Table of Contents
How to do
Walking has very positive effects on the whole body especially in terms of calorie consumption. It takes a fundamental ingredient: the constancy. If you walk on a regular basis at least 3 or 4 times a week surprising results can be obtained from the point of view of the increase in basal metabolism. If we take as a reference an adult who weighs about 70 kg, we know that, after 1 hour of sports walking at 6km / h, almost 300 calories are burned. The very nice aspect of the walk is that, even when it’s over, it continues to burn. We define the muscles of the thighs and legs, as well as those of the buttocks and go to consume more calories even at rest. This means that the body continues to burn even after physical activity.
Other great news? If the walk takes place in the morning and remains mild, albeit at a fast pace, but it does not reach an important intensity, then it burns a lot if you go fast. Fasting, walking and then having a breakfast – especially if protein – allows you to accelerate the weight loss process that involves continuous low-intensity physical activity. We lose weight because we consume glycogen (reserve sugar which the body draws for example when we sleep) and which remains when we wake up. If you go for a walk on an empty stomach or by introducing unsweetened coffee, that minimum reserve is completely consumed. If we walk fasting, we activate the metabolism and we immediately compensate by introducing proteins (which the body breaks down into amino acids and then transforms them into glucose, or energy) here we end up consuming carbohydrates and proteins during the active phase and fats in the following hours. It would still be better do not walk on an empty stomach every day but whenever you feel it, leaving this habit as a “surprise” that is made to the metabolism and not as a habit. Porridge, eggs or protein pancakes they are excellent post-walking fasting breakfasts.
Important: if you intend to play a particularly intense and prolonged session, at a brisk pace, you should absolutely not go fasting and it would be good to start 30 minutes after breakfast.
Weekly program
The main protagonist of any training program to walking aimed at weight loss? The heart. Calculating the heart rate allows us to understand when we are entering the aerobic phase and then burn in the way that is needed to develop endurance. Heart rate (HR) is calculated as a percentage and refers to a maximum value reached in maximal effort (Kenneth Cooper’s formula). The program refers to total beginners, not trained physicists.
We always remember that the initial stages of heating and the final ones of cool down and stretching to keep joints and muscles healthy. It would be the best to combine this program with 2 sessions per week of 30 minutes of multi-joint training that is small workouts aimed at burning fat and therefore including exercises such as planks, lunges, leg jumps, jumping jacks, squats and other exercises that simultaneously engage many muscle groups. This program has decreasing or alternating duration related to the beats in order to help the body gradually adjust to the effort.
- First week: 3 walking sessions of 30, 15 and 20 minutes respectively with a frequency of 60%
- Second week: 3 walking sessions always of 30, 15 and 20 minutes with an increase in heart rate to 70%.
- Third week: 3 walking sessions of 25 minutes at 65%.
- Fourth week: 3 walking sessions of 25, 15 and 10 minutes at 70%.
- Fifth week: 3 walking sessions of 30 minutes at 70%.
- Sixth and seventh week: 3 walking sessions of 20, 15 and 10 minutes at 65%.
- Eighth week: 3 walking sessions of 30 minutes at 75%.
- Ninth week: the first day a 30-minute session at 60%, one of 25 to 65% and one of 15 to 75%. On the second day, a 20-minute session at 60%, a 15-minute session at 65% and a 10-minute session at 75%.
- Tenth and last week: on the first day one of 20 to 75%, one of 10 to 65% and one of 10 to 60%. On the second day one of 10 minutes at 70%, one of 20 to 75% and one of 30 to 65%. On the third day one of 5 minutes at 75%, one of 30 to 70% and one of 15 to 65%. On the fourth day, one of 5 minutes at 75%, one of 10 minutes at 70% and one of 15 minutes at 70%.
If you want to explore other programs, there are also excellent Apps that adjust the pace, create training schedules and help us monitor our pace. Many of these Apps were created for those who run but also excellent for those who walk as they allow you to take into account duration, distance, personal data even connected to a heart rate monitor if you use it. There are also specific ones for those who practice trekking or move within a city context.
3 tips for walking well
Finally, let’s see 3 tips for walking better and reaping the greatest benefits from the walking session:
Music, company if you like, no cell phone
We recommend that you carry out the walking program listening to the music you like or in the company of people or a person with whom you are comfortable. The important thing is to keep motivation high. Ideal to carry a small baby carrier and strive for leave your mobile at home: if we stay away from screens of any kind for the time of the walk, we can also benefit more from the nervous system.
Watch your breathing
Try to keep one long and prolonged breathing throughout the walking session in order to supply oxygen to the whole body. The maximum would be to check that the breath spreads both the diaphragm and therefore the abdominal area and the thoracic area and therefore the high ribs.
Correct posture
The shoulders shouldn’t be stiff and one should not “hit” the knees too much, that is, unload all the weight and hyper-extend them. The hips should remain mobile, not too stiff, to avoid putting all the weight on the lower joints such as the ankles. Try to feel that the strength comes from the square of the loins, muscles that protect the spine and must remain strong in order to support our standing position every day in static and in motion.
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