The keys to a successful walking program for weight loss are the duration, intensity and frequency of your exercise sessions. A brisk walk at a pace of 3.5 mph on a flat route burns an estimated 300 calories an hour for a 150-lb. person. Walking for exercise coupled with moderate calorie restriction can help you reduce health risks and succeed at weight loss at any age or weight.
Background
Some people become discouraged when they begin walking for exercise and don't see immediate weight loss. Exercise can contribute to lean tissue breakdown, so it's important to include strengthening exercises to preserve muscle as part of your exercise program. Otherwise, a walking program and dieting could result in your body losing muscle. Muscle loss slows your metabolism, making it harder to lose weight and setting you up for weight gain. Taking a moderate-intensity walk every day for 40 to 60 minutes promotes weight loss and may help reduce your appetite, according to the Indiana University Health Center Bloomington.
Intensity
To avoid a weight-loss plateau, keep challenging your body. Once you become physically fit enough to walk briskly in comfort, increasing your exercise intensity by power walking can boost your fitness and weight-loss progress. This technique involves taking faster steps, keeping your steps short to avoid unnecessary strain on your joints. Swinging your hands up to shoulder height with your arms at a 90-degree angle helps to increase the calories you burn as you walk by 5 to 10 percent, the University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter says.
Duration
A common recommendation for exercise -- exercise three times a week for 30 minutes -- applies to reducing major health risks. This isn't sufficient exercise for weight loss. While 90 minutes a week of exercise is better than nothing, you need at least 250 minutes a week, about 4 1/4 hours, to achieve substantial weight loss, according to research by the American College of Sports Medicine published in the February 2009 "Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise." It's fine to start by taking 10-minute walks if you need to.
Tips
Sticking to a consistent exercise program of walking most days of the week can help you improve your fitness and lose weight, as long as you create a calorie deficit. Creating a calorie deficit requires consuming fewer calories than you burn. The more vigorously you walk, the more calories you burn and the more efficient your body becomes at burning them. Learning portion control and counting servings of each food group can help you limit your calorie intake. But avoid drastic calorie cutting. Keep your daily intake to at least 1,200 calories if you are a woman and 1,500 if you are a man.
References
- Harvard Health Publications; Walking: Your Steps to Health; August 2009
- University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter; A Dozen Ways to Improve Your Walking Workouts; 2010
- Indiana University Health Center Bloomington; Walking: Steps to a Healthier Lifestyle; 2008
- "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.; February 2009
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