You might find your answer to ‘Is walking good for weight loss’ in a bodybuilders competition prep regime. Because it’s something they do a lot and they get absolutely shredded to the bone. But what about the average Joe like you and me who just want to shed a few pounds for the beach? Will results be faster via HIIT cardio? You may have heard before, calories in calories out right? Yes but no! This approach is a little like finding your clothes in the pitch black. And dressing yourself for an important job interview. You probably won’t look like you’d hoped! But you got dressed right!? You can just picture the interviewers face.
Calories In Calories Out
So, to a large degree calories in calories out rings true. However, there are lots of grey areas that derail many. Despite it’s simplicity. And this is for another blog on another day. But let me quickly provide a couple of scenarios. Both people have prepared to be in a calorie deficit, on paper.
Individual – wing it
Wing it performs HIIT training but as a result their physiology overly raises hunger. Whereby they can’t help but eat more afterwards. So, blow the calorie deficit. Similarly, raiding the fridge later at night when more relaxed and the days stress has alleviated. Again, cancelling out their calorie deficit despite best intentions to burn more energy than they consume.
Individual – Savvy
Savvy is strategic and knows that aggressive cardio training overly spikes hunger. So either does less of it, banks calories for after it, or just focuses on a step count goal. Then, has no spiked hunger response. Thus, removing an obstacle before it even appears and making adherence a doddle. Or savvy, deploys an early day fast to bank calories for night when more susceptible (to fridges and cupboards), less busy and generally more hungry. Savvy wasn’t much hungry for breakfast anyway but originally thought it was the ‘most important meal of the day’. In addition, savvy now has guilt free banked calories for evenings. Thus, is satiated with no temptation to raid the fridge, or anyone’s fridge for that matter.
Nutrition
So, you may also have heard that abs are made in the kitchen. But don’t go and start carving your veggies up whilst holding a plank just yet! As friend Simon Woan recently demonstrated on his instagram. Passed the banter, this saying holds strong truth. For example, it takes 60 seconds to eat a 229 calorie snicker bar. Unfortunately, this can take a 180 pound person 50 minutes of brisk walking to burn back off! Full time parents/workers – ain’t got time for that! So, spending all your time exercising for hours a day isn’t sustainable. But having good foundational nutrition knowledge is. Because it doesn’t steal your time.
Importantly, I’m not saying you can’t perform HIIT cardio, or not to eat snicker bars. But rather, bank calories elsewhere so it doesn’t break your calorie budget. And don’t rely on HIIT cardio without step count goals. Then, focus largely on maximizing satiety, energy and health. Via the consumption of high volume, nutritiously dense, low calorie wholefoods. Resulting in less cravings, a fuller tummy, satisfied eyeballs and more sustainable energy. Moreover, understanding nutrition promotes better macro nutrient tracking. Tracking specific macro (protein/fats/carbs) nutrient ratios will provide vital information to your body on what to burn and what to hold!
For example, higher protein spares muscles tissue. Also, strength training tells your body to hold more muscle tissue avoiding a skinny fat look. Both scenarios conclude into more fat being burned! Contrarily, aggressive cardio can burn muscle tissue away. And this is why the topic at hand ‘is walking good for weight loss’ is important.
Is Walking Good for Weight Loss
Yes is the answer! Although there are a few considerations! Namely, walking is a good additional calorie burning tool. But your nutrition will account for 75+ percent of your results long term. Especially if you’re more time constricted. So, nutrition must be dialed in as your most reliable pillar. Also, walking will certainly enhance the fat burning process and could speed results up by 20+ percent. And this does really accumulate over time! However, too much of one specific exercise get’s monotonous. Hence, nutrition must be our main focus.
Recovery from interval cardio training is very fatiguing on the body and mind. In addition, negatively impacting strength, muscle retention, energy and mental motivation! Whereas walking is low impact and doesn’t interfere at all with strength training progress. Resulting in more muscle mass maintained/built and body composition maximized. We have to send the right signals so the body burns fat!
Lastly, we’ve had clientele who haven’t done walking or cardio. But ensured a consistent calorie deficit whilst strength training. And they did very well! Although, this approach is going to take a little longer because activity levels are less of course. If you fancy some HIIT, perform a couple times per week but rely more on step counts on the other days. If your life allows for it I recommend a calorie deficit around the -500/600 mark and a step count goal of around 8-10,000 to start with! And over time as your body adapts metabolically, get’s lighter and more economical you can make interventions to keep smartly moving forward!
Is Walking Good for Weight Loss
The most successful transformations come from focusing on four key contributions of which walking is one!
- Calorie deficit – initiates 70% of fat loss
- Adequate protein – builds/protects muscle
- Strength training – builds/protects muscle
- Step count goals – enhances fat loss
Can you do interval training? Absolutely! But utilize a combination of step count goals and intervals for best results. And if the intervals are too fatiguing or elevate hunger too much, dial back until you feel an improvement to your adherence. Best results always come from lifestyle habits that we can sustain.
Which of the above four key contributions do you follow?
Here’s another blog of ours delving a little deeper into walking benefits both towards weight loss and health.
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