Being physically active is an important component to your weight-loss success. Incorporating consistent workouts, such as walking on a treadmill, will contribute to the amount of calories you burn and will increase your metabolism. Walking is a quality exercise activity for those who are just beginning their fitness or weight-loss efforts, or for those who are looking for an activity that can become part of their daily routine.
How to Lose Weight
To lose body fat, you must burn more calories than you consume. A deficit of 3,500 calories needs to be created to lose 1 lb. of fat. Exercise facilitates creating this caloric deficit, as you burn more calories while you're physically active and even after you're finished with your workout. Because for a period of time afterward you raise your metabolism, causing you to burn more calories.
Walking
Walking on a treadmill is a low-impact cardiovascular exercise activity that is very popular because, besides the treadmill, it only requires a pair of quality walking shoes. It's not the most efficient cardiovascular exercise in terms of burning calories, however. A 150-lb. person will burn 183 calories for every hour they walk at 2 mph, and 277 calories every hour they walk at 3.5 mph, according to Mayo Clinic.
Volume of Walking
For every pound of fat loss, a 150-lb. person will need to walk on a treadmill for about 19 hours if they walk at 2 mph and about 12 ½ hours if they walk at 3.5 mph. This total amount of walking would obviously be split up into multiple workout sessions.
Variations to Make Your Walks More Efficient
To make your treadmill walking workouts more efficient in terms of burning more calories per unit of time, increase the speed as much as you comfortably can or increase the incline on the treadmill a few degrees. This will increase the intensity of your walking workouts.
Considerations
Consider incorporating outside walking workouts with your regular treadmill sessions. The one downfall of treadmills is that the ground moves underneath you instead of you having to drive yourself forward with each step. Walking on a treadmill is less intensive than walking outside. Be mindful of your nutritional habits, as consuming 277 less calories in a day is much easier to complete than walking at 3.5 mph for an hour. Eating high-calorie foods can cancel out the caloric deficit you create through your regular walking workouts.
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