Back in the day, nearly every person on the planet got to where they were going by walking. As a result, there weren’t a lot of overweight or obese people in those times. Although it can be said that the average diet back then was mostly organic, the amount of time our ancestors spent walking every day turned out to play a huge role in their overall svelte and muscular physiques. Luckily, you don’t have to traipse all over the globe to achieve better health and fitness. With such busy modern lifestyles, it can be difficult to know how to spend your time wisely, which means that you need to know exactly how long you should walk every day to improve your health.
Define Your Purpose
There is no debate that walking has its many benefits. Being physically active is one of the most important choices a healthy person can make. However, in order to figure out precisely how long you should walk every day, you first need to determine your reasons for walking to begin with. Aside from simply getting from point A to point B, brisk walking can help you to lose a significant amount of weight while fostering better cardiovascular and musculoskeletal health as well. Once you decide what your general purposes for walking are, you can more easily dedicate a specific portion of time and allocate an exact distance for your pedestrian exercises.
Achieving Weight Loss
It is important to understand what walking does to your body in terms of weight loss, especially if you want to know exactly how long you should walk every day. In order for you to lose a significant amount weight by walking, you need to do so each day for long enough to burn more calories than you eat. Keep in mind that a single pound of fat is equal to 3,500 calories, which means that a brisk walk that burns about 500 calories is necessary for fat-burning success. With one mile of walking, burning only 100 calories on average, it is necessary to walk about 5 miles per day to achieve noticeable weight-loss results.
Attaining Better Health
Walking is great for general bodily improvements as well and is not simply an exercise for weight loss hopefuls. How long you should walk every day is dependent upon several factors, including how bad of shape you are in. As one of the best ways to improve cardiovascular and musculoskeletal health, vigorous walking for between 75 and 300 minutes per week should render your body in better condition, according to a recent study conducted by the Mayo Clinic. Be sure to talk to your doctor about any special considerations that should be made before you lace up your walking shoes.
