How many minutes should you walk each day to best lose weight?

How many minutes of walking is needed to lose weight?

Walking is a simple exercise but brings many benefits to health and body shape. Walking to lose weight also depends on different factors, including the right way of walking and perseverance in practicing for a long time.

A 24-week study found that breaking up walking into two 25-minute sessions resulted in greater weight loss than one 50-minute session. Participants who walked in shorter bursts lost about 3.5 pounds (1.6 kg) more than those who walked continuously.

Illustration photo. (Photo source: Internet)

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends at least 300 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week for weight loss. Walking for an hour a day can help achieve this goal while maintaining lean muscle mass. For those new to walking, it is recommended to start slowly with 5-15 minutes of walking, two or three times a week at a comfortable pace. Progress should be gradual, with older adults gradually increasing their weekly activity every 2-4 weeks to avoid injury.

As weight is lost, walking intensity must increase because a lighter body weight burns fewer calories during physical activity. A 150-pound person burns about 50 fewer calories per hour walking at 3 mph than a 180-pound person at the same pace.

The effectiveness of walking for weight loss depends on many factors, including walking speed, duration, intensity, frequency, and eating habits. However, walking for 50 minutes a day can be enough to get in shape and burn excess fat.

Walk the right way to lose weight

When you first start walking, you should maintain a slow pace for 5 minutes to let your body get used to the intensity of the exercise, then increase it to about 90 - 105 steps/minute.

Then, increase your walking speed to about 120 - 155 steps/minute for a few dozen seconds and then return to the average speed for 30 seconds. Do this alternately for 30 minutes and increase the time in the next walking sessions.

5 minutes before the end of your walking session, you need to return to a slow pace to allow your body and heart rate to return to normal.

Walking between 3pm and 5pm or after 7pm is considered the best time to achieve weight loss results. In addition, you should also avoid walking before meals and immediately after meals because it promotes blood flow to the muscles, making the spleen and stomach not have enough energy to consume food, thereby causing discomfort.

Notes when walking to lose weight

To achieve effective weight loss, in addition to walking properly, you can combine other exercises and require close coordination of many factors:

- Warm up thoroughly before walking to warm up your body to avoid cramps and injuries.

- Walkers need shoes that fit their foot size.

- Clothing should be suitable for the weather, ensure good sweat absorption, and should not be too tight.

- Nutrition plays an important role in the training process. You can have a light snack before exercising if you walk in the morning or afternoon. Food should be easy to digest, providing protein such as nuts, cereals, soups... avoid greasy foods, fast foods and carbonated drinks.

- Need to drink enough water

How many calories does walking burn?

Walking to lose weight and burn calories depends on your body weight. According to research, if you:

Walking lightly for 1 hour at a speed of 5 km/h will reduce 200 calories. Walking briskly at a speed of 6 km – 8 km/h for 1 hour can burn 370 calories. Walking uphill at a speed of 5.5 km/h for 1 hour will reduce about 355 calories.

According to expert research, walking about 10,000 steps a day will help you lose weight effectively.

Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/moi-ngay-can-di-bo-bao-nhieu-phut-de-giam-can-tot-nhat.html