Believe it or not, you can lose weight just by walking. You don’t have to train like an Olympic athlete for 2 hours a day to see a change in your waistline. Take a brisk walk 3-5 times a week to shed a few pounds.
It is suggested to have 30-60 minutes of activity each day. Depending on what the rest of your day is like, figure out how much time you should spend walking to lose weight. If you sit behind a desk for eight hours a day, it is important to allow yourself 60 minutes of activity a day. One of the best ways to work multiple muscle groups is walking. Try these simple rules to ensure you burn enough calories to lose weight by just walking.
Frequent walks are better. Use your dog or alone time with your spouse as an excuse to take a walk around the neighborhood. The more times that you walk each week, the more calories you are burning, thus, walking to lose weight. However, it is not necessary to walk every day. Your body does need a rest after a few days of exercise, find more info.
Switch your routes. After you spend a few days walking around the neighborhood, drive yourself to a different location, such as a trail, for a change of scenery. It is important that you don’t allow yourself to get bored. When you are on your way to the trails, pick up a friend so you can enjoy the walk with good company. Also, considering changing your paths around the neighborhood, not only for scenery, but for the incline. It is healthy to walk up and down hills because they target different muscles. Alternate the length of your walks. Your body will respond better if you walk for 30 minutes one night, then 60 minutes the next, and 45 minutes the third night and follow with a break.
Pull your own weight, and then some. Look into purchasing ankle weights if you want to focus on your leg muscles. Otherwise bring dumbbells with you on your stroll. If you don’t own dumbbells, grab a couple of water bottles. As you get hot, alternate which bottle you drink from in attempts to keep both the same weight. By carrying extra weight, you have to work slightly harder and successfully walking to lose weight.
Walk to the beat. If you want help speeding up your walking pace, bring a music player with upbeat music. It is vital to walk at a pace fast enough to get your heart rate high enough to start burning extra calories. Measure your pulse before you begin walking to lose weight. If you are 35 years old, your target heart rate is 93-157 beats per minute. If you are younger, you want higher heartbeats. If you are older, you are targeting lower heart rates; 50-year-old individuals want 85-145 heartbeats a minute. If you are able to have conversation comfortably during your entire walk, you are not walking hard enough. But be careful no to walk too fast, you want to be able to talk to your partner, just not able to have a conversation with no shortness of breath.
Try using these tips when walking as exercise and you can lose weight.