Walking to lose weight is entirely possible. Walking has always been a
simples form of exercise, and basically, everyone can do it. + Walking
requires almost no equipment and it can be done more or less anywhere.
Walking is not only good for WEIGHT LOSS but also for overall BETTER
HEALTH. Here are 5 EASY ways you can lose weight by walking.
Walking to lose weight is entirely possible. Yup, it’s 100% true. It’s not some mumbo-jumbo nonsense – walking to lose weight is totally real. Just
because you don’t sweat-your-soul-out while you’re doing simple walking
exercise that doesn’t mean you’re not affecting your metabolism and
burn fats.
I’m a living proof that you CAN lose weight by walking!
A couple of years back, when I started living healthier,
walking was the only form of exercise I could do. I was morbidly obese,
and at that point, walking was the only thing I could do to move and
burn calories. I followed few simple rules, and next thing I knew, I
formed walking habit that helped me lose some serious weight. Nowadays I
combine both walking and running + yoga in order to maintain my weight
and balanced, healthy lifestyle.
Walking is one of the safest and simplest forms of exercise known
today. Basically, everyone can do it. But walking is not only great for
shedding pounds and inches from your body. It’s great for toning our
muscles and improving our overall health.
So when you’re the beginner, overweight or just out of shape, walking is the BEST form of exercise you can do.
You may be interested to read this: How To Start Walking For Weight Loss
There are only two simple rules you need to understand if you want to start losing weight by walking:
- you need to know how many steps you need to take every day,
- you have to commit to this step count on a daily basis.
Simple, right?! Here’s how you can lose weight by simply walking.
5 WAYS TO LOSE WEIGHT BY WALKING
1. Walk at least 10.000 steps / day
The number of calories you can burn by walking is determined by your
body weight and walking pace. On average, if you walk at a pace of 4
miles per hour (a common pace), you can burn roughly 300 – 400 calories
per hour. To lose weight the average person needs to take about 2,000
steps in the average mile.
1 Mile = 2,000 steps and 100 calories burned
1 Pound – 3,500 calories
1 Pound weight loss per week = 500 calorie deficit per day
Mathematic is simple here: to lose 1 pound per week, you need to add 10,000 steps to your day.
Remember, you don’t need to start with 10,000 steps right away. Begin
walking three days per week for 15 to 20 minutes. Then gradually
increase the frequency until you are walking 30 to 60 minutes per day
every day of the week. Also, you don’t need to hit 10,000 steps in one
session. You can break your walking sessions into two sessions during
the day.
2. Walk at a brisk pace
Brisk walking refers to your exertion rather than your speed –
although according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), a brisk walking pace is defined with 3.0 miles per hour or about 20 minutes per mile. But
I like to measure my brisk pace with my heart rate and breathing rate.
Let me put it this way – for your walking pace to be brisk, you need to
be breathing harder than usual – you should be able to speak in full
sentences, but not sing for example.
If you find your usual walking pace doesn’t reach the level of brisk
walking and you want to speed up, then work on your walking technique to
increase your speed.
You can also swing your arms while walking – vigorous arm pumping not
only speeds your pace, it also provides a good upper body workout. Arm
swinging while walking cause you to burn 5 to 10 percent more calories.
Remember you get an added benefit of burning fat when you walk at a
brisk pace for longer than 30 minutes at once after warming up.
3. Practice interval-walking
Walking faster isn’t the only thing that burns calories. Changing the pace increases calorie-burn too.
You don’t have to have to follow some speed plan, though. Just try
walking as fast as you can and then slow down. Then, speed back up again
and so on.
You can even do short jogging session, just to build up your heart rate – if you’re in condition to do it of course.
4. Add walking uphill
Walking uphill, or upping the incline on the treadmill, or adding
climbing to a staircase with your walking exercise will help you build
more muscles, increase your heart rate and overall help burn more
calories. That’s a pretty good reason to add some incline intervals to
your walks.
You can do uphill walking two to three days per week or you can add
some incline walk into your everyday walk – that’s if you have hill near
place you walk or if you’re doing walking on the treadmill.
5. Add strength training
Walking is a great way to lose weight, but to make
sure that you aren’t losing metabolism-boosting muscle mass, you need to
integrate strength training into your routine. Why? Well even when we
are at rest, our body is constantly burning calories. In fact, 75
percent of the calories that we burn each day are being used up just
keeping you alive. “Resting metabolic rate” is much higher in people
with more muscle. So build up some muscles people!
You can either stop every 10 minutes during your walks to perform a few sets of pushups, lunges, or squats, or other bodyweight exercises or you can incorporate strength training into your morning routine.
Pair that extra strength training with 30 minutes of brisk walking
once a day and you’ll start cutting down on your extra fat deposits in
no time.