7 ways to walk for fitness, from rucking to the viral 'Japanese walking' trend

Getting back to basics: walking is the fitness trend of 2026

06 Jan 2026, 12:32 · TechRadar

Features By Ed Cooper published 6 January 2026

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This article is part of our Get Fit for '26 series, in which our writers talk about the wellness and fitness challenges and experiences that are going to shape the year ahead. You can read all the articles in the series here.

If you don't have access to exercise bikes, barbells or even the best running shoes, but still want to start your fitness journey in 2026, there's always walking — the original workout. It’s the one form of exercise that’s always been accessible, intuitive, and sustainable, long before the concept of “fitness” even existed. And despite the rise of high-intensity training, smart gyms, and AI-driven coaching or fitness apps, walking remains one of the most effective and versatile ways to improve your health.

You can walk to build strength (rucking), burn fat (incline walking), or simply clear your head after a long day (every single walk). Science continues to back what our ancestors knew instinctively: consistent movement at a steady pace supports everything from cardiovascular fitness to mental clarity. Whether you’re chasing step counts on a smartwatch or taking ten mindful minutes outdoors, walking endures: not because it’s trendy, but because it works.

Here are seven ways to tailor a stroll to your goals, whether you're after weight loss, mental clarity, muscle tone or all of the above.

1. Rucking: turn a stroll into strength

All over the world, military fitness experts have a knack for turning a simple task, like walking, into something surprisingly tough, like rucking. Also known as tabbing or yomping in military vernacular, rucking is the deceptively simple act of walking with a weighted rucksack.

It delivers cardiovascular benefits and builds strength in your legs, glutes and back, and can be a worthy substitute to running or sprints. This Journal of Clinical Medicine study found that walking with a weighted load can improve muscle power and functional ability in the lower limbs by approximately 10%.

(Image credit: Getty Images / Javier Zayas Photography)

2. Power walking: Upping the intensity for cardio benefits

Power walking turns walking into a more purposeful, pace-driven exercise. By walking fast enough to elevate your heart rate into the aerobic zone—typically around 4–5.5 mph—you're not just covering ground, you're engaging your legs, glutes and core in a way that boosts cardio fitness, supports fat loss and improves posture.

Research from Harvard University indicates that faster walking produces greater health benefits when compared to slower paces. You can set a virtual pacer on a fitness watch (check out our best running watch and best fitness tracker lists here), which will alert you if you're walking too fast or too slow.

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