Walk to Lose Weight and Keep It Off
By Rachel Carver
Walking can help you decrease your scale number. It also gives you other health benefits, such as improving balance and promoting heart health.
If you want to maintain your weight loss, regular walking can help you do this. Keeping your scale number steady after you lose weight can often be more challenging than the weight loss itself.
Here are some reasons to walk for weight loss and maintaining your weight.
It Boosts Metabolism
Your metabolism requires fewer calories after you lose weight. People often gain their weight back because they return to their pre-weight loss diet with this new metabolism. Activities such as walking can keep your metabolism up. Walking your errands, pacing during phone calls, and taking the stairs instead of the elevator can elevate your metabolism and help you maintain your weight.
Recovery Time Is Low
Walking is not as intense as other forms of exercise. This decreases the needed recovery time after a walking workout. This gives you a couple of benefits.
- You can increase your activity without compromising your primary workout because walking does not impact your performance
- Increased activity throughout the day improves the heart's ability to pump blood, delivering nutrients all around the body and helping with digestion
Walking Improves Performance
In addition to being easy to recover from, walking helps you recover from more intense workouts so you can train more often. Research shows walking improves symptoms of delayed onset muscle soreness, which allows you to train more throughout the week. It is an easy and cost-effective recovery method.
Walking Is Less Likely to Cause Injury
Consistent physical activity is an important part of maintaining your weight. Some injuries can prevent you from exercising. Walking is easier on the spine, knees, hips, and ankles. Higher-intensity exercises such as running are harder on the body and increase injury risk.
It Is Easy to Walk Consistently
Because you only need a comfortable pair of shoes and not specific instructions or location, regular walking is much easier to continue than other workouts. You can walk anywhere. Not everyone can run or lift weights, but most people can walk various distances. You can walk during any part of the day and do not have to learn new movements. Walk during your lunch break. Walk after dinner. You can even find a walking partner to keep it going.
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Columbus, Ohio.