Then you could just figure out your plan of execution and your route and get started. The truth is that when it comes to walking off weight, the equation is complicated. How much weight you stand to lose depends on so many things, including where and how you walk, what you eat, and what you weigh right now.
Many people wonder how many steps they need to take each day in order to lose weight. Walking is a great form of exercise that can help with weight loss, but the number of steps you need to take can vary depending on your individual goals and fitness level.
While weight loss can include reduced weight from stored carbs, protein, water, and fat, fat loss includes only weight loss from fat. I am a professor of exercise science at Kennesaw State University, and our lab has been conducting studies examining relationships among step counts and a number of health outcomes. Over the last decade, smartphones have become ubiquitous not just for sending texts and staying abreast of news, but also for monitoring daily activity levels.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How many steps should I aim for each day?
But despite making me feel good, walking 15,000 steps a day took more thought and planning than I anticipated on days without teaching classes or other exercise forms. Depending on your weight, walking 10,000 steps burns between 250 and 600 calories. You can use a steps to calories converter chart to estimate this for yourself. Unless you have an active job, such as a waiter or nurse, it is difficult to log 10,000 steps with daily activity only. An inactive person takes 3,000 steps or less in their daily activity of moving around the house. After 12 weeks, the walking group lost around 3 lbs more fat than the non-walking group.
- For general health: The general recommendation is to aim for 10,000 steps per day.
- For weight loss: To see weight loss benefits, you may need to aim for 12,000-15,000 steps per day.
There are a variety of ways to determine your body fat percentage, some more accurate than others. The simplest is to use a body fat calculator, although it’s only an estimate. You can also get your body fat tested by a personal trainer at your gym or at some university research labs.
These devices also take into account how fast you are walking or running when estimating the calories you burn. So far, studies show that 10,000 steps per day isn’t a magic number, but it is a good indicator of how much activity a person is achieving in a day. In fact, one study of steps per day and weight showed that people who took more steps per day weighed less, on average.
For example, if you burn an extra 500 calories a day with your increased step count, you can burn (roughly) a pound per week. While HIIT training is the most effective method for burning calories fast, it’s not the only way you can burn them. In fact, walking can be effective, as well ‘ you’ll just need to walk for longer amounts of time since walking isn’t as intense. Just like other forms of exercise, though, walking improves cardiac risk factors like blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, vascular stiffness, inflammation and mental stress. From there, try to increase your count by 1,000 steps and, once your body is used to that, 2,000 steps.
Stay motivated and reward yourself with a new book, a weekend getaway, or a self-care day. Do it when you reach major moments such as working out for three days in a row or hitting a new fitness personal record. While public health guidelines encourage people to embrace physical activity to prevent obesity, those blanket recommendations may not be effective for everyone, Ordov’s said. The research team behind the study looked at National Institute of Health data from 3,124 people of European ancestry.
2. How can I track my steps?
There are a variety of fitness trackers available that can help you keep track of your daily steps. Many smartphones also have built-in step tracking features.
3. Should I only focus on steps for weight loss?
While increasing your daily steps can be a helpful tool for weight loss, it’s important to also focus on other aspects of your health such as diet and strength training.
Overall, the number of steps you need to take per day to lose weight will vary from person to person. It’s important to set realistic goals and listen to your body to ensure that you are making progress in a healthy way.
