How Many Steps do People Need to Walk to Get in Better Shape?

There are people who are not satisfied with their body or weight, but for some reason, they cannot exercise a lot. Well, for them there is a solution. What most people don’t know is that walking can help them get in better shape.

Yes, it is possible, and it is healthy. That may be confusing to people how walking would make them get in better shape because they are not really getting tired of sweating. Well, the number of steps per day is important.

For instance, walking for an hour at an average pace makes you burn 400 calories. To be more precise, if you want to burn about 100 calories, you should make about 2,000 steps.

So, in order to burn a pound of fat, you need 3,500 calories burnt. The healthiest way to get in better shape is to lose about a pound every week. This means that you need to take 10,000 steps per day. This is a good amount that will make you be and stay healthy.

However, there are other factors contributing to losing weight such as how fast are you walking, are you moving constantly throughout the day, etc.

Why Should You Walk 10,000 Steps?

This is not some magical number. It comes from the 1960s from a marketing campaign. After the Tokyo Olympic Games, 1964, people from Japan started using a manpo (meaning 10,000 steps) meter.

A fitness enthusiast from Japan started counting their 10,000 steps in order to improve their health. According to researchers, besides losing weight, walking 10,000 steps every day improves your heart condition and your overall health.

Well, since there are people who do not like walking, experts say that exercising about 150 minutes every week is also a type of cardiovascular exercise. (1) So, you can do biking or swimming instead of walking.

However, if you really want to get in better shape, you should not think that you need to make just 10,000 steps per day and that is all. You need to have a serious nutrition program as well.

Besides the steps, the pace and intensity with which you move are more important than just some number.

What to Add to Your Walking Program?

First of all, you need to make a consistent program in order to create a habit of walking. If you are a beginner, you should start walking for about 15 to 20 minutes most days of the week.

Then, slowly increase the time till you start walking almost every day. After that, increase the time till you reach half an hour to 40 minutes of walking on most days. When you finally create your walking program, you can involve the next three challenges to it.

1. Hills

Walking outdoors has its advantages especially if you can find some hills. But, if you do not have a chance to walk outside, and if you are walking on a treadmill, then you should use technology.

Make your workout harder, add incline, and set speed. If you burn 310 calories by walking, when you add incline you will burn about 70 calories more.

2. Intervals

According to studies mixing intervals every few minutes has proven to burn more calories. Walkers who changed their speed burned about 20% more calories than people who chose steady speed.

If you want to lose weight, you should set yourself a goal each day to be more motivated.

3. Speed

Evidence shows that people who walk faster live longer than those who walk slower. (2) If you do not have a fitness tracker, check the time you need to get to a certain destination by walking and try to lower the time by half a minute, a minute, and two minutes.

How to walk more?

If you are a parent, you can walk your kids to school. Then, you can choose to walk to work instead of taking a bus or using your car. Always go for the stairs instead of the elevator. Also, you can park your car a little further than your destination in order to get a chance to walk more.

More Benefits of Walking

If you are still not convinced to start walking, you should read on to find out what other benefits you will get.

1. Decreased Stress

Exercising outside has proven to improve people’s lives and lower stress levels. Also, you get a chance to enjoy the fresh air and the surroundings. You can clear your thoughts after a difficult day as well, and get in a better mood. (3)

2. Better Motion of the Hips

The movement needs flexion and extension of the hip joint and many activities we do require hip extension but just at the hip top. So, the extension improved the overall motion of the body and hip flexibility.

3. Better Strength

If you want to have stronger legs and a tighter back, choose walking. While you are walking, you engage your quadriceps, gluteal muscles, and hamstrings. And, you can also strengthen your abs if you walk with a good posture.

As you can see, walking has a lot of benefits, physical and psychological, so do not think twice, but start walking.