Walking build-up: how your walking weeks grow without your body objecting
Walking feels harmless, and that is exactly why the build-up often goes too fast. A week with double what you are used to does nothing on the day itself, and everything in the weeks after.
In short
- In walking, the time on your feet carries the load.
- Grow in steps and let your base grow with you.
- Three one-hour walks carry better than one three-hour walk, certainly in the first months.
- Stiff calves or a tender sole the morning after a long walk are the signal that the jump was bigger than your base could take.
1.Time on your feet, not kilometres
In walking, the time on your feet carries the load. An hour on a hilly trail and an hour on a cycle path cost your muscles and tendons about the same, while the distance counter says something very different. That is why a walking build-up counts in minutes per week.
Your body adapts to what it carried in the past weeks. Four weeks with about three hours of walking a week give a base of three hours. Everything above that is build-up, and build-up is fine, but not all at once.
A week that stays around your base, up to about a tenth more, is easy. Up to about three tenths more is build-up. Above that the jump is big, and then your tendons and joints are asked for more than they can deliver in one week.
| Walking minutes this week | What it is |
|---|---|
| Around your base, up to about a tenth more | Easy |
| Up to about three tenths more | Build-up |
| More than three tenths above it | A big jump: your tendons and joints get more than they can deliver in one week |
2.What a good build-up looks like
Grow in steps and let your base grow with you. One week of build-up, one week that looks like it, and only then the next step. After three or four weeks of growth an easier week is not standing still, but the moment your body locks in the gain.
Spread the minutes over the week instead of stacking them on one day. Three one-hour walks carry better than one three-hour walk, certainly in the first months. A long walk is fine, as long as the rest of the week leaves room for it.
Watch the day after. Stiff calves or a tender sole the morning after a long walk are the signal that the jump was bigger than your base could take. Then the next week is a week around your base, not one above it.
3.What Trimetra shows you
If you plan walking in Trimetra, your signals card carries a row Walking build-up. It sets your walking minutes of the last seven days next to your base of the four weeks before, with a band that says whether your week was easy, building or big.
On Overview the same measurement is a tile, with a sheet behind it: your base, your last seven days, the number of walking weeks out of the last eight and what your plan gives this week. It is a measurement of what you did, not a verdict on what you should do.
The row appears once you have four weeks with walks and a base of at least two hours per four weeks. Until then the card says it is still getting to know your walking base, and that is exactly what is happening.
Frequently asked questions
I have been walking for years. Does this build-up apply to me too?
Yes, but your base is high then, so a week may carry more as well. The band looks at what you did in the last four weeks, not at a fixed norm.
Does a brisk walk count more than an easy one?
For your build-up the time on your feet counts. A brisk pace costs your heart and lungs more, but the landing per step stays low in walking. That is why the build-up counts minutes and not pace.
I was ill for two weeks. Do I start from zero again?
No. Your base drops slowly and not in one go. Start the first week around half of what you were used to and build back to your old level in two or three weeks.
Why do I not see the row Walking build-up?
The row is only there if walking is a sport in your plan and you have four weeks with walks. Turn walking on in your sports and the row appears as soon as the base is there.
In the app
Further reading
What average walking speed makes you fitter?
An average walking speed is 4 to 4.5 km/h; brisk walking starts around 5.5 km/h. Which pace makes you fitter and why pace steers better than a zone.
How do you train for the Vierdaagse or a multi-day hike?
Four consecutive days of 30, 40 or 50 km are something other than one long hike. Your fitness is not the limit; your feet and tendons are, and they have to carry the days that follow one another. Eating on the way and the July heat come on top of that, and you need to practise all three beforehand.
Does walking count as training?
Yes, but not every walk, and not the way a step counter would have it. When a walk is a real stimulus, why a zone number says little about it, and what Trimetra does with a walk.
Trimetra measures your walking weeks against your own base, so that a big jump catches your eye before your body makes you feel it.