Walking is a low-impact aerobic exercise that's easy to do, requires no special equipment and burns calories effectively. The amount of calories that you'll burn walking depends how long you walk, how strenuous your walk is and how much you weigh.
Video of the Day
Walking Benefits
Aside from burning calories and improving fitness levels, walking can reduce belly fat, lower blood pressure and raise your production of HDL, or "good" cholesterol. According to ScienceDaily, walking is as effective as running for lowering your risk of heart-related conditions.
Non-Strenuous Walking
For a 130-pound person, walking at a moderate pace -- such as walking the dog -- burns 60 to 70 calories per half-hour or 120 to 140 calories per hour. For a 200-pound person, it burns 90 to 100 calories per half-hour or 180 to 200 calories per hour.
Strenuous Walking
For a 130-pound person, walking briskly at a pace of 3.5 mph or walking slowly uphill burns 80 to 90 calories per half-hour or 160 to 180 calories per hour. For a 200-pound person, a 3.5 mph pace burns about 120 calories per half-hour or 240 calories per hour. Walking at a pace of 4.5 mph, race walking or cross-country hiking nearly doubles the amount of calories burned for both groups.
