Choosing to lose weight is obviously something personal to everyone. But thinking that it only requires intense workouts or gym sessions is completely wrong.
Sometimes, it is the simple steps that you take that matter the most. And just like that one of the common questions that comes into people’s minds is how walking helps in losing weight and belly fat.
Walking for sure is a very accessible, easy, and effective means to shed unwanted pounds and bid farewell to the extra and stubborn barely fat. It not only is helpful in this matter, but it also helps in keeping the body healthy by keeping the cardiovascular system healthy, helps with metabolism, and helps you connect with nature.
So, let’s explore some of the best tips that can help you get closer to getting the answer to how walking helps in losing weight and losing extra pounds.
Table of Contents
How Does Walking Help Burn Calories?
Anything that helps the body in moving helps in losing weight.
The human body needs energy in the form of calories. It is needed to perform all the complex chemical reactions that help you to move, think, breathe, and function.
But before getting the answer to how walking helps in losing weight, the most important thing is that the daily calorie intake can vary from person to person and is highly affected by other factors like genes, sex, weight, height, and a person’s activity level.
The concept that you need to burn more calories than you eat to lose weight is very well-known to people.
There is one more thing that matters here, it is that people who are more physically active burn more calories than the ones that are sedentary. However, walking more often can help you burn calories. Experts at Doctors Hospital say that walking a mile (1.6 km) burns approximately 100 calories, varying on your weight and sex.
One research found that the calories that persons with typical fitness levels expended after running for about a mile or walking briskly for 3.2 miles (5 km) at a speed of 6 mph. According to the findings, people who walked quickly burnt an average of 90 calories per mile.
Also, even though running burns more calories as compared to walking, the difference is very hard to tell. On average, it has been observed that running burns around 23 more calories per mile than walking does. So, it has been observed that both these exercises contribute to the total calorie expenditure.
Tips to Lose Weight with Walk
To increase the intensity of your walk and burn more calories, try walking on hilly routes. Also, some other tips regarding walking can help you out immensely. Here are some.
1. Focus on Posture and Form
If you are new to this walking exercise for losing weight, let me tell you that the first and foremost thing here to focus on is form and posture.
To walk properly, you must make sure that you are looking ahead This is important as this can help in increasing the pace as well as lengthen the stride. Focus on your glutes and muscles is also as essential s your focus on posture and form.
Tightening your muscles and glutes while walking can help a lot, along with taking short breaks in between your walks. This technique is also very helpful in building strength and keeping you safe from injuries, so that you can continue your walking exercise to lose weight.
Suggested Read: Importance of Good Posture for Your Health
2. Wear a Weighted Vest
Walking on its own is no doubt very helpful, but if you add extra weight to the body, it can help in losing a lot more calories. Heavy people are more likely to burn calories because their bodies need more energy to perform the tasks as compared to others that are not heavy. So, if you wear a weighted vest when you walk helps your body to work harder during the walk.
Now, however, a person wearing a weighted vest is very much likely to lose extra calories, a person can avoid wearing wights or the chest on their hands. This practice is not very helpful, as this can make you end up hurting your body and can cause imbalance.
Dr. Rabia Sohail who is one of the best general physicians says that it is best to consult your doctor before you start the use of a weighted vest for losing weight.
3. Try Power Walking
Power walking while taking intervals is one of the approaches that can result in helping you lose extra calories. To try this out, you should walk for about 5 to 10 minutes to warm up.
After that, you must increase the pace and continue with a sustainable and uncomfortable pace for 10 to 15 seconds before returning to a normal walking pace.
You can repeat this for as long as you can manage or you can also practice this throughout your walk.
Suggested Read: Benefits of Morning Walk.
You can easily adjust the interval according to your body’s resistance. You can take 5 minutes of interval work per walk and add more walking intervals into the walks over time.
4. Pick Up the Pace
All of us know that in exercises like swimming, running, and even walking, it is the pace that makes all of the difference. A person is likely to burn more calories walking at a faster pace as compared to someone that walks slowly.
Some of the past studies also suggest that people that run at a faster pace are more likely to shed more pounds than the ones that walk at a slower pace.
Now, by increasing the place, it doesn’t mean that you start running instead of walking. It just means that you need to walk briskly in order to help yourself burn more calories.
Suggested Read: Walking: Best Medication-Free Tip to Reduce High Blood Pressure!
5. Walking Uphill
To help yourself increase teh calorie burn, it is very helpful for you if you walk uphill on a regular basis.
For some people, this can mean adding more hilly routes to their walking routes, and for some, it can just be increasing the treadmill gradient.
However, to help yourself and to add uphill walking you can incorporate stairs, hills, and even inclines two to three times a week.
When to Visit a Doctor
Now, that you are aware of all the answers to how walking helps in losing weight. it is upto you to implement walking in your routine. If you feel like you are feeling difficulty in making it a part of your routine or there are some health conditions that stop you, it is best to consult the best general physician near you by contacting Healthwire.
