"Walk your way thin" headlines, or variations therefore, can be found on the covers of numerous fitness and women's magazines. This is because walking outdoors or on a treadmill are both effective for weight loss, according to the American Council on Exercise (ACE). But how long you walk and how often are important factors for losing weight. Be prepared to make room in your schedule for a date with your treadmill almost daily if you want to lose 10 pounds.
Step 1
Start out walking slowly, at 1.0 mph and working up to 3.0 mph, over 5 to 10 minutes to warm up. Set the treadmill to a zero incline.
Step 2
Walk for as long as you can maintain a minimum of 3.0 mph speed, which is considered brisk walking for a moderate level workout. Keep track of how many calories you burn, and repeat your workout throughout the day until you have burned 250 calories for the day. Use the calorie counter on your treadmill, but don't forget to follow the prompts when you turn it on that ask for your age and weight so the calories-burned number on the display is relatively accurate.
Step 3
Finish your workouts with a 5-minute cool down period to safely bring your heart rate down.
Step 4
Repeat steps 1 through 3 five days a week, recommends the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Burning 250 calories each day for five days will use up 1,250 calories per week.
Step 5
Continue your treadmill workout for 28 weeks to lose 10 lbs. Ten pounds is made up of 35,000 calories as 1 lb. of fat contains 3,500 calories. This means it should take no longer than 28 weeks to reach your weight goal, assuming you maintain the same caloric intake.
Tips and Warnings
- Speed up your weight loss by increasing the number of calories burned per workout. Increase your speed to a run, raise the incline of the treadmill or increase the time you exercise to burn more calories. A 150 lb. person will burn approximately 246 calories walking for one hour at 3.0 mph, according to NutriStrategy.com. The same person will burn 422 calories walking at 3.5 mph on an incline and 563 calories running at 5.0 mph. Have your doctor sign off on your treadmill workout plan before you begin.
- Overeating can cancel out your treadmill workouts. Use a calorie needs calculator (see Resources) to figure out how many calories you will need to maintain your weight without the exercise. Count your calories so you stay at your maintenance level or below so the calories you burn from walking will come from existing fat and you'll lose the weight.
References
- ACE: A Walk a Day
- "NASM Essentials of Personal Fitness Training: Course Manual;" Michael Clark, Scott Lucett, Rodney Corn; 2008
- CDC: Losing Weight
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