Despite what you may have heard from “experts” in the field, walking – when paired with a healthy diet – is an effective way to lose weight. According to a study published in the Journal of Exercise Nutrition & Biochemistry, researchers who studied the effects of walking on obese women found that it was especially effective at reducing belly fat, while also improving the body’s insulin response. Another study, published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, found that sedentary men and women between the ages of 40 and 65 managed to lose weight when they walked for 12 miles every week without meaningfully changing their diets.
If walking is your exercise method of choice, there’s something you can do that not only makes your walks more interesting but also ensures that you’re maximizing your weight loss: You can perform walking intervals – or varying the pace of your walk by working in shorter bursts of more intense walking.
We’ve written about High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) before; on December 12, 2016, October 26, 2015 and February 26, 2015. Although it’s a great training method, it is not what we’re suggesting here. We are proposing blending in the principal of HIIT into your walking routine.
If you want your walk to be more interesting and productive, apply intervals to your next outing. Consider trying your hand at this great 30-minute interval walking workout below.
- Warm up
Walk at an easy pace for 10 minutes to get your body loose and comfortable.
- Do power intervals
For 30 seconds, do a hard power walk – walking as fast as you can. Immediately afterward, slow back down to an easy 30 second walk for recovery. Repeat this cycle 9 more times.
- Cool down
Walk at an easy pace for 10 minutes.
- If you’re looking for even more fat burn
Follow the same routine as above but perform your power intervals on a hill. Walk 30 seconds powerfully up the hill, and then 30 seconds back down at an easy pace. Then cool down.
That’s it my friends; see you all the next time.
