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Getting the Most from Your Walking Workout

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2016-03-26 08:03:36
Walking the Weight Off For Dummies
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The more physically active you are, the more calories you burn each day. And the more calories you burn, the quicker and easier it is to lose weight and keep it off. Whether you increase your physical activity by increasing the amount of steps you take each day or you follow a structured walking program, there are ways you can adjust your walking strategies to increase your overall calorie burn.

Knowing how to maximize your walking workout will help you to not only achieve your weight loss goals quickly and easily, but will also make sure that you keep the weight off for good.

When you begin an exercise program, it’s vital that you adjust your program over time to prevent your body from becoming too accustomed to your workout. If this happens, your body doesn’t need to work as hard to help you complete your exercise routine, and therefore, you burn less calories. However, mixing up your walking workout helps to prevent this for maximum results.

To vary your workout, try adding an incline to your walk. Whether you walk uphill, up stairs, or increase the incline on the treadmill, the higher the incline and the longer you walk on an incline, the more fat and calories you will burn. In addition, walking on an incline helps to tone and tighten addition muscle groups, especially the calves and glutes, helping you to not only lose pounds, but inches as well.

Speed is another way to vary your workout and increase your results. This adjustment can be made in a number of ways. You can increase the speed on your entire walk, aiming to cover the same distance in a shorter period of time. Or, you can incorporate speed walking in intervals, where you walk at one speed for a period of time, and then walk at a much faster speed for a short period of time, and repeat this pattern for the duration of your walk.

Varying your speed and your incline level can help to boost fitness, challenge additional muscle groups, and have you reaching your weight loss goals faster than you thought possible!

About This Article

This article is from the book: 

About the book author:

Erin Palinski-Wade, RD, CDE, is a nationally recognized nutrition and fitness expert who has contributed to national media outlets such as the CBS Early Show, ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, Fitness Magazine, and Prevention Magazine, among others.