Have you heard that one of the best forms of exercise for weight loss is walking? It’s true. Whether it’s your main form of physical activity or something you add to your movement routines, you’ll benefit from becoming a regular walker.

Why Walking?

Are you relatively new to physical activity? Have you found it hard to stick to an exercise routine in the past? Walking is an excellent way to start developing an exercise habit. It’s a low-cost, accessible activity that doesn’t require special equipment or skills. It’s also easy on your joints (compared to running, for example) and comes with a low risk of injury.

Walking is an activity you can do alone or in a more social setting with friends, family or a walking group. When walking alone, you can listen to music, a podcast, or simply enjoy nature. There are so many ways to make walking an enjoyable activity; most people can find at least one that resonates with them.

Does Walking Help You Lose Weight?

Yes! Regular walking can help you achieve your weight loss goals, among other health benefits. Pooled evidence suggests that walking benefits body weight, body fat, and body mass index. A study looking at walking group interventions found that participants in walking groups had decreased body fat and body mass index, as well as blood pressure and resting heart rate.

In people with diabetes, studies have shown that walking can reduce body weight and blood pressure, increase cardiovascular fitness and improve blood sugar control. Regular walking is also associated with decreased body mass index, body fat, and body weight in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women. 

Is Running Better Than Walking? 

Running versus walking is a common question, and many people believe that running is the best way to achieve weight loss. Ultimately, they can both help with weight loss, so it comes down to what you enjoy and what you’ll stick to over time (consistency is crucial!).

Here’s the caveat with running: many people fall into the trap of creating unrealistic plans or expectations. Have you ever decided to “start running” but found yourself overly sore or feeling like you have an incoming injury? This is a huge reason why running plans can quickly get abandoned.

If you love running, go for it! It’s a great activity to help with weight loss. But if you’re relatively new to physical activity or running isn’t your thing, don’t stress; walking can also help you meet your weight loss goals. Many people find it easier to stick to a walking plan than a running plan, so you may be better off walking in the long term as it allows you to be more consistent.

How Do You Start a Walking Program?

Starting is always the most challenging part, so a clear plan is crucial to stick to your new routine. Remember to be gentle with yourself and be compassionate when things don’t work out exactly the way you expect them to. Learn the art of resetting and shifting yourself back into a positive mindset to meet your weight loss goals.

Start With an Achievable Plan

If you give your body enough time to adjust, it will. However, if you go all-in from your first session, you’ll likely become overly sore, tired, and demotivated.

Think about your current level of physical activity. If you are not very active right now, you might want to start with 10 to 20 minutes of walking. Once that amount of time feels comfortable for you, add 5 to 10 minutes to your walks and gradually build up your total time. In the beginning, don’t worry too much about your walking pace; simply focus on increasing your walking time to at least 30 minutes.

When you first start walking, aim to schedule a walk at least twice per week. Once you’ve worked that into your routines, add more walks or longer duration walks. Plan longer duration walks on days where you have more time and shorter, more brisk walks when you’re a bit busier.

Get Ready to Walk

You don’t need much for walking, but you will want a comfortable pair of walking or running shoes to keep your feet happy. As for clothing, choose whatever feels good for you, giving you enough room to move and keeping you at a comfortable temperature. Depending on the season, you may need to master the art of layering, with an extra layer at the beginning that you can take off as you warm up.

If you have any medical conditions, check in with your doctor to let them know you plan to implement a walking routine.

Find Your Walking Pace and Ramp up the Intensity

If you want to reap the benefits of walking, you need to reach a moderate intensity level. Moderate intensity will be different for everyone, but a general rule is that you can carry on a conversation in short sentences and breathe noticeably harder. If you regularly wear a device that tracks your heart rate, you can aim for 60% to 70% of your maximum heart rate.

Once 30 minutes of walking feels doable for you, start to increase the intensity of your walks. Ramp up your pace and walk more briskly for 5-minute intervals, alternating between 5 minutes of brisk walking and 5 minutes of walking at a slower pace. Once you feel comfortable with this, increase the amount of time you spend walking at a brisk pace until you maintain that pace throughout your entire walk.

Walk With Good Technique

An efficient walking technique helps you walk faster, which you may need to do if you aren’t walking fast enough to hit the moderate-intensity level of exercise. Your technique also allows you to walk for longer before tiring out as you’re using your whole body more effectively.

Use the following tips to improve your walking technique:

• Maintain an upright posture. Avoid leaning your chest past your legs or hunching forwards.
• Keep your eyes looking forward. Looking down at your feet places stress on your neck and upper back. Look 10 to 20 steps in front of you.
• Swing your arms in a back-and-forth motion. Start the movement from your shoulders and let it travel down through your arms.
• Use a heel-to-toe foot placement and roll your foot across the ground. Think about stepping lightly rather than thudding with each step.
• Push off your back foot to initiate your stride. But, don’t fall into the trap of taking very large steps, as this limits how fast you can walk.

Mix Things up and Continue to Challenge Yourself

At some point, you may feel like you want more of a challenge. Maybe you are no longer hitting your target heart rate (because your body has adapted well to walking), or you want more variety in how you move. Here are some ways to keep walking engaging and effective:

• Add in hills or stairs. Doing this will increase the intensity and burn more calories in a shorter period.
• If you have access to different walking areas, mix up your locations. There’s a bonus if you have a nearby forest: walking through the woods can decrease anxiety.
• Try Nordic walking. This walking style uses long poles for support and is effective for weight loss.

How Much Should You Walk to Achieve Weight Loss?

As a general rule, aim for 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, like brisk walking, per week. Depending on your schedule, you might have longer walks on some days and shorter walks on other days. Try to walk at least 3 or 4 days per week.

As always, consistency is critical. Finding ways to work walking into your routines will help you achieve and maintain your weight loss. If you are short on time, you can use some of the strategies above, such as hills and stairs, to get more intensity in a shorter time.

Walking is an excellent gateway into physical activity, but there’s more to the story. If you really want to reap the full benefits of an exercise routine, resistance training is something you’ll want to have on your radar. The next post in this series will go over how to incorporate resistance training to create a comprehensive exercise routine (that you’ll actually enjoy!).

Takeaway

Walking is an accessible way to get started with physical activity. Plus, it’s effective for weight loss and a host of other health benefits. If you’re new to walking, start slow and gradually build up your pace and distance. Aim to walk at least 3 or 4 days per week, focusing on good technique to achieve a brisk pace. Get out there and enjoy moving your body!