Walking is one of the simplest ways to get active and raise your heart rate. The American Heart Association recommends that healthy adults walk a minimum of 150 minutes per week, or 30 minutes every weekday. However, walking for half an hour will not burn enough calories for you to lose weight quickly. You need to intensify your walking workout so that you maintain a higher heart rate for an extended length of time. Complement your walking regimen with strength and flexibility exercises to maximize your weight-loss results.
Step 1
Measure your current workout. Use a pedometer to determine how many steps you walk during the course of your day, including your walking workout.
Step 2
Record your total number of steps each day for a week. Total the amount and divide it by 7 to find out your average number of steps per day.
Step 3
Add 1,000 steps to your average number every week. You can lengthen your walking workout, walk to work, schedule a nature hike with friends or do laps while shopping at the mall. You eventually want to average 70,000 steps per week or 10,000 steps per day.
Step 4
Increase your pace. Use a stopwatch to measure how many miles you walk per hour. You burn between 183 to 273 calories walking a 30-minute mile, while you burn 277 to 414 calories per hour walking a brisk 17-minute mile. Pick up the pace to a slow jog and you burn 584 to 872 calories per hour. For every 3,500 calories you burn, you lose 1 lb. of fat.
Step 5
Add challenges to your walking workout. Rather than keep your pace slow and steady, mix in bursts of speed to raise your heart rate higher. An interval training workout consists of walking at a brisk pace for 30 minutes and interspersing it with 12 race-walking or running sprints lasting between 15 and 30 seconds.
Step 6
Walk at an incline. You burn more calories covering a hilly terrain. You also build more muscle, because you strengthen your lower body muscles when climbing uphill. If you walk on a treadmill, set it on a grade for a portion of your walking session.
Tips and Warnings
- Add upper-body strength training by pumping weights while your walk.
- Consult with your doctor before starting a weight-loss program if you have any health concerns.
Things You'll Need
- Pedometer
- Stopwatch
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