Walking is something we all do every day, as long we get out of our bed. It’s something that comes so naturally that we forget we are even expending energy. It is well known that just walking alone promotes better cardiovascular health.

Adding consistent walking in your schedule has shown to add years to an individual’s life. Walking is a great thing, yet, is walking really conducive for losing weight? I see a multitude of people in the gym walking the track at a brisk pace which is awesome, but are they doing it as a weight loss method or for other medical reasons?

I believe many are walking for weight loss which is fine, but many don’t understand it’s going to take much longer for them to get to their ideal weight. If you look at a walker that weighs 130lb walking for 1 hour, they will end up burning 147 calories.

Now compare that to someone that weighs the same but runs for a half hour. Covering 3 miles will burn 295 calories which nearly doubles the amount for walking! You will also get the people that say “if I sweat while walking then I will burn more calories, right”?

Well not necessarily. Sweating is just a way for your body to cool off and maintain body temperature. A person sweating profusely during a bout may actually be burning the same amount of calories as someone going the same speed.

Sweating is not always a great indicator for burning of calories. Look at the facts; walking is not going to get you that lean body any time soon (when I mean soon I mean within the next year). I hate to use the biggest loser as an example but you do not see them walking when trying to lose weight. If you want to lose weight you are going to have to do a little more than walking.

-Phil