Do you love losing weight, but hate running to achieve that goal? While it is true that running is a great form of cardiovascular exercise to lose weight, it’s not the only way. In fact, studies have shown that walking thirty minutes will allow you to burn 150 calories a day. Walk four days a week, and you can lose a pound a week— just from walking! Here’s how to do it right.
Know Your Goals, Walk Them to Success!
Walking has been shown to be a great form of exercise for people of all ages. Walk for thirty minutes (at a fast pace and without stopping) to burn over a hundred calories. But, if you have serious weight loss goals, here are some clever ways to speed up your weight loss success:
• While walking, inject intervals throughout your walk. The faster you walk, the more calories you burn! So, look for any hills or stairs you can climb, or bring three or five pound weights with you while you walk (lift and walk!) You can even use resistance bands to up the intensity.
• Lunge and walk. Whether you are walking indoors or outside, you can periodically slow down your pace to do a lunge/walk. For thirty seconds at a time (challenge yourself by doing more as you increase your fitness level), lunge as you walk.
As you increase your endurance, you can add jumping lunges or ski burpees to the mix! (get into a push-up position, and jump your right leg back behind your left with your palms firmly planted on the ground in front of you, and then jump your left leg back behind your right, as though you’re skiing. Repeat for ten seconds.)
Step Up Your Weight Loss With This Shape Up Program
Whether you are recovering from a recent injury, enjoy walking or are eager to finally lose weight with a program you can (finally!) stick to, walking is the perfect way to do it! Here’s an easy, nearly effortless way to burn calories for the next four days:
• Day 1. Walk at a brisk pace for twenty minutes. Do a lower body workout consisting of lunges, squats and wall sits.
• Day 2. Walk at a brisk pace for 45 minutes, combined with intervals of incline walking.
• Day 3. Walk for 45-60 minutes. Finish off with an upper body workout.
• Day 4. Walk for 60 minutes, combined with incline walking. Rotate 5 minutes of interval walking with 10 minutes of walking at a brisk pace, and repeat until you hit 60 minutes.
When you commit to a walking based workout, you can absolutely lose weight, gain muscle and improve your overall fitness. Keep it up, and stay fit for life!
