Can You Lose Weight by Walking an Hour a Day?

If you’re on a mission to lose weight but don’t have the time or energy for a more intense workout, walking is a great place to start. And with fitness trackers and GPS apps readily available on our phones, it’s easier than ever to track your steps, time, or distance every time you hit the pavement.

So, let’s say you walk for an hour during the day: will you lose weight? Studies suggest you would — one in JAMA Internal Medicine found that those who walked for just 30 minutes lost body fat — but just how effective your workout is depends on a number of factors.

“The intensity at which you walk plays a key role in helping your body burn more calories and improve your cardiorespiratory system,” Denise Miklasz, an ACE-certified personal trainer at Northwestern Medicine Crystal Lake Health & Fitness Center, told POPSUGAR.

If you’re walking at a casual stroll, you’re probably not going to achieve the weight loss you want. One way to pick up the pace? “You could include 30- to 60-second bursts of faster walking every three to five minutes, followed by a 30-second recovery walk,” Denise said. You can also try walking with weights or picking a route with hills to add some intervals to your workout.

“An interval-training workout will continue to burn more calories after your workout due to a physiological effect called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, or EPOC. EPOC is sometimes referred to as the ‘afterburn effect,'” Denise explained.

Even more important is your diet. You know this, but you can’t eat whatever you want or as much as you want the second you start exercising. “In order to lose weight you need to create a calorie deficit,” she said. One pound is equal to 3,500 calories, so you’d need to carve out 3,500 calories each week in order to lose one pound, which experts consider a safe and healthy goal. In other words, “you need to either burn an extra 3,500 calories or remove 3,500 calories from your diet,” Denise explained — or a combination of the two.

“Combining exercise with a healthy diet is more effective than restricting calories alone. Exercise can help you maintain and increase lean body mass, which results in a larger calorie burn per day,” she said. To that point, when you’re ready to start building muscle, remember that walking alone won’t cut it. “Ideally, incorporating strength training along with aerobic exercise will increase muscle mass and boost your metabolism,” Denise said.

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