Does walking actually help?

olivia_roland

Ok, so I've heard a lot of pros and cons to the whole "walking to lose weight" discussion. I know walking has a lot of health benefits, but has anyone actually lost a decent amount of weight by walking? I love walking outside. The fresh air is great and it makes me feel better. But a lot of people have told me that cardio is pointless and I'm just really confused.

Help please. Any advice on this topic would be greatly appreciated.

janejellyroll

I don't understand why someone would say cardio is "pointless." It increases the number of calories you burn in a day, it increases your fitness, many people enjoy it (like you say you do), and studies have linked it to other benefits like improved mood and focus. Some people find that it helps regulate their appetite.

Walking, by itself, isn't going to make you lose weight. But if it helps you create a calorie deficit, then it can be part of your weight loss program and it is for many people here. And if you enjoy it in other ways, then it certainly isn't pointless.

AdrianChr92

Pointless for building muscle probably. It depends on your goal. If your goals is to get 10/10 glutes cardio it's not the way. If you want just to up your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) I know a super fat guy who started with waddling around in his bed

kshama2001

Women tend to over-emphasize cardio and not do strength training. That said, cardio's not pointless at all. After all, it benefits your cardiovascular system and having endurance is a good thing. I walk at lunch. I'm more productive at work in the afternoon. If I skipped walking at lunch, I doubt I'd feel like doing yoga and then going to the gym after work. Walking elevates my mood too, which leads to a positive upward spiral.

So keep walking - but add in some strength training as well.

Need2Exerc1se

Anyone that says cardio is pointless doesn't know what they are talking about and should be ignored. If you check out statistics on weight control, walking scores very high (maybe highest) on "habits of healthy weight people".

CyberTone

The majority of my aerobic activity was from walking, probably more than 90%, and I lost 100 lbs. I started out at a moderate speed of 3.0 mph, and I worked my way up to very, very brisk walking between 4.0 and 4.5 mph. I feel the main reason I did lose though was that I sustained a caloric deficit with very few exceptions for holidays and special occasions.

Of_Monsters_and_Meat

Eating less makes you lose weight (under TDEE).
Doing physical activity makes you better.

I find it better to just separate these two things out in your head and you will be much better off.

rml_16

No exercise will help you lose weight if you aren't eating right. Any exercise (including walking) will help you lose weight if you are. It's that simple.

Eau_Rouge

Walking is Cardio...just at a steady pace.

missblondi2u

My main exercise was walking (~18 min/mile), then I built up to running (~11:30 min/mile). I've lost a little over 40 pounds since June, and I eat back most or all of my exercise calories. Walking/running is great not only to keep your deficit but in improving your mood and motivation. Racking up those extra calories makes me feel happy!

I would definitely recommend getting good shoes though. And remember to stretch!

reddeament

Can't say I have lost a decent amount of weight by walking - (down 5.3kg/11.6lb so far) I find my body reacts better to HIIT training (e.g. intervals on the treadmill). On weeks I only walked a lot but didn't do any HIIT I barely saw a difference in the scale.

ninerbuff

Weight loss is based on calorie deficit. Walking for exercise can easily help to achieve that. Any exercise or physical activity will.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

nordlead2005

Walking is a great cardio exercise that if you get enough of will provide health benefits. The CDC says to get 150 minutes of moderate cardio per week and brisk walking fits the bill. They also say to get muscle strengthening activities 2x/week hitting all major muscles groups.

However, if you want to lose weight, the focus should be on calories in vs calories out. You can create a deficit without doing any exercise. This isn't to say stop exercising, but exercising more isn't the answer either.

I've lost 45lb, and do a combination of weight lifting, walking, and running (very little running outside of Ultimate). However, I only contribute ~10-20% of my weight loss to exercise at best (pretending I didn't eat back any exercise calories). In reality, my diet was set to lose weight regardless of if I exercised, and if I did, I just ate more.

lorrpb

Walking is one of the most recommended exercises ever. I don't know what "cons" you have heard. I've lost 125 pounds while walking and strength training. It's a great way to get started on exercise when you can't do much else, it can be done anywhere, anytime, and you can always improve your pace and thus the benefit.

That said, my weight loss was due primarily to changes in the quantity and quality of food I eat. CICO. But it would not have happened without the exercise thrown in for additional burn and motivation.

olivia_roland

Thanks so much everyone!!! I've lost about 10 lbs just from changing up my eating habits, so I feel like I'm on my way to getting that under control. I might research a strength routine that's easy for beginners and isn't time consuming (I'm a college student) I really appreciate all of the advice!!

CSARdiver

When I first started 18 months ago I did not want to risk further stress on damaged knees and went with low impact aerobic activity - elliptical and walking. I lost 60 lbs. This is of course incorporated with caloric intake monitoring and increased physical activity.

The pros/cons are pointless unless specifically tailored to your specific goals. Walking may be pointless to an Olympic biker, but very beneficial to a beginner on the path to wellness.

HM2206

I'd say walking makes the biggest difference for me. I go to Barry's Bootcamp a couple of days a week but the biggest difference is that I don't own a car and walk everywhere. I never log walking so it's just 'extra' calories burned and I'm so used to it I don't think about it.

SoDamnHungry

Of course it does. It's good for your body and burns calories.

rlsmith326

I walk on my lunch break at work every day for about 20 minutes, and I've noticed in the two weeks doing it that my clothes are fitting looser, but no change on the scale yet.

GsKiki

Walking is great, but you need at least brisk pace to be able to consider it cardio. Idk who told you that cardio is useless but they are wrong. If you want to lose weight tho you need to do both cardio and weights, because you do not want your lost weight to be from your muscles. Cardio helps burn the fat, and weights help you build muscles (which then burn more calories).

Elsiebeane

olivia_roland wrote: »

Ok, so I've heard a lot of pros and cons to the whole "walking to lose weight" discussion. I know walking has a lot of health benefits, but has anyone actually lost a decent amount of weight by walking? I love walking outside. The fresh air is great and it makes me feel better. But a lot of people have told me that cardio is pointless and I'm just really confused.

Help please. Any advice on this topic would be greatly appreciated.

Walking definitely helps. I started walking (around a parking lot at first) and worked my way up to 2 miles six days a week. The combination of eating better and walking lowered my cholesterol into "perfect" range. I still have a lot of weight to lose but I credit the walking with already improving my health.

jhouse16

I have a friend who lost 60lbs so far with just walking and diet change...my sister in law started her 100lb weight loss with walking and diet change..

I say go for it !!

sherbear702

Walking probably accounts for 80% of my exercise and I've lost almost 30 pounds. Yes, it's totally worth it.

reddeament

olivia_roland wrote: »

Thanks so much everyone!!! I've lost about 10 lbs just from changing up my eating habits, so I feel like I'm on my way to getting that under control. I might research a strength routine that's easy for beginners and isn't time consuming (I'm a college student) I really appreciate all of the advice!!

if you want a strength routine that isn't time consuming you could consider Freeletics? My friends have been on it for a while and swear by it. I recently joined and love the workouts (my body is aching the day after though hehe)

StaciMarie1974

Its not as simple as that in my opinion.

Weight loss is a matter of having a deficit, which focuses on what & how much you eat. But calories in and calories both matter. If you increase your activity (walking) you may or may not lose weight. There are too many ifs. If you increase your activity and also increase your calories in (you may be hungrier with the extra walking) you probably won't see a weight loss. If you increase your activity AND make a conscious effort to track/log accurately what you're eating, and eat at a deficit: you should lose weight. Then again, you can do the logging and tracking and having a deficit without walking. But walking does have other added health benefits as well.

olivia_roland wrote: »

Ok, so I've heard a lot of pros and cons to the whole "walking to lose weight" discussion. I know walking has a lot of health benefits, but has anyone actually lost a decent amount of weight by walking? I love walking outside. The fresh air is great and it makes me feel better. But a lot of people have told me that cardio is pointless and I'm just really confused.

Help please. Any advice on this topic would be greatly appreciated.

MommyMeggo

I guess a fair question would be- which is better?...walking for 30min daily...or never?
Seems pretty simple to me. Anything that gets your body moving regularly cant be bad for you. As long as you are at a calorie deficit it often leads to slow and steady weight loss as well as opening the door for incorporating other exercise and improving your health.
I agree with others that there needs to be some strength training paired with the light cardio of walking for optimal results.
Happy walking!

ljones27uk

walking definitely burns more calories than not walking, so will help you create a deficit. Im going for a walk this evening to burn around 200 calories.. so itll contribute towards my weight loss. making subtle changes, like walking to the shops/school instead of driving can easily add 200-300 hundred calories to your daily burn, so a good habit to get into.

Vtbostongirl

I used to have this thought too. Until I met my amazing Primary Care Doctor who told me to stop running. He said that he does weight loss studies and has found that running doesn't provide many more health benefits than walking. He said that actually running does more harm to your body than walking or other low impact exercise. He himself lost over 60 pounds just from eating right and walking every day. He told me to stop running and replace it with at least 45 minutes of walking a day and that the weight would fall off!

janejellyroll

Vtbostongirl wrote: »

I used to have this thought too. Until I met my amazing Primary Care Doctor who told me to stop running. He said that he does weight loss studies and has found that running doesn't provide many more health benefits than walking. He said that actually running does more harm to your body than walking or other low impact exercise. He himself lost over 60 pounds just from eating right and walking every day. He told me to stop running and replace it with at least 45 minutes of walking a day and that the weight would fall off!

Your primary care doctor also runs research studies?

michaelafoor916

nothing that gets your heart going and being active will NOT hinder weight loss. period. that being said, you still need to stay within your calorie limit. weight loss is achieved through diet. fitness is achieved through working out.

jkrause9005

I've lost 68 pounds (and have reached my goal weight) and my primary activity is/has been walking. As others have said, walking alone will probably not be enough for you to lose weight, but when it is combined with healthy, portion-controlled eating, it certainly helps! Plus you listed many of the physical, psychological, and emotional benefits of walking. Keep it up!