s weight loss, cardiovascular health or strength, consistency is king… and fitness challenges help to promote consistency by encouraging you to stick with the activity.
You can also follow a virtual walking challenge with friends and family to keep each other motivated too.
Walking Challenge Progression
If you want to make this walking challenge harder, we’ve got a few suggestions you can try below.
Nordic Walking
Nordic walking involves walking with poles, which helps to engage your arms, shoulders and core more during the walk.
We also have some guides on the best Nordic walking poles, as well as general Nordic walking equipment to help you get started if this sounds of interest.
We’ve found Nordic Walking clubs are also a great way to meet new people and participate in group walks too.
Use Ankle Weights
Using ankle weights is a simple way to instantly make your walks more challenging. Even a very light weight attached to your ankles will mean your muscles have to work harder during the walk.
Using ankle weights would be a great addition for anyone wanting to really tone up and strengthen their legs as they walk… this is because the additional weight will further activate the muscles in your leg muscles (quads, glutes, hamstrings and calves).
You can also get wrist weights too, which will further add resistance during your walk.
Incline
Walking on an incline will also make your walk harder. You’ll generally find you burn more calories and increase your heart rate on a steeper incline.
Incline walking will also activate the glutes, hamstrings and calves more than walking on a flat surface. The bigger the incline, the more these muscles need to work.
You could opt to set a treadmill at the desired incline or just choose a walk outdoors that will include an incline.
Weighted Vest
If you like the idea of adding extra resistance but don’t find ankle weights comfortable, an alternative would be to use a weighted vest.
Weighted vests come in a range of weights (and you can often adjust them to better suit your level), and will mean you need carry more weight during the walk, which will mean your body and muscles have to work harder.
Weighted vets allow for a better distribution of weight compared to walking with a backpack, so you’ll likely find it more comfortable.
Speed
The speed of your walk will also influence how hard your body needs to work. For beginners, just try and keep moving, even if this means adopting quite a slow pace. To make things harder, simply increase your speed for the duration of the walk.
Our guide on Power Walking highlights how to take your average walking pace to the next level.
Walking Challenge for Weight Loss
You can use this walking challenge for weight loss, as it will naturally help you burn additional calories each day.
If weight loss is your goal, diet and the food you consume within the 30 days will also be very important.
As a general overview, try and eat healthy foods and avoid excessive sugar/processed foods, as well as burning more calories than you are consuming.
You may want to consider using an app like MyFitnessPal to track your calories and help provide recommendations on what to consume to be in a “calorie deficit.”
Tracking Your Walks with an App
You may find you want to use an app to help track your walks.
Strava and Map My Walk include free versions and allow you to track your walks each day. We picked Map My Walk as our #1 app for walking in our review of the best fitness apps for over 50’s.
There are companies that offer rewards for completing virtual walking challenges too, which include free tracking apps (such as 99 Walks).
Bottom Line
We hope this virtual walking challenge will help provide some structure and guidance for you to follow… and boost motivation when it comes to keeping active.
Try following this 30 day walking challenge and see how you fee before vs after. Encourage your family and friends to join you to provide extra motivation during the month too.
Before starting any new physical activity or challenge, consult with a doctor if you have any concerns. This walking challenge is designed to be suitable for beginners, but does require you to be able to do a 15 minute walk on Day 1… so if this is unrealistic, then don’t force yourself.
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