One of the challenges of losing weight is that the more overweight you are, the more effort it takes to exercise. Carrying more weight on your body means all physical activities require more effort. This uncomfortable situation comes with a plus side. The more you weigh, the more calories you burn, because of the effort of moving your body weight. Choosing the easiest exercise for weight loss will help you make exercise a habit.
Evidence
Walking 150 to 250 minutes a week will help you maintain your health and your weight. Significant weight loss requires more than 250 minutes of physical activity a week, advises the American College of Sports Medicine in an article in "Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise." If you're out of shape, starting with 10-minute walks two or three times a day will help you increase your exercise. By working your way up to six 45-minute walks a week, you'll be able to achieve your weight-loss goal.
Walking
Walking offers the easiest weight-loss exercise option. Almost anyone can do it, and you don't have to buy any special equipment or drive anywhere. You can exercise almost anywhere, including indoors, so you'll be able to do it year-round. Walking burns calories, improves your cardiovascular health and lung capacity, tones your legs and buttocks, and helps to maintain bone density. If you have been inactive or you are significantly overweight or obese, walking offers a low-impact way to get back in shape and improve fitness, with minimal risk of injury.
Interval Training
As you lose weight, you'll have to increase your exercise intensity to continue losing weight. If you started out at 240 lbs., you burned 414 calories during one hour of walking at 3.5 mph. When you trim down to 200 lbs., that same walk only burns 277 calories. An easy way to burn more calories with your walking program is to add interval training. If your fitness level allows, walk for 10 minutes and then jog or run for 12 to 30 seconds. Repeat this pattern for the duration of your walk.
Variations
Walking in a pool provides increased resistance and offers a lower-impact option if you have mobility limitations, you have arthritis, or you are obese. The water supports your body and helps reduce pressure on your joints as you exercise. Moving through water is more work than moving through air, so you strengthen your muscles when you walk in a pool. Strengthening exercises help you perform more aerobic exercise. Walking or marching on a rebounder -- a mini trampoline -- reduces the impact on your knees and can provide more variety for your workouts.
References
- MayoClinic.com: Exercise for Weight Loss: Calories Burned in 1 Hour
- "Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise"; Appropriate Physical Activity Intervention Strategies for Weight Loss and Prevention of Weight Regain for Adults; Joseph E. Donnelly, Ed.D., et al.; February 2009
- MayoClinic.com: Interval Training: Can It Boost Your Calorie-Burning Power?
- President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports: Exercise and Weight Control
Member Comments