Walking Strengthens The Quadriceps

While walking may seem like a simple physical task, it involves a series of muscular contractions and joint movements. As a weight-bearing exercise, your body overcomes resistance and gravity, placing an overload on your lower body muscles. Your quadriceps, located in the front of your thighs, function to extend your leg, a primary force behind the walking motion. Walking is an activity than can strengthen the quadriceps muscles.

Structure and Function

Your quadriceps consist of four muscles. The rectus femoris, crossing your hip and knee joint, work to extend, or straighten, your hip and knee joints. The vastus medialis, the inner quadricep muscle, the vastus lateralis, the outer quadriceps muscle, and the vastus intermedius, located below the other quadricep muscles, all work to extend the knee joint. Walking works all the quadriceps muscles, except the vastus medialis.

The Walking Movement

In an upright position, your hips and knees are fully extended and your weight evenly distributed. To start the walking movement, one leg pushes down on the ball of your foot, propelling your body weight forward. Your other leg extends forward and lands, using your quadriceps muscles to extend your leg and bear your body weight as you land. This movement continues as your legs alternate between pushing off and extending and landing, continuously contracting your quadriceps muscles.

Variations

As a weight-bearing exercise, your muscles work to overcome a workload that is greater than normal. A greater amount of body weight creates a greater amount of resistance. Walking on an incline also increases the amount of force on the quadriceps muscles. Incline walking is more physically demanding, resulting in increased strength gains. When starting an inclined walking program, use gradual increments of 1 to 3 percent to reduce the risk of muscle strain. Using ankle weights is not recommended for strength gains.
Power walking, fitness walking and race walking are other types of walking that increase activity levels and workload that can increase muscular endurance and strength gains.

Considerations

Walking workout guidelines include starting with three to four weekly 20- to 30-minute workouts. Progression to five weekly workouts of 45 to 60 minutes is recommended after six to 10 weeks.
Sneakers that claim to strengthen and tone use dynamic instability to increase the workload on lower body muscles. Your muscles work harder to keep your body stable. Scientific research has yet to determine whether or not the claims are valid and caution against overuse for the untrained individual and injury for those with balance problems.