Walking To Lose Weight Blog

Yes, walking can help with weight loss — especially if your walks challenge you and you incorporate other healthy lifestyle changes, such as eating more healthfully.

It’s free, it’s simple, and it requires no special training or fitness prowess. It can also be enjoyable, especially if you have a chatty friend by your side or a fun podcast to listen to.

For a fit person who can tolerate higher-intensity forms of exercise, walking isn’t the most time-efficient form of exercise for burning fat.

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But a fit person can still benefit from walking as a relaxing addition to a more intense exercise routine — it’s calming, it burns some calories, and it can be perfect for an active rest day.

According to the CDC, adults should get 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise per week, or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous exercise.

If you have a busy schedule, you can also break it up into smaller chunks — like 15 minutes, twice a day, five days per week.

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What you eat is the biggest factor in that equation, but exercise — including walking — can burn additional calories and help to create a calorie deficit.

“Walking is an easy and effective way to increase your daily activity level and burn more calories if you’re overweight, sedentary, or just beginning your weight-loss journey, ” says Trevor Thieme, C.S.C.S., Beachbody’s director of fitness and nutrition content.

The precise number of calories you’ll burn through walking depends on a variety of factors, including your height, weight, pace, terrain, and genetics.

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Because walking is low-impact, it’s also an ideal activity for people who are recovering from an injury and can’t dive back into high-intensity exercise right away.

When it comes to weight loss, Thieme says, nutrition is key — but you’ll see results even faster if you combine healthy eating with regular exercise, like walking.

“Cleaning up your diet should always be your top priority if your goal is weight loss, ” says Thieme. “But combining walking with healthier eating habits can help you shed pounds faster than dieting alone — especially if you don’t limit those additional daily steps to workouts.”

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To get at least 10, 000 steps per day (don’t worry — that includes the steps you get during your workout!), Thieme recommends the following small but impactful changes:

If you notice your results start to fizzle, you’ll need to ramp up the intensity of your aerobic workouts by either picking up the pace or by adding strength training or high-intensity interval training (HIIT) to your workout schedule.

“Remember, walking is a gateway exercise — the goal is to increase your activity level and prepare your body for more intense forms of exercise, ” says Thieme.

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To maximize your results and avoid any aches and pains, there are a few things to keep in mind while you’re walking, says San Francisco running coach Danny Dreyer, author of Chi Walking.

Once you’ve made a habit of maintaining good posture and taking brisk strides, you’ll transform your body into a much more efficient walking machine.

There are a few things to keep in mind while you’re walking, says San Francisco running coach Danny Dreyer, author of Chi Walking performance books and DVDs.

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Once you’ve made a habit of maintaining good posture and taking brisk strides, you’ll transform your body into a much more efficient walking machine — and you’ll burn even more calories.

Walking shoes are specifically designed to handle the heel-to-toe movement of walking, so they’ll have better arch support and more flexibility in the ball of the foot than running shoes do.

Music has the power to boost your energy and keep you entertained — and research has found that listening to music during a workout can help to delay fatigue and increase performance and endurance.

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Simply add weight (dumbbells or bricks work well) to a daypack, and get walking. Start with a weight equal to 10 percent of your body weight and work your way up from there.

One small study found that people with type 2 diabetes who took a 10-minute walk after their meals had significantly lower blood glucose levels than those who took one 30-minute walk a day.

Walking hills and stairs is a great way to work your quads, calves, and glutes even harder — especially if you pick up the pace as you climb.

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Kick up the intensity with speed intervals — like 60-second bursts of max-effort power-walking followed by 2 minutes of slower walking — to help you burn fat faster.

You’re much less likely to bail on exercising if you have someone counting on you to show up at a specific time and place.

If you’re feeling bored with your regular walks, mix it up with some Nordic walking, which requires the use of special poles designed to help propel you forward.

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The poles help you shift some of the workload from your legs to your upper body, which takes some of the pressure off your lower body while helping to strengthen the muscles in your upper body.

If you can find a bench, do a set of step-ups. If you don’t mind getting your hands dirty, do a set of burpees.

If you’re overweight or new to exercise, walking can be an effective, low-impact option for shedding fat, increasing endurance, boosting cardiovascular fitness, and preparing your body for more intense forms of activity.

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To successfully shed fat and keep it off, you also need to make other lifestyle changes, such as dialing in your diet, logging more sleep, and being more active throughout the day.If you’re looking for an easy way to lose weight, getting started with a walking program is a great way to do it. It’s low-impact, easy to fit into a busy schedule and accessible for almost any age or fitness level.

A power-walking workout is a great way to get in shape. And while a 30–45-minute power walk 4–5 days per week should be your focus, don’t stop there. To reach your weight-loss goals, try including short walks of 20 minutes or less throughout your day when possible. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Upping your walking speed from a leisurely at-the-park pace is one way to get the heart pumping and burn more calories. In addition to picking up the pace, researchers at Ohio State University have also found that varying your walking speed during your workouts can help you burn up to 20% more calories than maintaining a steady pace.

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During your walk, include one 30-second burst every 5 minutes, walking as fast as you can without jogging. Follow this with a slower 30-second recovery walk before you get back into your normal power-walking pace.

Walking on a hiking trail with hills is one way to include intervals in your walking routine without making it feel like torture. Walking uphill also burns more calories and helps you build muscle in the lower body, which can help speed up your metabolism, too.

If you don’t have a walking trail nearby that you can access 2–3 times per week, try a staircase workout or set the incline on the treadmill. Just remember to change your technique slightly. Lean forward as you climb, take shorter steps and bend your knees more than you would normally.

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While it might look silly, exaggerating your arm swing while you walk has additional benefits. It’ll help to speed up your pace, work your upper body and burn up to 10% more calories when compared to a normal arm swing.

Emphasizing correct posture can help improve your workout and calorie-burn, as well as prevent fatigue and common walking-related injuries. Focus on keeping your back relaxed, elongating your spine and keeping your shoulders neutral. Make sure to focus your gaze on the horizon, which helps keep your neck and head aligned.

You’ll also want to pay attention to how your foot strikes the ground. Your heel should strike the ground first to “help absorb the impact and minimize stress on the joints, ” explains Dr. Michael Gleiber, a board-certified orthopedic spine surgeon. From there, your foot should roll smoothly forward and “push off of your toes using the toe flexors, ” says Gleiber. By taking a few minutes to check in with your form, you can maximize your walking workouts to lose weight more efficiently.

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Setting goals is important to stay motivated. One of the best goals you can have as a walker is to work toward increasing the number of steps you take per day. The more steps you take, the more likely you are to burn calories. And shortening your stride to take more steps can actually help you speed up the pace, too.

Unlike distance and speed goals that can lead to an injury when progressed too quickly, increasing your steps is safer and can be amped up more rapidly. If you’re serious about losing weight, aim for 10, 000 per day to start and increase your step count from there as you can tolerate.

Walking can be a great way to destress, improve your health and strengthen your bones and muscles without risking injury. But for weight loss, you’ll need to concentrate on diet to make it happen.

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Focusing on lean proteins and vegetables and limiting sugary and processed foods is where you should start.