When you want to lose weight, many diet programs and health experts recommend brisk walking as cardiovascular exercise to burn calories. But what is the right amount of walking each day to help you reach your weight loss goals?
Many of us do sports, go to the gym, try different diets… And during all that time we don’t even realize that long daily walks, like several studies showthey are no less effective against extra pounds.
We found out what rules to follow when walking to replace a whole set of exercises.
How to turn a walk into a training set
The main factors that affect calories burned while walking are distance traveled, speed and body weight. For best results, you should follow a regular schedule and use a pace counter.
This device tells you how far you have walked during the day. If you cover a long distance but still don’t lose weight, you can count how many steps you need to add.
This rough estimate will help you make your own schedule (keep in mind that a lot depends on your individual characteristics, lifestyle, eating habits, and health):
100 kcal = 2000 steps = 1.6 km
1 kg = 140,000 steps = 7,000 kcal = 112 km
How to lengthen your walks:
- Try not to drive or take a bus.
- Take your kids to and from school.
- Stop using elevators and escalators.
- Walk the dog longer.
To make your walks more interesting, try the following:
- Take a friend with you.
- Listen to your favorite music or audiobook.
- Go through unknown places and choose new routes.
In winter, you can keep practicing at home if you have a treadmill. It allows you to watch movies or TV shows, keeping you fit.
how to walk properly
Remember that your steps are uneven and can vary from a foot to a yard. To count the length of your step, measure a distance of 10 to 20 meters and cover it at your usual pace while counting the steps. Divide the distance in centimeters (1000 or 2000) by the number of steps you have taken.
- Less than 70 steps/min: For a healthy person, this pace has almost no training effect. It is recommended for people recovering from a heart attack or suffering from severe angina.
- 71-90 steps/min, 3-4 km/h: Recommended for people with cardiovascular diseases.
- 91-110 steps/min, 4-5km/h: A good burden for your body, suitable for any healthy person.
- 111-130 steps/min: It’s a great workout for your body, but even healthy people have a hard time keeping it up for long.
the rules of walking
Start with a light load, gradually increasing the duration and pace. You should increase the length of your walks first, and then increase your pace. Loads must be suitable for your health.
Practice walking regularly. One walk a week doesn’t help at all. If you can’t go hiking every day, do it at least 2-3 times a week. This can be done at any convenient time, but not earlier than 1-1.5 hours after a meal.
See your doctor and get a medical checkup. Repeat 1-2 times a year.
Observe your posture as you walk. Your torso and shoulders should be straight and your stomach should be sunken.
How long to walk each day to lose weight
point to a walk briskly 30 to 90 minutes of walking most days of the week to lose weight. You may walk more on some days and less on others, but the total time for the week should be minus 150 minutes (2.5 hours)
You should walk fast enough to be in the moderate exercise zone, 60-70% of your maximum heart rate. You must breathe harder than normal and can speak in full sentences, but cannot sing. You can use the heart rate and exercise area reading from a fitness band, app, or heart rate monitor to make sure you’re exercising at a moderate intensity.
Although you can break up your walking time into periods of 10 minutes or more, you get an added fat-burning benefit by walking briskly for more than 30 minutes after warming up.
How many calories and fat burned in 30 minutes
At a fast pace, you would burn between 100 and 300 calories in 30 minutes (depending on your weight) or between 200 and 600 calories in an hour. By walking for 30 minutes or more at a time, some of these calories will come from stored fat.
During the first 30 minutes of exercise, your body burns stored sugars for fuel. These are used after about 30 minutes. To continue, your body releases fat from your fat cells and burns it for fuel. This stored fat is exactly what you want to lose, and it’s a good reason to increase your walking endurance so you can walk for more than 30 minutes at a time.
Also, remember that a slow walk for a short distance will be useless; If you walk too fast and are unprepared for too long, you may even cause damage.