How Long Should I Walk To Lose Weight?
The question “how long should I walk to lose weight?” is frequently asked by people who want to lose weight without doing any rigorous physical activity except walking.
Undoubtedly, walking can help you lose weight, but that does not mean you can achieve that without a proper weight loss program.
You can’t walk haphazardly and expect stellar results.
We will discuss how walking can help you lose weight and how to plan the time to walk, and the distance you should cover daily and weekly.
Can Walking Help Lose Weight?
Research shows that you can lose weight when you walk frequently using a good weight loss plan.
You can burn out hundreds of calories when you add brisk walking to your daily routine.
Although walking might be a low-impact exercise, you shouldn’t underrate it. When done correctly, it can help you get in shape and burn the calories required to achieve your weight loss goal.
Walking can help you lose weight if you consistently follow your weight loss plan. Skipping days or reducing your weekly walking hours may reduce the effect of the exercise.
It can be difficult to state the exact amount of fat you will lose by walking. But burning calories and losing fat (including belly fat) is inevitable when you make walking a regular activity.
To answer the question, “how long should I walk to lose weight?”An average of 30 minutes of walking per day for most days of the week and about 120 minutes walk a week will go a long way in maintaining your BMI (Body Mass Index).
Maintaining weight can also be achieved when you include walking in your daily routine. Another question to consider is, “how long should I walk to maintain my weight?”
After walking your way to fitness by losing weight successfully, you should work on maintaining your weight. This is necessary to prevent a relapse of some sort, where you begin to add more weight.
It also prevents going too hard on yourself to lose more weight than necessary.
Other Walking Benefits
Losing weight is not the only benefit of walking. As you walk, you are also improving the state of your health each day.
Walking is free for everyone, regardless of age. A teenager or young adult can start a walking routine just as any older adult in their 70s or 80s.
While a teenager or young adult will quickly build strength and stay fit for the years ahead, older folks can successfully add more years by keeping fit.
- Reduces the Risk of Diseases: Your risk of developing certain diseases can be greatly reduced if you walk regularly. You will be far from diseases like high blood pressure, stroke, Alzheimer’s, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.
- Improves Digestion: Walking can speed up your digestive process because it stimulates the intestines and the stomach for a faster movement of the food taken. It also reduces the rate at which you may experience heartburn and constipation.
- Strengthens Bones and Muscles: Walking strengthens your bones and reduces your risk of osteoporosis which can likely lead to bone fractures. It also builds your coordination and gives you good balance. It helps to tone the muscles in your legs and abdominal region. You can also tone the muscles in your arms if you swing them while you walk.
- Strengthens Immune System and Boost Blood Circulation: Walking helps the immune cells to effectively perform and regenerate faster. It also increases your blood circulation and lowers the rate at which your blood clots.
How Much Walking To Lose Weight
Health experts and many researchers suggest that regular walking can lead to weight loss. However, you don’t have to walk every day of the week. But try to walk for most days of the week.
When you walk to lose weight, walk fast enough. This is known as brisk walking. Walk fast with a speed that you can speak and make sentences, but not the speed that can allow you to sing.
Know that your pace is not fast enough if you can sing while you walk.
A walking range between 30 to 90 minutes a day for most days of the week is what you should plan for in your walking routine.
You can walk once a day, probably in the morning or in the evening.
Also, you can plan whether to walk in the morning or evening (preferably at the rise of the sun or while it sets), or you can walk both in the morning and in the evening.
Either way, ensure that the time you pick is convenient for you and you can stick with it.
Advisably, try to brisk walk for a total of about 150 minutes or more in a week. You can choose to walk less on some days and more on other days.
Fitness bands or apps can help you to keep track of your walk pace and heartbeat rate.
Pro Tip: It is possible and often recommended to break down walking time into smaller periods like 10 to 15 minutes. But walking fast for up to 30 minutes or more will help you burn fat faster.
You can take shorter walking periods if you are starting out as a beginner, and increase it gradually. Make sure you don’t skip walking for more than a day.
Conclusion
Many health experts and diet programs have recommended brisk walking as an exercise that burns calories.
Burning calories as you walk will surely help your weight loss program, and you will stop asking the question “how long should I walk to lose weight?”
Thankfully, you don’t have to spend money purchasing any special equipment for this exercise or paying any gym subscription fee.
All you need to do is plan your walking routine, get a good route, kit up, and walk your way to losing weight and staying fit!
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