Although people do not consider walking an effective form of exercise for weight loss and fitness, health experts have determined that brisk walking has more long-term benefits than running and is a great exercise for weight loss.
Walking strengthens your muscles and helps you lose weight. At the same time, it will improve your overall health. This simple exercise involves almost all the muscles in the body and can easily burn a lot of fat.
However, if you are going to lose weight by walking, you need to walk far enough and fast enough. We’ve put together a rough guide, but in reality, the numbers will be different for everyone depending on your diet, other physical activities and metabolism.
Burning Calories
There are two factors that determine the number of calories you burn: the distance you cover and your body weight.
For example, if you walk at an average speed of 6.5 km you will burn 400 calories per hour; 4.5 km more will help you burn an extra 300 calories, which is why you need a detailed daily walking plan to achieve better results.
A pedometer or mobile phone app like the sweatcoin app, helps you to monitor your training goals. This will increase your chances of burning a sufficient amount of calories that will help you to lose weight.
Most people need 2,000 steps (or 1.6 km) to burn 100 calories. By burning 300-500 calories a day (10,000 steps) you should lose about 1/2 kg in just one week.
Walking Tips To Lose Weight
To make your walking program more effective for shedding the pounds follow these tips:
Add variety to your walking
Choose routes that are more challenging and make you work harder. Hills and uneven terrain make your muscles work harder which is good for burning energy. Walking in natural settings such as forests, countryside paths, or mountain trails help to push you to the limits – but at the same time delivers more rewards; the view for one, but walking in nature is naturally good for mental health as well as increasing your calorie-burning count.
Change the pace
Combine brisk walking with walking at a moderate. Fitness experts recommend walking for 2 minutes at a normal pace, then stepping up the pace to a moderate walk for a minute, before a thirty-second blast at brisk walking. Repeat this structure for 20 to 30 minutes. A study from Ohio State University conducted in 2015 found that walking at a varied pace burns up to 20% more calories compared to a steady pace of walking.
Engage and strengthen the abdominal muscles
Due to weak abdominal muscles, you do not hold well, which makes your shoulders round and presses on your lungs. This makes it difficult to breathe deeply, and you can stretch muscles important when walking, such as hip and tendon flexors. Not only do you not walk fast, but you also risk injury.
Keep yourself upright
Relax your shoulders and push them back, and pull in the abdominal muscles, which will help strengthen the back and abdominal muscles that hold and straighten the spine, which is important for holding the whole body. Proper posture while walking is crucial for best results.
Walk in the morning
Morning walks boost your metabolism throughout the day which helps you burn more calories naturally.
The amount of weight loss depends on how many calories you consume and how much you burn.
Based on the theory that 1/2kg of body weight is equivalent to 3,500 calories, in order to lose 1/2kg a week, you need to reduce your calorie intake by 500 over seven days.
Walking for 30 minutes to an hour a day is a great way to help you achieve the right calorie deficit for weight loss. You can gradually increase your activity level by starting a short walk and slowly raising the duration to an hour a day.
And if you need any more motivation, download the sweatcoin app and convert your steps into digital tokens you can spend online with over 300 partners. With sweatcoin it pays to walk.
