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Walking for Weight Loss: NOT that effective?
Walking seems to be the most popular form of weight loss cardio. I have long been critical of it’s effectiveness so I wanted to write this post to address some of the weight loss problems and advantages of weight loss.
Advantages of Walking for Weight Loss
I thought I would do the nice and happy aspects of walking as a form of weight loss cardio before I get into the controversial facts and figures. I have a habit of getting myself into trouble with this and similar issues so I’m assuming this time won’t be any different.
1 | It’s easy
This is the aspect of walking that I find most frustrating and couldn’t decide whether to put it as an advantage or a disadvantage. As a martial artist and avid sports player I find walking a bit weak. And here comes the controversial statement - to me walking is summed up best when I say:
It is inbetween running and doing nothing!
However, if you have bad knees, an injury or are super unfit then walking is probably for you. It has a much less risk of pulling any sort of injury and if you are obese or overweight you have less chance of having a heart attack.
2 | It burns fat and not muscle
Let’s say you get up every morning and go for a run before breakfast. The danger there is that you might be burning muscle due to the type of energy needed and the speed at which your body needs to supply it.
Walking, on the other hand, is an excellent pre-breakfast weight loss cardio because it gets your heart rate up to around a level where your body will quite happily tap into your fat reserves for energy supply.
**Fat Burning Pace - I should note here that you probably won’t tap into fat reserves until about 30-45 minutes into your workout and you should be walking at about 60%-70% of your maximum heart rate.
3 | You don’t need anything
To get a good walking workout you don’t need anything at all. You don’t need equipment and you dont need any advanced level of fitness. You just do it.
4 | After dinner weight loss workout
Walking is a very valuable post-dinner weight loss workout as it can be done a full stomach. Walking isn’t very hard and as such allows you to squeeze in a light cardio session before bed so as to burn a few calories before you turn in for the night.
Remember, most of your dinner meal gets absorbed as fat as your body has minimal need for the energy while your are sleeping.
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Disadvantages of Walking for Weight Loss
As you might have noticed this is not a very unbaised article. Here is the section on walking for weight loss where I really shine!
1 | It simply isn’t as effective for weight loss
I dont care what any studies have shown about walking for weight loss, it’s all bull. For every study that says walking is the best way to burn fat I will find you two studies that say walking is not as good as running.
However, I’m not just making some unsubstantiated claims here - I do have some reasoning. Firstly, my clients, friends and myself have made the best weight loss gains with running. Not biking, not swimming, etc. - running. I experiment with both low and high intensity running and this works amazingly.
Here is the reason why. As you might have noticed I am a big fan of progression. In order to become good at anything you must continue to challenge yourself. To get big muscles you must increase the weight you lift all the time. You would never get big lifting a 5kg weight the rest of your life. Likewise, if you want to make weight loss gains you need to progress.
HERE COME THE COMPLAINTS! I can hear you conservatives already! I hear you about to butt in and say: “But if you run you will not be in the fat burning zone!” Well, you are wrong. Not only WILL you be in the fat burning zone, you will burn more fat than if you were walking. I will state my name on this. Here are the main reasons why:
- When you run you increase your heart rate and your metabolism and thus you burn fat LONG AFTER the session has finished.
- You make muscle gains and other similar things such that your metabolism and fat burning increase.
There, I am glad that is off my chest! That is the main reason why walking isn’t as good for weight loss as running. Find me a fat sprinter, football player basketball player - these guys run.
2 | Walking is boring
People who use walking as their main form of weight loss cardio generally get bored pretty fast. This is understandable.
- You aren’t pushing yourself very hard and as such you don’t have any internal “demons” to battle like you do when your running.
- You move slowly so the scenery doesn’t change that much.
- There are only so many songs on an Ipod.
It is very important to keep your fitness and exercise interesting. Especially with weight loss where people give up far too easily. If you have trouble sticking to your weight loss cardio then I would get rid of walking except for days where you are really tired.
Conclusion
I would love to hear some comments from women who have had some POSITIVE results with walking. I am willing to accept it is possible.
I am going to write an article soon on how to jazz up your walking session so as to maximize weight loss effectivness as well as to keep it interesting.
Comments on this article:
| Jenna said: | I love this post because it is not afraid to talk about reality instead of science stuff that is usually influenced by funding. Im subscribing to your feed. Thanks! |
| Swan said: | I think walking is a starting point for many. When starting out, running can be too much of a challenge, one can get easily discouraged, and quit all together. Once walking regularly and for some distance, running and intervals become more do-able and enjoyable. For me walking outside is a mindful experience, soothing both mind and body. |
| Maria said: | Well, i dont have any positive feedback but i have an idea on how to jazz up your walking session. Its a good idea to change speeds of your walk. Instead of walking the whole time, or jogging the whole time, interchange it. For example, Start of 3mph for 2 min then go 4.5 mph for 3 then go to 3.5mph for 3 then 5mph 2 min, then 3mph 2, then 4mph, etc. its better then just walking the whole time cause its funner and you can challenge yourself. besides, i think running the whole time is harder for some women especially beginners, 10 min into the run their gona wanna leave, but this way, its not that difficult the whole way, but you stil have a good workout. p.s. if you can change the levels your running at that will also workout your legs at the same time. :] |
| john fothergill said: | I have been trying to lose weight for 3 weeks now and have looked on the net at all kinds of cardio exercises programmes regarding running and walking. I find your articel very true and would agree 110 per cent. As for my progree I have lost 21lb's in 3 weeks due to fast pace walking at 5 mph this is a cross betwwen a jog and walking. I also believe though walking is very boring if you can stick at a 5 mph pace for 30 to 40 minutes and you see the changes regarding weight loss it no longer becomes boring. what I am trying to do is show people that you can lose weight fast and healthy,But I must stress it 's extremely hard work. My calories are down to aprox 1800 per day and eating more food than ever,fish,brown bread,lots of fruit and veg and gallons of water up to 5 meals aday,how I am losing the weight is walking first thing in the morning for 40 minutes,then off to work till 4 pm and agin walking on the tred mill for 60 minutes after my dinner has settled. As for making the walking more intresting I would walk at 5 mph then increase to 5.6 mph on every 5 minutes 10 minutes for 1 minute only, then at the very end 55 minutes I would increase to 6.3 mph and walk until the end of 60 minutes....this seems the hardest but becasue i set a goal of 5 mph only and extra speed and cals burn for the last 5 minutes only is a bonus. What I would advise is take some photo's as I did. day 1 I had taken a photo and took a good 2 weeks before i seen any changes, it's been three weeks now and I have worked so hard going to the gym 3 times a week I would hate to eat all the cr@p I did before and pile all the weight back on. Im also so much happier and now feel I will live till im 100. regards John |
| NatM said: | I have gotten into so many arguments with walkers who say walking the same distance as running it burns the same amount of calories. If that is the case, then why am I leaner and in better shape from running 3 miles/4 days a week than someone who regularly walks 3 miles per day, EVERY day of the week!?!?! |
| John said: | While I agree that running is indeed better for you than walking; I personally have found that I can burn more calories by walking...this is down to the fact that while I enjoy running when I'm actually on a run and I'm always glad that I've done it afterwards; it is however something I have to push myself to get motivated to do in the first place. With walking I find the motivation comes a lot easier. My second point is; I can quite happily keep walking until I've burned the amount of calories that want to, with running it gets harder as you go on and I really have to push myself to reach my calorie burning goal but I can easily reach that goal with walking all be it taking a lot longer than it does running. That said with running you not only get the calorie burning effect but you will raise your fitness level quickly as well...so I would suggest that it would depend on your goals, if its weight loss then I would pick walking as its easier to do...if its fitness then I'd run as it is the best way to get fit....ideally I'd say try doing both on different days. |
| dan said: | to say walking is "boring" as the scenery changes so slowly is nothing less than what i would expect from someone whose only focus in life is his flesh , if you have a healthy inner life and mind , walking is wonderful for thinking and dreamong a little, so you combine exercise of the body and mind..instead of running when all you think of is the pain and "when will this end". |
| Tricia said: | I totally agree that running is the best way to loss weight and it also curbs your appetite. I find I do not crave sweets following runs and I have lost weight rapidly by running up hills to further challenge myself. Running also tones every muscle in your body and has also given me a defined back, arms, and abdominal region...things your would not achieve with speed walking. i Encourage anyone who medically can run to do so even if your pace is not initially rapid as the results will speak for themselves very quickly without a change in diet...of course better eating habits should follow to further assist with weightloss! |
| Jen said: | Whether walking or not is the best way to lose weight becomes a moot point if it's the only exercise activity person enjoy doing (or is capable of doing). I've not come across anyone out there who thinks walking is a more effective fat-burner than running or any other more vigorous exercise method (this common sense, we don't need science to tell us this) - maybe you're setting yourself up a strawman argument here, or maybe the research is. IMO, walking is a great exercise method for those who don't want to pursue more vigorous activity eg. those moving away from a couch potato lifestyle/the exercise phobic/the elderly, and walking 2/3 miles a day does equate to 'pushing themselves' hard. A great success story of weight loss via walking is the actor Stephen Fry, who used walking to start his weight loss. He doesn't find walking 'boring', he puts an audio book on his iPod. Personally, I really dislike the 10,000 steps a day thing. We have many corpulent nurses and police officers who must by the nature of their jobs walk a 10,000 steps a day, but they still maintain their heavy weights. If walking is to be an effective weight loss tool, it must be done as a sustained 45 min plus walk at 4mph, or doing jogging/walking intervals. |
| Mary said: | everything in this article is bull. I have lost 12 lbs in 3 weeks walking. I walked for an hour everyday. |
| Delana said: | To Mary: You can lose weight with walking-"at first." I lost 60 lbs a few years ago doing walking videos and eating healthy. I gained the weight back and started losing it again this summer. I did the same thing I did before and only lost 15 lbs over the entire summer, my body is just too used to the walking. Our bodies are very efficient and get used to the exercises we do, then they do not burn as many calories as they once may have. I bumped my routine up to jogging and have lost 15 more lbs in the last month. Walking does work...but for how long? (Oh, i forgot, I was walking 1 hour each night, now I'm only running 3 nights a week for 30 minutes and walking the other 4 nights. Adding only 30 minutes of running for 3 days a week is really helping me lose weight faster) |
