Is Walking Good for Weight Loss? Tips to Make Every Step Count
Key takeaways:
Walking may help you lose weight by increasing your daily calorie burn and promoting healthy habits.
Experts suggest aiming for 200 to 300 minutes (about 3 to 5 hours) of weekly exercise to lose weight. Any time you spend walking will count toward that goal.
Challenge yourself by increasing distance, speed, resistance, or incline. Start slowly and gradually build your walking workout intensity.
Walking is an accessible cardio workout that offers head-to-toe benefits. Regular strolls keep the heart, mind, and muscles healthy and strong. But is walking good for weight loss?
Learn more about walking for weight loss, and get tips to maximize the benefits of your walking workouts.
Can walking help you lose weight?
Yes, walking can support weight loss. Research also suggests that it may even help prevent weight gain over the years. But, to meet your weight-loss goals, walking should be part of a well-rounded plan that includes other cardio exercises, strength training, and a nutritious diet.
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Let's look at the many ways walking can promote weight loss.
Walking burns calories
Like any aerobic exercise, walking burns calories. It increases your daily calorie burn, which can help you lose weight over time. But your weight loss results also depend on your eating habits, sleep quality, and stress levels.
The number of calories you burn while walking depends on many factors. These include your body weight, age, and walking pace and duration. Still, it's possible to estimate how many calories you'll burn by walking.
Here's an estimate of how many calories you can burn during a 30-minute walk at various paces, if you weigh 155 lbs:
Casual (2 mph): 70 calories
Moderate (3 mph): 116 calories
Brisk (3.5 mph): 133 calories
Very brisk (4 mph): 175 calories
Fast (5 mph): 316 calories
For comparison, here's an estimate of how many calories you can burn during other moderate, 30-minute cardio sessions:
Cross-country hiking: 210 calories
Aerobic dancing: 228 calories
Rowing: 246 calories
Cycling (12 mph to 13 mph): 281 calories
Running (6 mph): 351 calories
Cardio isn't the only exercise for weight loss. Learn how strength training can support your weight-loss plan.
Can you lose weight without dieting? Yes, consider these tips to lose weight without fad diets.
Should you start a weight-loss journal? It might help you manage your weight. Check out these weight-loss journal ideas to track your progress.
Walking improves heart health and metabolism
Aerobic exercises, like walking, boost breathing and heart rate while engaging large muscle groups. This builds endurance, allowing you to exercise for longer periods. And exercising for extended periods strengthens your heart and can help you burn more calories.
Walking may also improve your body's ability to use both fat and carbs as fuel. This may help prevent fat buildup that leads to weight gain.
Additionally, walking is a weight-bearing activity that can help you maintain muscle mass. Preserving muscle keeps your metabolism healthy, helping you burn more calories, even at rest.
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Walking reduces stress
Going for a walk, especially in natural environments, may reduce stress. One study found that a 20-minute nature walk is enough to lower stress levels. That's important because stress can affect your weight.
Stress can change your eating habits and spike cortisol, a hormone linked to weight gain and obesity. Elevated cortisol can also increase insulin levels, causing blood sugar to drop. This can result in overeating or increased cravings for high-fat, sugary foods.
Walking improves sleep
Like stress, sleep also affects hunger and cravings. Lack of sleep can disrupt hormone levels that affect hunger and fullness. These hormonal changes could change your eating habits and lead to weight gain. A study found that women with poor or inadequate sleep ate more food, including higher amounts of added sugar. They also consumed fewer unsaturated fats and whole grains.
Fortunately, research suggests that walking and other physical activities can improve sleep quality. Adequate, restful sleep may help you resist cravings and make better food choices — essential habits for weight loss.
Walking promotes healthier eating habits
Often, healthy habits create a domino effect: Following one healthy habit may make you more likely to follow another. For example, regular exercise and healthier eating habits tend to go hand-in-hand.
Adding walks to your routine may help you adopt other beneficial practices by lowering stress, reducing fatigue, and improving mood. In one study, taking a 15-minute walk reduced cravings among regular chocolate consumers, leading them to cut their snacking by nearly 50%.
Walking provides accessible exercise
The easier it is to do an exercise –– and add it to your routine –– the more likely you’ll be to stick with it long enough to see results. And few exercises are as affordable and accessible as walking. All you need is a comfortable pair of shoes to get started.
How often should you walk for weight loss?
There isn't a one-size-fits-all formula for how often to walk for weight loss. The CDC recommends getting at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio exercise each week. That translates to 30 minutes of cardio a day for 5 days a week. But this recommendation is for overall health, not weight loss.
To find a comfortable weight, some people may need more exercise. Experts suggest exercising up to 200 to 300 minutes per week to maintain weight loss. (This equals roughly 3 to 5 hours of exercise per week, or 40 to 60 minutes of cardio a day for 5 days a week.) Walking workouts can help you reach that goal.
It's also important to continue increasing the intensity of your walks. This way, your body adjusts to new challenges to avoid a plateau.
How can you optimize walking for weight loss?
Consider the following tips when you start walking for weight loss.
Go for a stroll after meals
Going for a short post-meal walk offers many health perks. In particular, research shows that walking after eating may be key for lowering blood sugar. Walking after a meal is also a great way to boost your daily step count.
Gradually increase distance or speed
The simplest way to do this is to walk further or faster. If you'd like to go further, aim to increase distance by no more than 10% per week. So, if your total weekly mileage is 10 miles, go to 11 miles the following week.
Prefer to walk faster? Pick up the pace to just below a jog. Power walking — even for brief bouts — makes your heart, lungs, and muscles work harder. Pump your arms as you walk for a greater calorie burn.
Try faster walking intervals
Interval training involves alternating bouts of higher-intensity activity with lower-intensity recovery periods. It can help you make greater improvements in health and fitness. Research indicates that interval training may also promote weight loss.
To turn your walk into an interval workout, pick up your pace and walk as fast as you can for 30 to 60 seconds. Then, walk at a moderate pace for 1 to 2 minutes. Continue this pattern throughout your walk. Be sure to start with a dynamic 5-minute warmup and finish with a 5-minute cooldown that includes gentle cardio and static stretches.
Add inclines or hills
Walking uphill or at an incline makes your heart, lungs, and muscles work harder to resist gravity. This can make walking workouts more challenging without adding time or distance. In one study, walking at a 5% incline increased calorie burn by 69% compared to level walking.
If you use a treadmill, start by bumping the incline to 1% while walking at your usual pace. Gradually raise the incline as you get fitter.
Wear a weighted vest
Wearable weights can take your workouts to the next level. Wearing a weighted vest while walking is a great way to add resistance and increase the intensity.
You can add or reduce the weight in your vest with small, weighted inserts. Start with up to 5% of your body weight. So, if you weigh 180 lbs, you might start with a vest that weighs 9 lbs. Gradually increase the resistance –– up to 10% of your body weight –– as you get fitter.
Try light weights
If you don't have a weighted vest, you can add resistance to your walks by holding a pair of light dumbbells. Begin with 1- to 3-lb dumbbells. And wait at least 48 hours before walking with weights again.
You may encounter wrist or ankle weights marketed for walking workouts. These flexible cuffs wrap around your wrist or ankle and are filled with sand or lead. But you'll want to avoid using wrist and ankle weights during cardio workouts. Ankle weights can strain your legs, and wrist weights can stress your shoulders. This can lead to pain, muscle imbalances, and injury.
Track your progress
Be sure to log your walking sessions. Record details like pace and time, distance, and how you felt. This can help you:
Learn how you respond to exercise.
Adjust your fitness plan, if necessary.
Stay accountable.
Track your progress.
To track your walking sessions, you can use:
An app (like Strava)
A spreadsheet
Pen and paper
The bottom line
Walking is an approachable workout that can help you lose weight. It burns calories, reduces stress, and promotes healthy eating habits. Aim for at least 150 minutes of weekly cardio exercise, like walking. Start slowly and gradually build your walking workout intensity. Try increasing time, speed, or resistance as your fitness improves.
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References
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