Walk to Blast Fat

Now that spring is here, I try and get more workouts done outdoors and what better way to do that than walking? Jeff and I love to go for evening walks to catch up on our day while we take our sweet doggy Boo Boo out for some fresh air. He loves it and it’s the perfect time to exercise while being together.

Walking is a great way to get in your cardio. I’m a true believer that you need to do cardiovascular exercise in order to burn fat and calories and change your body. That’s why I recommend doing 30 Minutes of exercise most days of the week, and if you can squeeze in four days of cardio, that’s awesome. It’s a great way to burn fat and boost your metabolism.

Walking is by far the easiest cardiovascular exercise for most people to do. All you need is a comfortable pair of walking shoes that have good arch support (to prevent feet from rolling inward) and that are flexible so they allow your feet to bend as you walk. And they should never pinch or rub, even when they’re new. If they do, they don’t fit well.

My favorite way to drop a few pounds is with interval walks to jump-start my metabolism and get a more effective workout in a shorter amount of time. An interval workout is where you intersperse fast-paced intervals of exercise with moderate-paced intervals. For example, let’s say that you typically walk at a pace of three and a half miles per hour for thirty minutes. If you mix things up and sprinkle in a few minutes of walking or running at, say, a 5 mph pace, you’ll burn more calories in the same thirty-minute workout.

One of my favorite metabolism-boosting walks is to mix two-, three-, and five-minute intervals. To determine the intensity of these intervals, think of your effort on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being a very easy stroll and 10 being so hard you can’t carry on a conversation. You shouldn’t stay at either of these extremes for too long, but you should challenge yourself and be honest with yourself about how hard you’re working.

Try this walking challenge next time you go out for your walk:

1. 5 minutes: Warm Up (intensity of 5)
2. 5 minutes: Walk at a moderate pace (intensity of 6)
3. 3 minutes: Power walk (intensity of 7)
4. 2 minutes: Walk at a moderate pace (intensity of 6)
5. 3 minutes: Speed walk (intensity of 8)
6. 2 minutes: Walk at a moderate pace (intensity of 6)
7. 3 minutes: Speed walk or jog (intensity of 9)
8. 2 minutes: Walk at a moderate pace (intensity of 6)
9. 5 minutes: Cool down at a moderate pace (intensity of 5)

You can mix things up by varying whether you walk on flat terrain or an incline, or whether you walk inside on a treadmill or outside.

Want to join me for a walk? You’ll love my 30 minute Walk With Me Workout on my 10-Week Plan is a great way to walk every day in your own home, regardless of what the weather looks like outside, and you only need 4 feet of space in your home to make it work and it’s SO much fun, too.  Feel as though I’m your personal trainer right there in your own home.

Let’s do this together!

Love always,
Denise

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