Will just walking at 3.0 mph do anything?

Dawnrobinson1996dr
Dawnrobinson1996dr Posts: 13
in Health and Weight Loss
I don' really have much time for exercising so I try to do at least sixty minutes per day dog walking at 3.0 mph. I have already lost 7 pounds since having my puppy but I am just worried that I wont lose much weight just doing one activity. The main area I want to lose inches on is my lower stomach will walking do this?
I can do sit ups in the night to help tone my belly
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Replies

  • 1ocean1girl
    1ocean1girl Posts: 197 Member
    I honestly dont think just walking will help lower stomach area. Maybe add a little bit of running and some pilates. The plank is really good for tightening up that problem area. Hope this helps :happy:
  • successgal1
    successgal1 Posts: 996 Member
    Yes, to target abs, focus on standing tall and firming your abs while walking, you can also add hand or leg weights as your fitness improves. We don't lose fat in any one area at a time, there is no "spot" losing of fat.
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
    You aren't going to be able to spot train. Walking at 3.0 is fine for burning calories.. which is going to make you lose weight. If you want to make a change in your body, walk for 30 minutes and lift weights for the other 30.
  • mayamagallanes
    mayamagallanes Posts: 85 Member
    Thats exactly what I asked my doctor. He said IN HIS OPINION, that unless you are actually working out, running, swimming, weights ect walking will not do much good.
  • GCLyds
    GCLyds Posts: 206 Member
    Eating at a deficit is what burns fat. Its easier to get that deficit when you exercise. Also 3.0 mph is pretty slow. I thought I was walking that slow, but when I checked my GPS it was more like 4 mph. Walking is a good exercise. Ab exercises will build muscle, but it wont show until the fat is gone.
  • roddi7997
    roddi7997 Posts: 14 Member
    While walking at this pace isn't going to burn a ton of calories, it will be better than not exercising at all. If you want to burn more calories you could try picking up the pace or walking on hills. If you really want to pick things up do a google search for the Couch to 5k program. It's a great program for someone that wants to get into shape. I did it 2 years ago.
  • lasmit4477
    lasmit4477 Posts: 308 Member
    Being at a calorie deficit is what will cause weight loss. Walking is a good starting point to get physically active. You are not going to be able to spot reduce. You will have to lose over-all body fat and sometimes the stomach area is the last place that it will come from. Like another poster suggested, weight training (which you can do at home) will offer you tons of benefits and aid in body recomposition.
  • xtrout
    xtrout Posts: 193 Member
    Yes, you will lose weight with walking an hour a day. Obviously you have to be eating a calorie deficit too. I lost 40 lbs in 2012 by walking 60 minutes a day and eating the MFP recommended calories. Lost another 12 lbs once I started running 3 days a week (C25K) towards the end of the year.
  • verptwerp
    verptwerp Posts: 3,628 Member
    I lost weight changing eating habits & walking each day ........ but I still had a belly ...... then I joined a gym for cardio, weights, Zumba, yoga, etc ....... situps didn't do anything for me ....... but planks & core stuff have helped tremendously :drinker:

    Good luck !
  • prokomds
    prokomds Posts: 318 Member
    You can certainly lose fat (and as a result, weight) by just eating at a deficit and walking. However, you probably won't like the results. If you look through the success stories here, I'm willing to bet all the "after" pictures that you aspire to probably came from a combination of nutrition and serious exercise. Less fat with no muscle really doesn't look that much better than more fat with no muscle, sadly.

    And not to be accusatory, but if you have an hour to walk your dog, you can fit in more serious exercise. People with children and full-time jobs and who knows what other extra responsibilities can manage it, so can you. Your first challenge is addressing your excuses, your second challenge is finding your routine :)

    One thing that already fits into your schedule is doing something more active with the dog. You could jog with the dog, or chase him around, or anything that gets you working up a sweat. An hour-long walk is a lot of time!
  • deb3129
    deb3129 Posts: 1,294 Member
    Most of the weight I have lost so far has been just by healthier diet and walking. I started out walking a mile a day, because that is all I could manage, and now I take 7 and 8 mile hikes. Walking will burn calories and therefore fat. You can also do abdominal stuff to tighten and tone the muscles underneath, but a lot of it comes down to getting rid of the fat. Stomach fat seems to be the last to go!
  • Biggoal50
    Biggoal50 Posts: 33 Member
    Yes!!! Keep walking and up the intensity as you lose weight. When you can, add resistance training.

    Walking will help you:
    **lose weight
    **lower your blood pressure (mine went down to low normal walking 20 minutes a day)
    ** help your mood
    ** help you sleep

    There are so many benefits to walking. If this is all you can do for now, do it!!!
  • wareagle8706
    wareagle8706 Posts: 1,090 Member
    YES

    Just remember, ANYTHING is always better than NOTHING.
  • DebraYvonne
    DebraYvonne Posts: 632 Member
    My fitness trainer I had several years ago said it didn't help to lose weight. I would assume if someone has been very inactive or challenged physically, it would HAVE to be some help in just maintaining muscle tone though.
  • ahviendha
    ahviendha Posts: 1,291 Member
    yup walking will help. just walk faster as you become more in shape.

    you won't win any fitness awards or have big muscles, but if it's all you have time for, then that's all you can do!
  • Tilran
    Tilran Posts: 627 Member
    As others have said, you cannot spot reduce. You lose weight by eating at a deficit and eventually that weight will come off.

    Walking is fine for exercise and will burn calories which will help you be in a deficit. Remember that moving mass over a distance expends energy...it doesnt matter if it is slow or fast...you burn calories over distance. As your effort goes up (increasing speed), you will get a slight increase in calories burned over that distance but in the end, running at 6.0mph for 3 miles, or walking at 3.0mph for 3 miles will burn close to the same amount of calories....one event will just get you done in 30 minutes versus the other event getting you done in 60 minutes.
  • Dawnrobinson1996dr
    Dawnrobinson1996dr Posts: 13
    Thank you all :)
    I will try going for short jogs aswell, its just hard as I barely have any time and when I am walking I am walking the dog that will not walk any faster than 3.0 mph but I will manage to find some time and put some pilates in too :)
  • pauldbarnhart
    pauldbarnhart Posts: 5,999 Member
    I can tell you from experience - walking does work. My knees prevented me from doing anything but walk. I lost 60 pounds in a year or so, and there was a HUGE difference in my belly fat. No, I didn't develop washboard abs, but the difference was phenomenal, and ALL I did was walk. Eventually, I started running, but I did no weight training at all, and still got good results.

    Keep in mind that I'm a guy.. and I expect that a woman may not have the same experience. I think women tend to hold onto body fat more aggressively then us guys.
  • ripemango
    ripemango Posts: 534 Member
    just wondering if ya don't have a fit bit or something, is there an easy way to tell how fast you are walking?

    when i am wALKIING SLOW i log it as 2.0. any advice on this guys?
  • moseler
    moseler Posts: 224 Member
    At first, if you haven't been doing any other exercise in a very long time, it will help you drop. However, once your cardio health begins to improve, just walking 3 mph will not have the same effect as it did in the beginning. I started exercising this same way... I started walking my dog around the block, then a mile, then before I knew it I was out walking my poor pup. My HRM showed me that after several months, it took more for me to burn the same number of calories then in the beginning. I joined a gym and started strength training and walking the treadmill at 3.5 with an incline of 10. I burn about 450 calories in 30 minutes this way...
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
    I always think that that is the primary reason peoople in other countries are much slimmer because they walk EVERYWHERE! When I lived in Africa I dropped 100lbs doing nothing but walking. The food was really good so I wasnt in a calorie deficit by far LOL!
  • bbriscoe13
    bbriscoe13 Posts: 175 Member
    As others have said, you cannot spot reduce. You lose weight by eating at a deficit and eventually that weight will come off.

    Walking is fine for exercise and will burn calories which will help you be in a deficit. Remember that moving mass over a distance expends energy...it doesnt matter if it is slow or fast...you burn calories over distance. As your effort goes up (increasing speed), you will get a slight increase in calories burned over that distance but in the end, running at 6.0mph for 3 miles, or walking at 3.0mph for 3 miles will burn close to the same amount of calories....one event will just get you done in 30 minutes versus the other event getting you done in 60 minutes.

    This. Its all physics. Walking will help you burn calories, which will help you lose weight. Good luck. :)
  • darkguardian419
    darkguardian419 Posts: 1,302 Member
    *standard calories in calories out for weight loss blurb*

    Exercise is exercise. Cardiovascular health is an important part of a healthy lifestyle.

    Weight training is important for multiple reasons.

    But the most important part (other than cal in/ cal out) is that you do something you enjoy. The best workout program is the one you're willing to stick with.
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
    just wondering if ya don't have a fit bit or something, is there an easy way to tell how fast you are walking?

    when i am wALKIING SLOW i log it as 2.0. any advice on this guys?

    have a smartphone? try runkeeper. It'll tell you how fast you're moving.
  • remolding
    remolding Posts: 25 Member
    Yes walking will help with the belly. I had to work with a person trained in sports medicine and she said walking would help. walking is free and with a new puppy go for it. Beats sitting on the couch for anyone and it is safe.Just keep building up your time. Do it daily. I have many health issues and it is the easiest for me to do with weights.:happy: Good luck.
  • FredDoyle
    FredDoyle Posts: 2,272 Member
    Yes!!! Keep walking and up the intensity as you lose weight. When you can, add resistance training.

    Walking will help you:
    **lose weight
    **lower your blood pressure (mine went down to low normal walking 20 minutes a day)
    ** help your mood
    ** help you sleep

    There are so many benefits to walking. If this is all you can do for now, do it!!!
    Exactly this.
    I lost 40 lbs on a deficit with walking 40 min. a day. As I got more aerobically fit I upped the incline and added some resistance training. As i lost weight, my beer belly shrank. It was great to watch TV in bed and not have my gut in the way. :laugh:
  • Enigmatica
    Enigmatica Posts: 879 Member
    I lost over 90 pounds just walking and cutting back on calories. But I walked longer and longer as I lost more and more. I don't think an hour per day would have sufficed as my weight dropped lower and lower, unless I had cut calories more drastically, which was unacceptable to me. I mostly jog now that I'm at goal weight, but because I love to (now that I can) not because I have to for weight control.
  • Tilran
    Tilran Posts: 627 Member
    At first, if you haven't been doing any other exercise in a very long time, it will help you drop. However, once your cardio health begins to improve, just walking 3 mph will not have the same effect as it did in the beginning. I started exercising this same way... I started walking my dog around the block, then a mile, then before I knew it I was out walking my poor pup. My HRM showed me that after several months, it took more for me to burn the same number of calories then in the beginning. I joined a gym and started strength training and walking the treadmill at 3.5 with an incline of 10. I burn about 450 calories in 30 minutes this way...

    This isn't due to your cardiovascular shape but rather due to you losing weight. If you are moving less weight over a certain distance then you will burn less calories. Being in better shape is obviously beneficial and will help you do more, but the calorie burn comes from moving mass over distance...as you lose weight, your mass decreases and therefore you burn less calories over the same distance.
  • TraceAT
    TraceAT Posts: 54 Member
    My only exercise at the moment is walking daily. I do walk as briskly as I can currently go though.
    My normal daily route of 5km takes me about 52 minutes [I walk further at weekends]. I couldn't do the same routes without listening to music through ear buds though. I choose fast music to help keep my pace up.
    To date I have lost approx 18.3kg which is 40lbs in my 26 weeks here.
  • remolding
    remolding Posts: 25 Member
    Doctor is wrong!!!!!

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