Walking to lose weight                     Home         Ask a question about weight loss

Walking is one of  the best exercises for losing weight. It is also an exercise for maintaining the metabolism rate and muscle mass in the body as we age. If you are unfit and  want  to start losing weight, it is advisable to start with an exercise like walking which will slowly increase the fitness level.  Other advantages of walking are:

1.A higher percentage of fat is burnt while walking compared to other exercises.  While jogging or doing other aerobic exercises, the heart rate of an unfit person become very high. It is difficult for the body to burn fat and carbohydrates are used up. Since walking is usually at consistent pace, there is sufficient oxygen available and fat is used up.

2.  By walking you boost energy levels. Since you gradually increase your walking speed, there is less strain on the body and lower health risk compared to high intensity exercises.

3. Walking is easy , you do not need any special equipment or facilities to walk. You can spend time with your friends or pets while walking. If you do not like walking as an exercise, you can spend simply spend more time on activities you like, like window shopping.

Weight lost during walking depends on the calories burnt.  To burn 1 pound of fat, approximately 3500 calories have to be used. The amount of calories required depends on the body composition, with a muscular person using up slightly more calories. 

The calories burnt during walking depends on both the time spent walking and the speed at which you walk.  If  one person walks at half the speed of  another person for the same time, the faster walker will obviously burn more calories. However, if they walk the same distance, the slower paced person will use up slightly more calories, since they are active for a longer period. By walking faster you improve your cardiovascular function. A person walking at a slower pace, will get tired later and improve endurance.

Calculation of calories burned while climbing stairs

© Copyright 2007  NK Infobase    Home