Will Speed Walking Help Me Lose Weight?

There is no specific definition of speed walking, but the "speed limit" for "regular" walking is about 4.5 mph, according to "The Complete Guide to Walking." When you make the commitment to walk faster, and learn the techniques that will make you faster, you will burn far more calories every time you walk. If you become fast enough to be a competitive race walker, you could burn as many calories as a fast runner, "The Complete Guide to Walking" author Mark Fenton reports.

Short-Term Significance

If you speed walk for one hour, you will burn 578 calories if you weigh 185 lbs., 484 calories if you're 155 lbs. and 390 calories if you're 125 lbs., according to a 2004 Harvard Heart Letter study. In contrast, if you walk 4.5 mph, or 13-minute miles, for one hour you will burn 444, 372 and 300 calories, respectively, if you weigh 185, 155 and 125 lbs., respectively. Walking 3.5 mph for one hour burns 356, 298 and 240 calories, for the same weights.

Transition

Making the transition to speed walking involves exercising more intensely so your heart rate increases, counting your steps to monitor your progress, and improving your cardiovascular fitness so you can walk at faster speeds for progressively longer periods of time. You take 120 to 140 steps per minute when you walk 4 mph, but you should increase your step count to 145 to 165 steps per minute to speed walk 5 mph, according to "The Complete Guide to Walking."

Techniques

Learning how to swing your arms is the most important technique for faster speed walking, according to "The Complete Guide to Walking." Your hands shouldn't rise above your chest when your arms are in front of you, and you should move your elbows backward, not upward, on your backswing. Other techniques include driving your hips front to back instead of side to side, making sure each foot lands straight in front of the other for every step and "pushing vigorously off your toes at the end of each step."

Comparison

Speed walking is a better weight-loss activity than running because it's less risky, according to "The Complete Guide to Walking" and the Aug. 2009 issue of Harvard Men's Health Watch. It's a "fairly natural" movement that doesn't hurt your hips or knees, while running injuries are "more likely," writes Fenton. Health Watch explains that walkers "at any speed" always have a foot on the ground, while runners "subject their bodies to a stress equal to about three times their body weight" every time they hit the ground.

Long-Term Significance

Losing 5 lbs. over a short period of time via speed walking, or any other exercise, is better for your long-term weight-loss goals than losing 5 lbs over a short period of time via dieting. Losing weight via speed walking increases your body's metabolism, whereas dieting without exercise slows its metabolism. When your metabolism increases, losing weight in the future becomes easier. Basically, speed walking increases your muscle mass, dieting doesn't, and muscle mass burns more calories than fat.