Walking is one of the most natural forms of exercise, easy to do, and almost anyone can maintain. Although simple, walking brings many significant benefits to the weight loss process: it helps burn calories, improve cardiovascular health, reduce excess fat and maintain muscle.
This is a convenient and effective method to achieve weight loss goals. Moderate-intensity walking has been shown to help lose weight, reduce fat mass and increase lean muscle. If you know how to optimize, each daily step will become an important part of the journey to a healthy body.
What are the strategies to optimize your walking habits?
Here are nine proven strategies to help you take your walking routine to the next level:
1. Follow the guidelines
The American Academy of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends 150–250 minutes of moderate activity, such as brisk walking, per week. This is 30 to 50 minutes, five days per week. The ACSM recommends increasing activity to more than 250 minutes per week to lose significant weight or prevent weight regain. For example, brisk walking for 40 minutes a day can help you burn a few hundred extra calories without feeling too tired.
2. Vary your walking pace
You don’t have to keep a steady pace all the time. Varying your walking pace burns more calories than walking at a steady pace. Start slowly and gradually increase your walking speed until you’re walking at a brisk pace. Once you’ve settled into a steady pace, alternate between moderate and high-intensity walking. Varying your walking pace will help your muscles work harder and burn more calories, especially if you maintain a fast pace for longer periods of time.
Brisk walking is walking at a pace where you can walk about three miles per hour. For most people, this is a pace where you can still talk but not sing while walking. A simple rule to follow is: 1 minute of brisk walking followed by 2 minutes of slow walking, repeated over the course of 20–30 minutes.
3. Build up walking moments throughout the day
Research shows that building up to 10 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity throughout the day can have huge benefits, especially in preventing weight gain. This reinforces the idea that “every minute counts.”
Small lifestyle changes, such as parking further away to walk faster to your destination or taking the stairs instead of the elevator, are consistent with a lower body mass index (BMI). Accumulating short, brisk walking sessions, even under 10 minutes, throughout the day can provide the same BMI benefits as longer walks.
4. Use your arms when walking
Incorporating your upper body into your walking routine can increase the effectiveness. The impact increases with the number of muscles used when walking. Swinging your arms harder or holding small hand weights recruits more muscle groups, increases your heart rate, and burns more calories. Just 15–20 minutes of active arm walking can result in more sweat than regular walking.
5. Build a sustainable walking habit
Weight loss is not a “short-term project” but a long-term lifestyle. Start small, such as a 5–10 minute walk after lunch each day, and gradually increase the duration and frequency. Setting specific goals, joining a friend or walking group, and tracking your steps with a wearable device will help you stay motivated.
To do this, try the following:
- Start with as little as five minutes, five to six days a week, and gradually increase your activity.
- Set specific, achievable goals, such as walking after lunch two days this week.
- Get social support with strategies like walking with friends or joining walking groups to stay motivated, safe, and adherent.
- Use a fitness tracker or pedometer to track your progress and stay motivated.
6. Use a weighted vest
Weight loss requires increasing your daily physical activity, reducing your calorie intake, or both. You can achieve both of these goals by walking with a weighted vest, as walking requires more energy when wearing a weighted vest. The added weight of the vest also increases your heart rate and breathing rate as you walk. Combined, these effects can lead to more calories burned and more fat loss. Walking with a weighted vest also forces your muscles to work harder, which helps boost your metabolism. However, you should start with light weights and consult a professional if you have any joint or bone problems.
7. Combine Walking with Dietary Changes
Weight loss occurs when you create a calorie deficit by burning calories through physical activity, such as walking, and reducing the amount of calories you consume. While calorie reduction accounts for a large part of weight loss, regular physical activity, such as walking, is essential to maintaining the change.
Walking increases energy expenditure, but without controlling your calorie intake, weight loss remains difficult. A diet rich in protein, lots of greens, and limited in sugars will maximize the effectiveness of walking.
In one study, participants who combined moderate walking with a 500- to 800-calorie diet lost more fat mass and maintained more lean muscle mass than those who followed the diet alone.
8. Walk on an Incline
Even a small incline can make a big difference in the number of calories you burn. Research shows that you can burn twice as many calories walking at a 10% incline as you would walking at the same pace on flat ground. Compared to flat ground, you’ll burn about 12% more calories for every 1% increase in incline.
Walking on an incline can also increase your post-workout calorie burn. Even without working out, you’ll still burn more calories each day by building leg muscles by walking on an incline, since maintaining muscle mass requires more calories.
9. Combine strength training with walking
You can boost fat loss by combining walking with strength training, and the best results are achieved when combined with a balanced, calorie-restricted diet. Walking and strength training help build muscle mass, which speeds up fat loss and boosts metabolism. This can also boost your resting metabolism, allowing you to burn more calories even at rest.
If you spend 2-3 sessions/week doing light weight training or resistance exercises, combined with daily walking, you will be both slimmer and healthier.
