How Effective Is Walking for Weight Loss?
Everything you do makes your body burn energy. Even moving your fingers slightly or twitching your nose requires a little energy, which comes from various sources, including food. And since fats are an energy source, you can technically lose weight by doing just about any physical activity. But some activities are more efficient than others, and this can make things confusing for those looking to lose some weight.
Surprisingly, even walking can help you burn a bit of fat every day. While walking may seem like a mundane act that most people do on a daily basis, it’s still something that requires a bit of energy to achieve. Here’s why walking is much better for weight loss than you think.
WHY WALKING IS GREAT FOR LOSING WEIGHT
It’s easy to do
You’ve probably heard of many different ways that people exercise these days. There’s yoga, CrossFit, Zumba — you name it! With plenty of variety to go around, you can find a form of exercise that you find most enjoyable. Not all forms of exercise, however, are easy to pull off, especially when it comes to taxing exercise routines.
Walking, on the other hand, is so simple that anyone with the ability to do so can simply do it whenever they want. You don’t even need to think about it — taking a stroll in the park, around the block, or even between your front and backyard takes little to no thought. Our bodies are used to walking, so you can do other things while walking, such as listening to music, talking to someone over the phone, and the like.
It’s practical
Practicality is something that’s not often discussed when it comes to exercise. While some forms of exercise are more efficient than others at losing weight, not many consider how useful the exercise is outside of weight loss or physical fitness. In particular, there are two forms of exercise that are very practical for everyday activity: cycling and walking.
The reason for this is that both cycling and walking allow you to go from one place to another. So, aside from just losing weight, you’re also traveling at the same time. You can walk to your local grocery store or mall for errands, and you’ll be losing weight in the process. It allows you to get fit while doing your daily activities, and this is what makes walking such a great way to lose weight.
It’s easy to measure
One important facet of exercise is being able to measure your progress. By doing so, you get to gauge how far you’ve gone, what milestones you’ve reached, and so on. Not only does this give you more motivation to carry on but it also lets you push for further milestones in your fitness journey. With the help of a pedometer or a smartwatch, you can very easily track your progress through walking.
Both pedometers and smartwatches track how many steps you take on any given day, and with additional settings and apps from smartwatches, you can analyze the data for more detailed information. You can also tell how many steps you’ll need to take to reach certain places from where you live, giving you a general idea of how much exercise you’ll get whenever you go to such places in the future by walking.