Despite what you may have heard from hardcore distance runners or weightlifters that you happen to know, walking – when paired with a healthy diet – is an effective way to lose weight. According to a study published in Journal of Exercise Nutrition & Biochemistry, researchers who studied the effects of going on overweight women found that it was particularly effective in reducing belly fat, while 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 120 miles each week without meaningfully changing their diet.
If walking is your training method of your choice, you know that there is one thing you can do after lacing your shoes that not only makes your walks more interesting but also ensures that you maximize your weight loss: You can perform walking intervals – or vary the pace of your walks by working in shorter bursts with more intense walking.
“By varying the speed of your walk, especially adding a little faster interval work, you will raise your heart rate and increase your calorie expenditure, which will help you lose weight over time,” he says. Tom Holland, MS, CSCS, CISSN, an exercise physiologist and author of Micro-Workout Plan: Get the body you want without the gym in 15 minutes or less a day. “Remember that your body is an intelligent machine that adapts to your workouts. By adding variety to your walks, you will keep your body challenged and make sure you avoid the dreaded weight loss plateau.”
Studies have shown that high-intensity interval training (HIIT) – of course not – is one of the most effective exercises you can do to lose weight. A huge meta-analysis published in the journal Sports medicine found that HIIT “significantly reduced total, abdominal and visceral fat mass, without gender differences.” The researchers concluded: “HIIT is a time-efficient strategy for reducing fat mass deposits, including abdominal and visceral fat mass.”
Even if you run fast, knock out Burpees and jump ropes are much harder than walking, the same training principles apply to walking intervals: By varying the intensity of your training and pushing your heart rate more, you will reap more rewards.
“It has also been pointed out to me that intervals are more like natural play,” Martin Gibala, Ph.D., professor of kinesiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario – and one of the world’s foremost experts in interval training – once explained to me. “So, if you look at children on a playground, they do not jog at a moderate pace for a continuous period of time. They run and jump and they take breaks and sprint and then stop and take a break. So in some ways I think intervals tend to resemble more natural activities, either from an evolutionary perspective or from a child’s behavioral perspective. “
If you want your walk to be more interesting and productive, use intervals for your next excursion. Consider trying this amazing workout in 30 minutes below, courtesy of Tom Holland. It is done in just half an hour, but your body’s fat burner will work long after you have stopped. Whatever you do, make sure you do not make any of these big mistakes you should not make when walking, according to experts.
Walk at a light pace for 10 minutes to get your body loose and comfortable.
For 30 seconds, take a brisk walk – walk as fast as you can. Immediately afterwards, slowly down to an easy walk for recovery. Repeat this cycle 9 more times.
Walk at a light pace for 10 minutes.
Follow the same routine as above, but perform your power intervals on a hill. Walk 30 seconds steeply up the hill and then 30 seconds back at a light pace. And if you’ve worried about more Eat This, Not That! -Approved workouts to try, do not miss these fantastic ones here:
