Let’s Talk About Walking in Place for Weight loss
Hey Angels and Alphas,
Walking is one of the easiest and most accessible ways to add more movement to your life and help you shed some extra pounds. In general, walking at a brisk pace is going to burn around 260 calories (for a person who weighs about 70 kilograms.)
However, we all know some days can be harder than others to go outdoors and hit all the treadmills for an hour-long workout. Just because you have a difficult time setting aside an hour for your walking routine, doesn’t mean you still can’t a workout indoors.
When you’re strapped for a space and time, you can get a little creative and consider walking in place (or walking on one of the new modern walking stations people use at their office.)
Today, we’re going to answer the question – is walking in place a viable alternative for you in terms of helping you aid weight loss and allowing you to stay active? Let’s talk about it.
IS WALKING IN PLACE AN EFFECTIVE STRATEGY FOR WEIGHT LOSS?
The key to losing weight and improving your entire fitness is raising your heart rate. Whether you’re going to be walking outside or indoors and in place, if you can raise your heart rate up to a good zone, you will be able to effortlessly burn calories.
In a study originally published in the Medicine & Science in Sport & Exercise journal, study participants who walked in one place for about an hour burned an average of 260 calories compared to roughly 300 calories for the people who walked on a treadmill. The study found that walking in place even during the commercial breaks of your favorite show burned about 148 calories in about 25 minutes while racking up a whopping 2,100 steps.
HERE’S HOW YOU CAN GET STARTED:
Even though walking in place might not seem like the most exciting form of exercise, remember that you don’t really need to do it for long periods of time just so you can see results.
You can start off by walking in place for about 5 minutes several times a day. This could be a simple break in which you take a short stroll around the office or your living room so you can offset the harmful effects of too much sitting around.
Or, if you’re someone who loves to watch TV at night, you can simply stand up and walk in place during the commercials. Even though you might think these efforts seem small, they will end up adding up over time and make an incredible contribution to achieving your health goals.
HERE’S HOW YOU CAN MAKE THE MOST OUT OF WALKING IN PLACE
Let’s talk about seven tips for maximizing the benefits of walking in place:
- First, use the marching technique. This means you’ll be lifting your heels toward your glutes and placing them back on the floor at a quick pace.
- Second, swing your arms. You should try to move your arms just as you normally would when you’re walking outdoors.
- Third, use a heart rate monitor if you can. This will give you the right awareness if you’re raising your heart rate enough to get into zone 2 or zone 3 of your maximum heart rate.
- Fourth, dress for it. If you’re going to be marching for a long period of time, treat it as usual exercise. Make sure you’re wearing walking shoes, and always warm up before you increase your pace and stretch afterwards.
- Fifth, increase your calorie burn by adding in strength training exercises. Holding light hand weights while you perform your bicep curls and arm circles is going to be a great way to tone your upper body.
- Sixth, add burpees. After a couple of minutes of walking in the same place, do a burpee or two. It’s a great total-body move that will help them build upper-body strength.
- Seventh, try high-intensity intervals. As you’re walking in place at a moderate speed, try to skyrocket the intensity for about 20 seconds or so. This will help you mix things up and keep your heart rate up in the fat-burning zones.
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