Brisk walking can potentially help with weight management. There are a few ways to increase the amount of energy that walking burns, including wearing a weighted vest and walking uphill.
Any exercise, in combination with dietary changes, may help people manage their weight. To get the most benefit from walking, people should ensure it raises their heart rate.
Below are some ways people can enhance their walking for weight loss.
As with running, swimming, and other forms of aerobic exercise, pace matters. Walking at a brisk pace burns more calories than walking more slowly.
The National Health Service (NHS) recommends walking at a pace where talking is still possible but singing is difficult.
People can also use apps or wearable devices to track their speed or heart rate.
Adding extra weight to a workout will increase its difficulty and the amount of energy the body has to use in the process.
Weighted vests may also have other benefits. For example, a small 2024 trial involving postmenopausal women with low bone density found that adding a weighted vest to light exercise reduced bone loss in comparison to a control group who exercised without the vest.
This suggests that adding weights to aerobic exercise may slow or prevent the progression of conditions such as osteopenia or osteoporosis.
However, this approach is not for everyone. People with back or neck problems may need to avoid using a weighted vest, while others may need to work up to wearing the additional weight.
As with any new exercise, a person should speak to their doctor beforehand.
Walking uphill or on a gradient also increases the difficulty of the exercise and the number of calories people burn.
For some, this may mean increasing the treadmill gradient, while others may want to incorporate more hills into their outdoor walking routine.
People can also walk uphill more by using stairs instead of elevators or escalators.
It is important to maintain form and a balanced posture while walking. Sometimes, this in itself can result in a person strengthening new muscles.
To have good form when walking:
- stand tall with the head, spine, shoulders, and hips in alignment
- pull the abdominal muscles in
- place the feet hip-width apart and parallel to one another
- look forwards
- walk with a heel-to-toe pattern, placing the heel of the foot on the ground first, then rolling it forward and pushing off from the ball of the foot
- bend the elbows at a right angle and swing the arms, keeping them close to the body
Try to avoid leaning forward or backward when walking up or down hills. Instead, try to remain tall and upright.
Adding resistance training exercises to a walk may help burn more calories and increase new muscle growth.
To do this, people can take breaks from walking at regular intervals and use their body weight or outdoor equipment. Some exercises to try include:
The
Power walking is a form of brisk walking that focuses on speed and arm movement. It can be an effective way to increase the intensity of walks.
To try it, a person should first walk at a typical pace for about 5 to 10 minutes to warm up. Then they can increase to an uncomfortable but sustainable pace for 10 to 15 seconds before returning to a typical walking pace.
People can repeat this pattern for as long as they can manage. For beginners, it may help to start with a small interval of power walking initially before including it more often.
Some people may find it easier to maintain their daily exercise by doing shorter walks throughout the day instead of taking a much longer walk once a day.
Doing this may even enhance the effects of walking for weight loss. One
However, this study was small and only involved women who were not physically active at the start. More research is necessary to determine if these results apply in other situations.
Simply increasing the number of steps people take throughout the day may help with weight management as well as overall health.
A common recommendation is for adults to walk 10,000 steps per day. This figure originally came from a marketing campaign by a pedometer company, but research has since found that walking this many steps reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease and dementia.
Other research has found that for younger people, anywhere between 7,000 and 13,000 steps leads to the biggest improvements in health, while for older people, it was 6,000 to 10,000.
However, incorporating this many steps can be challenging for people with sedentary jobs. To increase the amount of walking a person does throughout the day, they can try:
- taking the stairs instead of the elevator
- parking further away from shops, work, or school
- walking to lunch, work, school, or other activities if possible
- taking walking breaks at work instead of sitting
Fitness trackers or pedometers help people track how many steps they are doing.
Below are some commonly asked questions about walking for weight loss:
This depends on a range of factors, such as how many calories a person takes in each day and how many they burn.
The CDC recommends that adults do 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise per week for overall health. People may wish to use this as a goal before tailoring their workouts to their needs.
It is not possible to burn fat in specific parts of the body with any type of exercise. That said, a general weight loss plan can reduce body fat overall, including on the belly.
Possibly, but it depends on the cause of the increased weight.
If the cause is a calorie surplus, a person may need to combine walking with dietary changes.
Similarly, if weight gain occurs due to an underlying condition, such as a thyroid disorder, people may need treatment for that first.
Anyone who is having difficulty managing their weight should speak with a doctor, especially if diet and exercise do not seem to help.
Walking can be beneficial for weight loss in combination with other strategies. It also has many other benefits, such as improving cardiovascular health and reducing the risk of chronic conditions.
A person should aim to increase the regularity of their walking and the number of miles or steps they take each day. Try increasing the intensity a few days a week with faster walks or increased inclines.
Before trying more strenuous exercise, a person should speak to their doctor, particularly if they have any pre-existing conditions. Those with injuries, joint problems, heart conditions, or other concerns may need extra advice on exercising safely.