Nowadays, thanks to the endless researches and articles around the web, every single person is aware of the benefits of regular exercising like having great body shape, more energy, and strength and minimizing the chances of developing some serious diseases. However, if you are like most of the people, getting yourself to workout is hard work and keeping up on a long run is even harder. If you think you are one of those people, then you should better keep on reading because we have good news for you girls.
The no-sweat workout
It turns out that you don’t need to sweat that much to lose weight. Instead, you can just walk more. Yes, it’s as simple as that. Walking is the most effortless training of all that improves your health and well-being, boosts your mood and helps you accomplish your weight goal.
A study published in the journal Obesity has shown that every woman over 40 that walks around 3500 steps during the day, which is 2.8 km, will lose 5 pounds during the year without changing her weekly diet plan. They study has also shown that the women decreased their harmful belly fat by 12%.
Add more steps in your day
To add more steps in your daily routine, take the stairs instead of riding the elevator. Keep walking when you use the escalator. Walk around the mall even if you don’t need to buy anything. Walk few stations before getting on the bus to reach your destination. Use a toilet on a different floor at work. Walk while you are talking on your phone. Park your car farther in the parking lot so you’ll have to walk to the desired place.
Now that you know this cool information, check out this table, that shows how many steps you can make in one or more minutes and how many steps you can walk per kilometer.
Per minute:
1 minute = 120 steps
10 minute = 1200 steps
30 minutes = 3600 steps
60 minutes = 7200 steps
Per km:
800 meters = 1000 steps
2.4 km = 3000 steps
4 km = 5000 steps
8 km = 10.000 steps
12 km = 15.000 steps
The miracle of walking 10.000 steps a day
Lately, the 10.000 steps a day routine has turned into a vigorously promoted weight loss mantra and there is a great reason for that. It turns out, that according to the American Council on Exercise if a mediocre person walks 10.000 steps on a daily basis, he will burn around 3.500 calories a week. That means if you eat healthy, nutrition-rich food and you cut back some calorie intake, by walking 10.000 steps a day, you will lose one pound of body fat in a week. If you include enough physical activities throughout the day to reach this goal, you will be burning 400-500 calories per day.
Spend more energy than you eat
Be sure to avoid intake of deep-fried or fast foods, high-sugar foods and beverages, processed meat, salad dressings, pizza, pasta, chips, packed snacks etc., if you don’t want to pack those calories right back on, diminishing all of your hard work. Your goal is to spend more energy than you take in. Buy a pedometer if you already don’t have one, clip it on your belt or wear it as a bracelet if you like the modern fitness trackers and it will count all the steps you take in a day. On the plus side, it will motivate you every single day to stick up to your daily fitness goal.
Should you do a 30-minute workout or walk 10.000 steps a day?
Doing at least thirty minutes of mild physical activity from five to seven days a week is great fitness goal for every average person. However, that is not enough if you are lazy in the remaining waking hours or your job requires sitting eight hours a day. This is why your ideal goal should include both, 30 minutes of regular exercising, like doing some cardio and walk your way towards reaching the goal of 10.000 steps. By staying fit you are also taking care of your health. Plentiful studies have proven that moderate physical activity on the most days of the week will reduce risks of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Avoid Too Much Sitting
Whatever you do, just try to sit less on a chair. This is very important because it is scientifically proven that too much sitting, like eight hours a day is bad news for our well-being and it cuts down our lifespan, even if you do a 30-minute cardio workout on a daily basis. The reason for this is that when we sit our bodies become insulin resistant because of the fewer muscle contractions. Because of this, sugars and fats will stay in our blood longer, resulting in excess body fat. The key point: while a 30-minute cardio workout a day is an excellent choice for your body shape and health, it still doesn’t make up for that 8-hours sitting in your desk chair. You can simply get up of you chair every 40 minutes or so to retrieve those health benefits.
Summing up
There are 24 hours in a day. If you sleep 8 hours a day, that leaves you with 16 waking hours. Spending 40-60 minutes in the gym is far more important than the rest of the things you are doing throughout your day. Add a healthy meal plan in your life, workout at least 30 minutes a day and reach that 10.000 steps a day goal while running those errands and you’ll create the optimal base for good shape, weight-loss and healthy life.