Embarking on a journey to better health doesn't need to be complicated. As the President and CEO of JAG Physical Therapy, I have dedicated over 30 years to helping individuals achieve optimal health and fitness through evidence-based practices and personalized care. My career has taken me from the sidelines of Major League Soccer to consulting for professional athletes across the NHL, NFL, NBA, MLB, and USA Wrestling. Now, I'm sharing some simple yet effective strategies to turn your everyday walk into a powerful fat-burning workout.
RELATED: 15 Simple Ways to Maximize Burning Fat While Walking
1. Boost Your Health With Walking
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Walking workouts have many health benefits. The first is that walking is great for cardiovascular health. Walking increases your heart rate, which improves blood flow and can lower blood pressure. It also helps your cardiovascular system work more efficiently, which can increase your energy levels, help you lose weight, increase muscle strength, and improve balance.
2. Why Walking Burns Fat
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Walking is a highly effective way to burn fat because it's a low-impact exercise that can be sustained over long periods. It engages multiple muscle groups, increases heart rate, and promotes calorie expenditure without the risk of injury that higher-impact exercises might pose. Moreover, walking can be easily integrated into daily routines, making it an accessible option for individuals of all fitness levels.
3. Try Interval Walking
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One of the most effective tricks is incorporating interval walking into your routine. This involves alternating between periods of brisk walking and slower, recovery-paced walking. For example, you might warm up at a slow pace for a few minutes, then walk briskly for two minutes, then slow down to a moderate pace for one minute, and repeat. This approach boosts your heart rate, maximizes calorie burn, and keeps your metabolism elevated even after you've finished exercising. You can start by incorporating one cycle into your walk and increase each time.
4. More Walking Tricks
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Incorporating hills or inclines into your walking route is another excellent strategy. Walking uphill engages more muscles, especially in the lower body, and increases the intensity of your workout, which helps burn more calories. Additionally, using walking poles, hand weights, or a weighted vest can enhance your routine. This not only increases the intensity but also engages the upper body, providing a more comprehensive workout. Another simple goal is to aim for 10,000 steps a day – adding up to roughly 5 miles of walking. Finally, maintaining proper form and posture – keeping your shoulders back and engaging your core, can improve efficiency and prevent injuries. By varying your walking routine with these tricks, you can effectively target fat loss and improve overall fitness.
5. Choose Your Walking Style
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The effectiveness of each form of walking depends on the individual and their overall weekly routines. If one performs very little cardiovascular exercises throughout the week, a power walk or interval walking would be optimal to increase their heart rate. On the other hand, if the individual typically performs cardiovascular exercises during the week, a slower-paced walk or a nature walk may be a better option to treat as an "active recovery" day. However, no matter what pace, everyone should take priority in outdoor walks – being outside and in fresh air increases mental and physical health.
6. Challenge Yourself
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Creating a weekly walking routine consisting of moderate to high intensity will challenge an individual and increase form and cardiovascular help. After adjusting to a walking routine, trying more challenging walking methods, such as Nordic walking, will increase overall progress.
7. Mix Walking With Other Exercises
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Combining a more relaxed walk with intervals of intense sprints and stair climbing allows calories to be burned faster and improves overall cardiovascular health. Furthermore, strength exercises such as lifting weights or doing bodyweight pushups before or after walks can assist with increasing metabolism and enhancing bone density. Additionally, static and dynamic stretching before a walking routine allows for an increase in flexibility and assists with overall recovery.
8. Use Proper Walking Form
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To maintain proper walking form, one can remember "heel to toe." As the heel of your foot strikes the ground, you are being propelled forward by your back foot, pushing off the ground. Unlike running, your feet should never lift off the ground completely when walking. Everyone has a natural stride that is most comfortable, and one of the most common mistakes you can make is increasing the length of your stride to walk faster. Over-striding can strain your muscles and joints, causing pain in the arches of your feet, knees, hips, and heels. When walking, it is vital to work towards taking a more significant number of steps per minute versus taking longer strides. Another helpful tip is to maintain proper chest alignment, keeping it upright and using your arms and upper back muscles to help propel forward (especially when going up an incline). Ensure proper footwear is worn (a proper length and thickness of sock and support of a sneaker) to help optimize walking form.
9. Get The Most From Walking
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To maximize the health benefits of a walking workout, you should walk for a 30-minute interval as briskly as you can several days per week. A "brisk" walk should be challenging but doable, at a conversational pace where you're able to talk. This helps form the habit of walking and can build up to longer sessions, increasing the health benefits even more.
