Fitness - Can You Lose Weight From Walking?

Walking is a great place to start if you want to lose weight. While you should supplement your walking routine with other helpful weight management habits, walking is a free and simple way to get your heart rate up and burn calories. Find out how you can lose weight by walking, as well as some walking tips and benefits below!

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How Walking Helps You Lose Weight

Part of maintaining a healthy weight is burning more calories than you consume, and walking can help! As a low-impact aerobic exercise, walking expends energy and burns calories. A 150-pound individual walking at a moderate pace for one hour will burn approximately 250 calories.

Besides burning calories, aerobic exercises like walking target general visceral and subcutaneous fat. Visceral fat is inside the abdominal cavity, while subcutaneous fat is underneath the skin. Walking burns this general fat by reducing blood sugar levels and insulin resistance. Walking also preserves muscle mass, promotes weight maintenance and boosts your mood, helping you exercise more consistently!

Still, varying factors contribute to your ability to lose weight by walking. These factors include:

• Frequency: Exercise is most effective when you do it regularly.
• Duration: Research shows that the health-related benefits of exercise increase with longer durations.
• Intensity: A shuffling, supermarket stroll won’t promote weight loss, but a consistent, energetic walking pace will!
• Age: Your metabolic rate slows as you age, making it harder to burn calories and lose weight.
• Weight: The more you weigh, the more calories you lose from walking, as you use more energy to move your body.
• Stress: When you experience stress, your body produces a hormone called cortisol. Studies show a strong link between cortisol levels and weight gain.
• Genetics: Genetics influence your ability to lose weight and can directly lead to obesity.
• Sleep: High-quality sleep promotes healthy weight management, while poor-quality sleep promotes weight gain.
• Diet: Make sure you eat healthy to reap the benefits of walking, as an unhealthy diet will nullify them.

Walking Tips to Help Burn Belly Fat and Lose Weight

Whether you are a seasoned walker or just starting out, helpful tips and reminders can benefit anyone! Here are some walking tips to help you burn belly fat and lose weight.

Set Goals and Use a Fitness Tracker

Setting goals is an essential tactic for developing habits. Start with an achievable goal and challenge yourself to make small improvements every day. You can also set a long-term goal and then break it into smaller steps.

For example, an excellent long-term goal to start with is walking 10,000 steps per day, which you can track with a smartphone or fitness tracker. Break it into smaller steps by adding 500 to 1,000 steps more each week until you reach that goal.

When setting walking goals, focus on duration, length and intensity. A good starting point is walking 45 minutes per day at three miles per hour. Once you’re comfortable with that rate, amp up the intensity!

Amp Up the Intensity

Although focusing on steps is helpful, some steps have more value than others! To get the most value out of your steps, here are ways to amp up the intensity:

• Change the terrain: Find routes with varied terrain that force you to walk uphill and downhill or increase the incline on your treadmill.
• Increase your pace: Once you get comfortable with a certain pace, increase your speed.
• Add weights or wear a weighted vest: Adding weights or wearing a weighted vest will help you burn more calories.
• Pump your arms: Engage your entire body while walking to maximize the benefits.
• Incorporate resistance training intervals: Incorporate resistance training intervals as you walk so your body cannot adapt to your routine.

Find a Walking Friend

Walking with a friend keeps you accountable to get outside and onto your favorite route. Everyone has days where they’d rather stay cozy instead of getting their blood pumping. This is fine once in a while, but your long-term health depends on regular exercise. Find a friend who enjoys walking and ask them to be your walking buddy!

Schedule Your Walks

Another accountability tip is scheduling your walks. If you prepare yourself to walk at specific times every day, you will have more time to muster the motivation. Your walking habit can quickly fade out of the picture without a structured routine. Conversely, making the decision to go for a walk becomes easier the more you do it!

Find Interesting Routes

Make your walks exciting with interesting routes to traverse. Walking is a slow-paced exercise. It gives you ample time to think and take in the scenery. Thus, a dull route can lessen your drive, while routes with stimulating scenery boost your mood and motivation.

Also, switch it up! Even the most exciting routes become dull if you walk them hundreds of times. Find different routes to keep things fresh. If you can’t find exciting routes, listen to engaging podcasts or audiobooks as you walk.

Walk at Work

If you work in an office, walking may seem impractical. Nevertheless, you can find creative ways to step away from the desk and move your feet. For example, if you are meeting with a colleague in your office, suggest a walking meeting instead. If you live nearby your workplace, consider walking to work — or park your car a reasonable walking distance away if that isn’t an option.

Get Comfy

Attire is important for walking, not so much for fashion as comfort level — though you can get as fashionable as you want! Make sure you have comfortable shoes for walking significant distances and clothing that allows free movement.

Stay Positive and Keep at It

The most important tip is staying positive and sticking with your routine! Even if you skip one day, go easy on yourself and know you can always start fresh the next day. Remember you have the power to walk yourself to a healthy horizon!

The Benefits of Walking

As an exercise, walking is simple and accessible — you don’t require special equipment or advanced training to do it. You only need a suitable route and comfy sneakers. Besides being simple and accessible, walking also provides these benefits:

• Improves your cardiovascular system, lowers blood pressure and boosts overall heart health
• Lowers cholesterol levels
• Strengthens bones and reduces osteoporosis risk
• Lowers risk of diabetes and various cancers
• Improves sleep quality
• Fewer snack cravings
• Strengthens immune system
• It’s free!

Learn More About 5 Bridges Health & Fitness Today

Whether you enjoy exercising from home, in a group or in person with a trainer, 5 Bridges Health & Fitness can help you reach your fitness goals! Our personal trainers will tailor exercise plans to your fitness level that challenge you to reach the next level. We offer training through virtual platforms, one-on-one in-person training or group classes.

Learn more about 5 Bridges Health & Fitness and become the healthiest version of yourself today!