Brisk walking is considered a moderate-intensity, low-impact workout that does not exert excess strain on joints (hip, knee, ankles) that are susceptible to injury with higher-impact workouts. People may think that walking is not as effective as higher-impact workouts.
The short answer is yes. “Walking is just as good as any other form of exercise,” says University Hospitals pediatric sports medicine specialist Laura Goldberg, MD. “The guidelines are 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity a week. It doesn't really matter how you get that.
About walking
Just 30 minutes every day can increase cardiovascular fitness, strengthen bones, reduce excess body fat, and boost muscle power and endurance. It can also reduce your risk of developing conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and some cancers.
Brisk walking is a more effective version of walking. Brisk walking is walking at a pace driven by your metabolic rate, to effectively achieve fitness and health. Anything around 100 steps a minute can be considered brisk walking as it varies slightly from person to person.
Something as simple as a daily brisk walk can help you live a healthier life. For example, regular brisk walking can help you: Maintain a healthy weight and lose body fat. Prevent or manage various conditions, including heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, cancer and type 2 diabetes.
A brisk 10-minute daily walk has lots of health benefits and counts towards your 150 minutes of weekly exercise, as recommended in the physical activity guidelines for adults aged 19 to 64.
If you're walking, the calorie-burning and fitness benefits are about the same whether you walk on a treadmill or in the great outdoors. And the way the joints in your hips and knees move is very similar as well, suggesting risk for injury is no greater on the treadmill versus a sidewalk or a walking trail.
The primary muscles used in walking include the quadriceps and hamstrings, the calf muscles and the hip adductors. The gluteal and the abdominal muscles also play a significant role in forward motion.
Brisk walkers had a 35 percent lower risk of dying, a 25 percent lower chance of developing heart disease or cancer and a 30 percent lower risk of developing dementia, compared with those whose average pace was slower.
7 Things That Happened When I Made Myself Go For A Walk Every Single Day For A Month. For a such simple, approachable activity, walking certainly does deliver some remarkable health benefits. Studies show that a daily brisk walk can help lower blood pressure, reduce belly fat, increase energy levels, and improve mood.
Walking is a form of low impact, moderate intensity exercise that has a range of health benefits and few risks. As a result, the CDC recommend that most adults aim for 10,000 steps per day . For most people, this is the equivalent of about 8 kilometers, or 5 miles.
After 3-4 days of walking: you will notice the “better fit” or more room in your clothes! After 7 days of walking: real changes are happening! You have used body fat as energy (fat burning!) Muscles feel more toned!
This is not only a cheap option, but is also easier on your joints. While running and gymming are also intensity-based work outs that target muscle groups, studies say it is walking that beats all else.
It's not as high impact as jogging but still increases your heart rate substantially. Typically, speed walking is a pace of 15 minutes per mile or faster. There are different definitions, terms, and techniques for speed walking, including power walking or brisk walking.
“By walking in place, you're raising your heart rate, which is going to signal to your body to start pumping more oxygen and blood to your muscles to help them move more efficiently, thus burning more calories.” You can walk in place almost anywhere.
Speed Matters When Walking for Fitness
If you're walking for your health, a pace of about 3 miles per hour (or about 120 steps per minute) is about right. That's a 20-minute mile. To walk for weight loss, you'll have to pick up the pace to 4 miles per hour (or 135 steps per minute), a 15-minute mile.
To lose weight by walking , you have to burn off an extra 500 calories a day to lose a pound a week. Most people burn around 300 to 400 calories by walking 10,000 steps.
You will first lose hard fat that surrounds your organs like liver, kidneys and then you will start to lose soft fat like waistline and thigh fat. The fat loss from around the organs makes you leaner and stronger.
How much should I walk to lose 10 kg? 30 minutes a day of brisk walking or power walking 5 days a week can help you reduce up to 10 kgs.
If you plan to walk for 4 miles (or 6.4 km) a day, you will begin to lose weight almost immediately. But along with your exercise routine, you need to maintain a balanced and healthy diet so that you don't put on the calories you're working hard to burn.
What does 10,000 steps look like? Ten thousand steps equates to about eight kilometres, or an hour and 40 minutes walking, depending on your stride length and walking speed. But that doesn't mean you have to do it all in one walk.