PT Health Life – Walking brings many benefits to the body, including weight loss. To effectively support weight loss, you can apply walking methods such as brisk walking, hill walking, high-intensity intermittent walking…
1. Benefits of walking
Walking brings many benefits to physical and mental health . For those with weight loss goals , walking can help:
Preserves muscle: Walking can help prevent muscle loss that can occur when cutting calories to lose weight. Muscle has a stronger metabolic activity than fat. Therefore, a more muscular body will burn more calories per day.
– Supports belly fat reduction: Fat accumulation around the abdomen is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes . In fact, men with a waist circumference greater than 102 cm and women with a waist circumference greater than 88 cm are considered abdominally obese, putting them at risk of health problems.
One of the most effective ways to reduce belly fat is to regularly engage in physical activity, such as walking. Research has shown that obese women reduced their waist circumference and body fat (including subcutaneous fat and visceral fat) after 12 weeks of walking 50-70 minutes three times each day. week.
In another study, people who followed a calorie-controlled diet and walked 1 hour, 5 times per week for 12 weeks also had a significantly greater reduction in waist circumference than those who only followed the diet without eating. do exercise.
– Promotes weight loss: Regular exercise, like walking, not only helps consume energy, but also builds muscle to burn more calories, even at rest. To maintain weight loss, you need to walk more than 200 minutes per week to avoid gaining the weight back.
– Improves mood : Physical activities such as walking can also improve mood, reduce stress, feelings of depression or anxiety. Walking makes the brain more sensitive to the hormones serotonin and norepinephrine. These are hormones that help relieve negative thoughts and stimulate the production of endorphins to make you happier.
Improving your mood when walking helps you have more motivation to exercise every day, thereby bringing many health benefits.
2. Types of walking to promote weight loss
2.1. Brisk walking
Fast walking is the acceleration of steps during walking, making moving forward faster than normal walking. Walking fast for a short time, combined with arm swings, strides… makes the workout more effective by consuming more calories.
2.2. Walk uphill
Walking uphill helps strengthen your calves, while also helping burn calories and is more effective in losing weight than walking on flat terrain. You can walk uphill on a treadmill, walk up hills, stairs or inclines 2 to 3 times a week.
2.3. High-intensity interval walking
To warm up, you should maintain a slow speed for 5 minutes to let your body get used to the intensity of the exercise, then increase to about 90 – 105 steps/minute.
Continue to increase your walking speed to about 120 – 155 steps/minute for a few dozen seconds, then return to an average speed of 30 seconds. Do this alternately for 30 minutes and increase the time in subsequent walking sessions.
5 minutes before the end of your walking session, you need to return to a slow pace to let your body and heart rate return to normal.
3. Notes when walking to lose weight
To achieve weight loss results, you can combine walking with other exercises. At the same time, the following should be noted:
- Warm up thoroughly before walking to warm up your body to avoid cramps and injury.
- Choose appropriate clothes and shoes. Clothes need to be appropriate for the weather, ensure good sweat absorption, and do not wear clothes that are too tight. In addition, you should choose a pair of shoes that fit well, are comfortable on your feet, and do not cause discomfort when moving.
- Nutrition plays an important role in the training process. You can have a snack before exercising if you walk in the morning or afternoon. You should choose easy-to-digest foods that provide protein such as nuts, cereals, soups… avoid greasy foods, fast foods and carbonated drinks.
- Don’t forget to drink enough water.
In addition, walking between 3 – 5 pm or after 7 pm is considered the time to help achieve the best weight loss results. Besides, you also need to avoid walking before meals and right after meals because it promotes blood flow to the muscles, causing the spleen and stomach to not have enough energy to consume food from there. produces a feeling of discomfort.
