For both fat loss and toning of the muscles, the duck walk is an underappreciated but very effective lower-body exercise. This energetic movement exercises your quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calves as well as enhances mobility and flexibility. Although it may look easy, the duck walk involves several muscle groups and, when performed properly, can burn calories, increase strength, and improve lower-body endurance.

Adding the duck walk to your exercise routine can have dramatic results, but it must be done with proper form and gradual build-up to prevent injury. Let's dissect all you need to know about this intense movement, from its advantages to performance and mistakes to watch out for.

What is the Duck Walk?

The duck walk is really a walking squat that requires a deep range of motion and stability. Squatting down low and stepping forward in a controlled fashion, the exercise hits the lower-body muscles hard while at the same time engaging the core for stability. Because it replicates the natural squatting motion, the duck walk tightens the hip flexors, making it a good exercise for individuals with weak hips or lower-body imbalances.

Apart from building strength, the duck walk improves flexibility and mobility, especially in the hips, knees, and ankles. Those athletes coming back from an injury or those wishing to enhance agility can benefit specifically from this exercise.

How to Properly Perform the Duck Walk

Before incorporating the duck walk into your workout routine, it’s essential to understand the proper form and technique. Since this exercise places significant pressure on the knees, maintaining proper alignment is crucial.

Step-by-Step Guide to Duck Walk:

Step 1- Begin with your feet shoulder-width apart and squat down as low as possible while keeping your back straight and core engaged.

Step 2- Your front foot must stay flat on the ground, with the rear foot on its toes.

Step 3- Keep pushing back your glutes and distribute your weight evenly to prevent knee strain.

Step 4- Make small, controlled steps forward by transferring weight onto your leading foot, then moving the trailing foot forward while still keeping your squat position.

Step 5- Stepping forward for 10 steps, stand up, walk back to the beginning, and repeat for three repetitions.

Because the duck walk is an advanced move that needs strength and mobility, beginners need to approach it gradually.

Modifications Beginners Can Make to The Duck Walk

If you have flexibility issues or feel pain while doing the duck walk, use these modifications:

Half-Squat Duck Walk: Rather than descending into a full squat, walk forward in a half-squat posture.

Weighted Support: Supporting yourself with a dumbbell or kettlebell held in front of your abdomen aids in stability and balance.

Common Mistakes to Avoid During Duck Walking

Rising Too High: Standing up from the squat posture decreases the effectiveness of the exercise and puts extra stress on the knees.

Taking Big Steps: Big steps will throw your balance off and create instability, and the movement will become less controlled and more susceptible to injury.

Knees Buckling Inward: Misalignment can strain joints and decrease the efficiency of the movement.

Disregarding Core Engagement: Maintaining your core engaged is critical for good posture and stability.

Which Muscles are Targeted by the Duck Walk?

The duck walk is a multi-joint movement which involves several groups of muscles being used at one time:

Main Muscles: Quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, calf muscles, and core muscles.

Secondary Muscles: Stabilizers and hip adductors.

Making it a very good addition to lower-body exercise routines, building and toning the legs along with enhancing the overall endurance level.

How to Add Duck Walk into Your Exercise Routine?

Because the duck walk is a challenging exercise, it must be placed strategically in your workout routine to prevent overexertion.

• Frequency: Do the duck walk twice a week for best results.
• Timing: Do not do this exercise during your warm-up period; instead, incorporate it during cardio or leg day for best effect.
• Combining with Other Exercises: Include it towards the end of a squatting session or place it within a circuit routine for endurance exercises.

For those aiming to lose fat, one effective way is to include the duck walk as part of a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) session. It is done in bursts with limited recovery time that can increase the heart rate and support fat reduction.

Who Shouldn't Do the Duck Walk?

Although the duck walk is a good exercise, it might not be for everyone. Those who suffer from arthritis, knee injuries, or have painful joints should not try it since it puts quite a strain on the knees. If you do feel pain or discomfort while exercising, go and see a fitness instructor or a physiotherapist for an assessment.

For those wishing to test the strength of their lower body and take their level of fitness to new heights, the duck walk is a perfect inclusion in any training regimen. Go slow, practice good form, and step up intensity as needed to strengthen the muscles, increase flexibility, and reach your goal of losing fat.

High blood pressure (BP) has become a public health problem that is driving cardiovascular diseases like heart attacks and strokes globally. While medications are important to keep hypertension under control, lifestyle changes and healthy practices are also crucial.

Several global health guidelines recommend regular physical activity, but adhering to exercise programs daily becomes a challenge for many people. But in the overtly busy schedules, sparing 10 minutes for an exercise regimen can be easier than travelling to the gym.

A large randomized clinical trial, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC), has proved that a traditional Chinese mind-body practice — baduanjin — may help lower blood pressure, that too, without any equipment.

Baduanjin is a slow, structured movement, focused on deep breathing and meditation.

Importantly, the clinical trial proved that the ancient Chinese technique could lower BP as effectively as brisk walking.

In people practicing baduanjin, BP reductions were seen after three months and were sustained for one year.

"Given its simplicity, safety, and ease with which one can maintain long-term adherence, baduanjin can be implemented as an effective, accessible, and scalable lifestyle intervention for individuals trying to reduce their blood pressure," said Jing Li, Director, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases in Beijing, China.

Baduanjin: The 10 Minute Routine

Baduanjin is a standardized eight-movement sequence that integrates aerobic, isometric, flexibility, and mind-body components.

It has been in practice for centuries and commonly performed in community settings across China. The routine typically takes 10–15 minutes and requires no equipment and only minimal initial instruction.

Because it is low- to moderate-intensity, it is considered safe and accessible for many adults.

Also read: Cardiovascular Diseases Lead As India’s Top Killer: US Cardiologist Points Out Risk Factors

The Clinical Trial

A team of Chinese researchers led the first large, multicenter randomized trial to look at the impact of baduanjin on blood pressure.

They followed 216 participants, aged 40 years or older, across seven communities to determine changes in 24-hour systolic BP from baseline to 12 and 52 weeks.

Compared to people indulging in self-directed exercise, practicing baduanjin five days a week reduced

• systolic blood pressure by approximately 3 mg Hg
• systolic blood pressure by 5 mg Hg.

Notably, the benefits were sustained even without ongoing monitoring, a key challenge for many lifestyle interventions that struggle to maintain long-term adherence outside structured programs.

"Baduanjin has been practiced in China for over 800 years, and this study demonstrates how ancient, accessible, low-cost

approaches can be validated through high-quality randomized research," said Harlan M. Krumholz, Editor-in-Chief of JACC and the Harold H. Hines, Jr Professor at the Yale School of Medicine.

"The blood pressure effect size is similar to that seen in landmark drug trials, but achieved without medication, cost, or side effects. This makes it highly scalable for community-based prevention, including in resource-limited settings," they added.

Also read: AHA Cholesterol Guidelines 2026: How Indians Can Improve Heart Health

How To Practice Baduanjin

• Stand upright with your feet shoulder-width apart and keep your movements slow and controlled.
• Coordinate each motion with steady, deep breathing, inhaling and exhaling smoothly as you move.
• Move through the traditional eight postures in sequence, focusing on posture, balance, and relaxation rather than speed or force.
• Practice for about 10 to 15 minutes a day in a quiet space, maintaining calm attention throughout.

If you believe only gym workouts matter, you might be mistaken. While gyms offer a structured space to exercise, busy schedules often lead many to skip workouts—and feel guilty about it.

However, a new study suggests that even short bursts of vigorous everyday activity—such as running to catch a bus or climbing stairs quickly—can significantly reduce the risk of several major diseases and even lower the risk of death.

The research, based on nearly 96,000 people and published in the European Heart Journal, found that just a few minutes of intense activity each day was linked to a lower risk of:

• Major cardiovascular disease
• Irregular heartbeat
• Type 2 Diabetes
• Immune-mediated inflammatory diseases
• Liver disease
• Chronic respiratory diseases
• Chronic kidney disease
• Dementia

“We know that physical activity reduces the risk of chronic disease and premature death, and there is growing evidence that vigorous activity provides greater health benefits per minute than moderate activity,” said Minxue Shen from the Xiangya School of Public Health, Central South University, China.

Also read:Just Twice A Week At-home Resistance Training Enough To Build Muscle, Reveal New Guidelines

Longer Workouts or Intense Bursts?

To explore whether exercising more intensely offers greater benefits than simply exercising longer, the researchers followed 96,408 participants for seven years.

Each person wore a wrist-based accelerometer to track movement, including short bursts of activity often overlooked.

The findings showed that compared to those who did no vigorous activity, participants with the highest levels had:

• 63 percent lower risk of dementia
• 60 percent lower risk of type 2 diabetes
• 46 percent lower risk of death

“Our findings suggest that adding short bursts of activity that make you slightly breathless—like climbing stairs quickly or walking briskly between tasks—can have substantial health benefits,” Shen said.

“Even 15–20 minutes per week, just a few minutes a day, can make a meaningful difference,” the Professor added.

Also read: Exercising Could Make Your Brain Younger, Says Doctor

Is Vigorous Activity Safe for Everyone?

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that adults (18–64) perform at least 150–300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity, or 75–150 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity per week.

The new study suggests that intensity also plays a key role—and may vary depending on the disease being prevented.

The researchers noted that these findings could help shape more personalised exercise recommendations in the future. However, they cautioned that vigorous activity may not be suitable for everyone, particularly:

• Older adults
• People with certain underlying medical conditions.

IPL 2026 is back, and for fans of cricket, it is the most amazing and eagerly awaited time of the year. Eight exceptional teams, an incredible line-up of cricketing sensations from all over the world, and an unforgettable clash of titans — IPL deserves all the hype it gets. And after last night's incredible battle between Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians, former captain Rohit Sharma also deserves all the hype he is getting. Not only did the Hitman score his fastest IPL 50, but he also managed to impress everyone with his transformation. Nita Ambani, Chairperson and founder of the Reliance Foundation and Dhirubhai Ambani International School, and a director of Reliance Industries (owner of the Mumbai Indians team too), was awestruck to see a fitter version of Sharma.

Read more: Checking BMI For Body Weight? It Can Wrongly Mark You As Overweight or Obese, Says Study

When Nita Ambani did not recognise Rohit Sharma

In a recent video shared on the Instagram page of Mumbai Indians, Nita Ambani is seen meeting the squad as they were training ahead of the 2026 IPL. As she encounters Sharma, she says, "My God, Rohit, I didn’t recognise you! You look like a young boy."

Rohit Sharma, now 38, will be turning 39 on April 30, but to a fan's eye, he seems to be ageing in reverse. On May 7, 2025, Sharma announced his retirement from Test cricket. Earlier in 2024, he announced his retirement from T20Is after the 2024 World Cup win. Since then, he has focused primarily on ODIs and, as it turns out, on becoming a fitter version of his current self.

Read more: Exercising Could Make Your Brain Younger, Says Doctor

A fitter Rohit Sharma since retirement

Rohit Sharma smashed an impressive 78 off 38 balls in last night's match against KKR, and perhaps his success can be credited to his recent transformation. His physical transformation took place ahead of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, and he lost an impressive 11 kilos before returning to the game. But what his fans loved most is that he was never really lagging because of the extra weight — he was always fit, quick and proactive, but now he is a lot leaner on the outside. How did the former skipper achieve this goal? Let’s find out:

1. Hydration: For Sharma, fitness has to start with hydration, and this involves drinking plenty of water throughout the day in various forms — protein shakes, green tea and carrot juice.
2. High-protein meals: According to TheHealthSite, Sharma switched to a high-protein diet, which is one of the most important steps in a weight-loss journey. This means foods like eggs, oats, legumes, millet rotis, brown rice, grilled chicken and salads dominated his diet routine.
3. Workout regime: A workout regimen need not be about the kind of exercise one does, but also the timings. Reports suggest that Sharma kick-started his days with 30 minutes of cycling, followed by a core workout. And the best part — he relied on morning workouts for optimal results, as during the early hours of the day, scientists say it is the best time to break a sweat.

Cardio workouts like interval training, running and cycling help build stamina and endurance — these help ensure peak performance during stressful matches.