Health and Fitness Articles

There are plenty of good reasons to choose walking as a way to exercise. A walk in scenic surroundings can be very pleasant. It can be a pleasant break in your day, giving you time to think and a change of scenery. It could be a social event with friends, family or colleagues. Walking has numerous health benefits which might interest you – and it’s a good deal easier to accommodate it in your daily schedule than some other types of exercise. It’s also a great way to get in shape and shed a little weight.

That might be why you so often hear someone ask “just how far do I have to walk in order to use up X calories?” – or some variant thereof. Whilst it may be a perfectly valid question, it does overlook one of the key elements about walking as a weight loss technique.

The truly excellent thing about walking for weight loss – or any other type of light exercise for that matter – is that, if it is undertaken on a regular and consistent basis, it will actually raise your metabolism. In simple terms – your rate of burning calories throughout the whole day will go up.

Clearly, whilst you are actually exercising, you will burn calories. That’s good – but what is even better is the fact that you will also burn calories faster during the entire day, even when you’re not exercising. Watching TV, listening to the radio, reading the newspaper – even when you’re sleeping – you will be using calories up more quickly.

The important thing, if you want to achieve this higher burn rate, is to take your exercise on a regular and consistent basis. Due to the fact that walking is such a natural activity, you will do it, to some extent, practically every day. However, you should do a little extra at least three times a week if you want to boost your metabolism. Walking briskly for thirty minutes or so should suffice.

If you can do more, then that’s even better of course – but it’s so much more important to be regular and consistent in your approach. For most people, low impact, low intensity, low injury risk exercise is a much better option than intermittent bursts of high energy physical activity.

Walking is one of the very best exercises to lose weight that you can do. Apart from weight loss, you will also benefit from many other improvements to your general health level. Many people may find that, going for a walk is more beneficial, more sustainable, less likely to result in injury and more enjoyable than “going for the burn”.

Have a look to see what toning shoes can do for you. If you’re anticipating wet weather you can still be cool and trendy in a pair of Hunter boots – as worn by royalty!

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