Walking for Weight Loss

A simple change to your lifestyle, such as adding a Sunday "walk-in-the-park" could be all you need to shed a few pounds, or at least keep them at bay.

Researchers in the UK studied the walking patterns of overweight and normal weight individuals and found only one difference.

On Sundays, the overweight group walked an average of 2221 steps less than any other day of the week. The normal weight group reported no reduction in walking on Sundays.

So if you find yourself spending Sunday's on the couch, schedule an hour for a Sunday stroll to increase your activity level.

For maximum fat loss results, you could perform interval walking, alternating between fast walking for a minute and slow walking for a minute, repeated up to 10 times. This should help boost your metabolism and fitness, while lowering your body fat faster than regular walking.

Eventually, work up to doing this interval walking program 4 days per week and add two or three total body strength training workouts to round out a balanced bodysculpting program.

Even better, add some bodyweight strength training exercises to the walk and you'll sculpt your body and get better results. So stop along the way and do some pushups, squats, and lunges. If you are strong enough, do some chinups on monkey bars.

Once you get home you can do some ab exercises like the plank and side plank, or even more advanced mountain climber exercises. You should also get a cheap Stability Ball and use it for lying leg curls, a great exercise for the back of your legs that anyone can do, even people with sore knees.

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked home gym fat loss workouts have helped thousands of men and women with weight loss and fat burning in less than 45 minutes three times per week. Bodyweight exercise workouts help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment. Craig's bodyweight workouts for fat loss help you lose fat without any equipment at all.

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