Walking For Exercise - How Much Should You Walk a Day

Walking For Exercise – How Much Should You Walk a Day

walking for exercise and how much should you walk a day

What are the Benefits of Walking

Walking For Exercise – How Much Should You Walk a Day. According to the CDC and their recommendations, adults should walk about 7,000 to 8,000 steps a day, which is almost 4 miles. But did you know that if you walk 10,000 steps a day (comes out to almost 5 miles), you’ll burn about 2,000 to 3,500 extra calories each week?

Put this into weight loss – One pound of body fat equals 3500 calories, so depending on your weight and workout intensity, you could lose about one pound per week simply by completing an extra 10,000 steps each day.

Casual steps or a brisk walk? Seeing walking is good cardio exercise, definitely aim for a brisk walk, which should enable you to walk about 3 miles an hour. Moving at a brisk pace works your large muscles over and over and pushes your heart and lungs to work hard, which can also result is lowering your resting heart rate and blood pressure.

So with walking you get a twofer – weight loss and a healthy heart. Just do it !!

What Are the Benefits of Walking

So first things first – you have to start moving. Whether you’re 15 lbs overweight, 50 lbs overweight, or 100 lbs overweight, the best way to introduce yourself to exercise is by WALKING. Even if this is the ONLY form of exercise you can start with … JUST WALK.

What are the benefits of walking? Walking can help with:

weight loss
preventing or managing high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other conditions
strengthening muscles and bones
improving moods
improving balance and coordination

I was fortunate to have a long driveway on my property and if I circled it 4 times, I actually walked 1 mile. I would take my dogs with me just so the walk never got boring. I also did my walking in the evening after dinner. If I could have, I would have fit in a morning walk. However seeing I left my house at 5:00am for work … that wasn’t in the cards.

How Much Should You Walk A Day

But you don’t need a long driveway to clock steps – any place will do.

if you have a street out in front of your home – walk a couple blocks. Better yet – walk up 4 blocks and back. Eight city blocks equate to 1 mile
if you live in a high rise apartment complex – walk the hallways
if you have a park or a beachfront that you feel comfortable enough to stroll, walk the pavement there
if you live near a mall – walk the corridors. They specifically open their doors early (hours before the stores do) to accommodate mall walkers

Shoot for a mile for starters. If you feel this is too easy – go for two. Too much – go for less. Start with any number you feel comfortable with, but definitely try and aim for ONE. And do this EVERY DAY. Make sure you stretch before walking – do a couple leg lifts, add a couple leg stretches. You don’t want to give up after a few days all because of a pulled muscle.

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This is such a motivational post on getting started with a walking routine! As someone who has struggled with maintaining exercise habits, I appreciate the straightforward advice just to start small and work your way up at a comfortable pace. Knowing that even a mile a day can provide health benefits is reassuring for beginners like me.