Made a new year’s resolution to lose weight? You might be tempted to jump into a punishing exercise regime and super low-calorie diet, but this approach is unlikely to be sustainable. Instead, it’s better to focus on building healthy eating habits and finding ways to increase your daily energy expenditure.
Dietitians and trainers often recommend walking as a weight loss tool. It’s an accessible, low-impact exercise that can help you increase your calorie burn. If you’re new to exercise, it will also boost your cardio fitness, so that your body is better prepared for faster-paced exercise.
To help you get started, sports scientist and founder of popular walking app WalkActive Joanna Hall has created this four-week plan. It has different recommendations for beginners and advanced walkers, so you can tailor it to your current fitness levels.
Joanna Hall is a walking, fitness and wellbeing expert. She holds a master’s degrees in sports science from Loughborough University, and was a sports medicine intern at Virginia Mason Sports Medicine Clinic in Seattle.
Beginner
There’s a lot of debate on how long you should be walking every day, but a 2016 study in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health suggested that adults who take 7,500 daily steps have a lower chance of being obese. Hall says this is a good number to start with.
“A typical week might include a daily step count of 7500 with four fast-paced walking sessions on top. These session can start at 10 minutes—the key is consistency and gradually increasing intensity.”
She suggests that beginners try the following regime:
Week 1: 7500 daily steps, plus 4 x 10 minutes walks at a brisk pace
Week 2: 7500 daily steps, plus 4 x 12 minutes walks at a brisk pace
Week 3: 7500 daily steps, plus 4 x 15 minutes walks at a brisk pace
Week 4: 7500 daily steps, plus 4 x 18 minutes walks at a brisk pace
Advanced
If you are a regular walker, you can still use…
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