How to walk to lose weight and stay in shape?

Health benefits of walking

Health & Life Newspaper quoted BSCKI. Nguyen Huy Hoang - Vietnam - Russia High Pressure Oxygen Center - Ministry of National Defense said that walking is both for entertainment and health training with some benefits including:

- Strengthens heart and lung health.

- Reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke.

- Helps control conditions such as high blood pressure, high blood fat, joint and muscle pain or stiffness and diabetes.

- Helps strengthen bones and improve balance.

- Increase muscle strength and endurance.

- Reduce body fat.

Exercise like walking can also reduce your risk of diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and some cancers.

Walking is also a great form of physical activity for overweight people, the elderly, or those who have not exercised for a long time.

BSCKI. Nguyen Huy Hoang said, according to a special report by Harvard Health, 30 minutes of walking every day can help reduce the risk of heart disease by 30%. This is proven to reduce the appearance of risk factors for cardiovascular disease such as high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and high blood sugar.

Walking helps burn fat and consume sugar effectively while moving continuously at high intensity in a short period of time helps stabilize heart rate, lower blood pressure and increase vascular elasticity.

How to walk to lose weight and stay in shape?

Thanh Nien newspaper quoted the news site Eat This, Not That! as saying that according to fitness trainer James Rodgers, who is working in the US, walking is a great activity for weight loss and will be more useful if you make it a natural habit, done regularly and with a plan.

However, this coach does not encourage plans that are difficult to implement regularly and "unimaginable" for many people, such as walking 10,000 steps/day, because this can become a burden.

To walk effectively, first focus on building endurance through regular exercise. Your walking sessions should have specific goals, perhaps starting with just 15 minutes, then increasing by 10 minutes every 2-3 weeks until you reach the 1 hour mark.

In addition, this trainer also advises people to not only focus on the number of steps but also combine speed and tempo (number of steps/minute), pay attention to swinging the arms faster. In particular, walking on new terrain that challenges the muscles (trails, bumpy roads, parks) will make the exercise more interesting.

Another misconception about walking is that it's not "hard enough" or not vigorous enough to support weight loss. According to James Rodgers, there are many ways to increase the intensity of your walk through terrain, speed, incline, and carrying weight.

James Rodgers also emphasizes that walking on an incline increases heart rate, increases fat burning and works muscles, including the glutes, quads and calves.

In addition, walking with a companion can also help us discover new routes and share useful tips to make exercise less boring and more effective.