Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsCalories BurnedExercise to Lose WeightIncreasing Calories BurnedTracking Distance and Calories
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Calories Burned
Exercise to Lose Weight
Increasing Calories Burned
Tracking Distance and Calories
Walking is a physical activity that hasmany benefits. If you need tolose weight, walking can help you burncalories, especially when you also make healthy changes in your diet.
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8 Surprising Benefits of Walking Every Day
Calories Burned While Walking a Mile
The number of calories you can expect to burn while walking depends on your weight and other factors, such as your pace.
How Many Steps Per Day Do People Take on Average?
Moderate Pace
A moderate walking pace is about 2.8 to 3.2 miles per hour (mph), which means that in 20 minutes, you would walk about 1 mile. At this pace, you would walk about 3 miles in an hour. A moderate walking pace is typical if you’re on a steady, uninterrupted walk with your dog or a friend.
Brisk Pace
You can increase the calories you burn while walking if you speed up your pace a little. Abrisk walkof 3.5 mph means walking a mile every 17 minutes and covering 3.5 miles in an hour.
This pace would be expected if you walk while listening to fast-paced music or need to get somewhere. As with a moderate-paced walk, your weight impacts the calories you burn.
Is Walking on a Treadmill While Working Right for You?
How Many Exercise Calories Should You Burn Each Day to Lose Weight?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), adults generally should get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity per week for overall health and to maintain weight.
To lose weight, you have toburn more calories than you consume. Youconsume caloriesthrough eating and drinking. You burn calories through exercise and your basal metabolism (the processes your body uses to maintain function, like digesting food, breathing, and circulating blood).
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH):
However, it’s important to check with a healthcare provider before you start on a weight loss plan. You might have specific restrictions or recommendations based on your own health.
Keep in mind that losing weight too quickly can lead to nutrient deficiencies or health complications. Look for ways to build a healthy lifestyle you can stick with.
Calories Burned Walking 10,000 Steps
How Can You Increase Your Calories Burned Walking?
You can increase the number of calories that you burn while walking in a few different ways, such as:
Adding or carrying weightto increase your calories per mile can put additional strain on your feet and joints, so doing so is not a general recommendation.
Moderate-Intensity Physical ActivitiesBrisk walking is one of many moderate-intensity physical activities. You can combine different options and select the ones you enjoy.Some moderate-intensity exercises to consider include:Water resistance exercisesWalking in a poolStretchingA general light weight-lifting workout, such as with leg liftsCasual cyclingGardening and light yard workThe most important advice for staying healthy is to stay active and avoid a sedentary lifestyle.
Moderate-Intensity Physical Activities
Brisk walking is one of many moderate-intensity physical activities. You can combine different options and select the ones you enjoy.Some moderate-intensity exercises to consider include:Water resistance exercisesWalking in a poolStretchingA general light weight-lifting workout, such as with leg liftsCasual cyclingGardening and light yard workThe most important advice for staying healthy is to stay active and avoid a sedentary lifestyle.
Brisk walking is one of many moderate-intensity physical activities. You can combine different options and select the ones you enjoy.
Some moderate-intensity exercises to consider include:
The most important advice for staying healthy is to stay active and avoid a sedentary lifestyle.
What’s the Average Time to Run a Mile?
How Can You Track Walking Distance and Calories?
You can track your calories and exercise in many practical ways. Many people like to approximate how much they’ve exercised and how many calories they’ve eaten, while some people prefer to track everything with precision.
Various helpful devices and phone apps can count daily steps, record workouts, and estimate calories burned. Or, you can decide in advance that you will work out for a set amount of time or that you’ll walk a certain distance, with or without a tracking device.
You can use any method that feels right for you—planning ahead, tracking as you go, approximation, or a detailed count.
Here are some helpful guidelines:
A Word From VerywellWalking is known to improve heart health, increase bone and joint strength, and help manage conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and depression. Even better, walking is a cost-effective form of exercise that doesn’t require much in the way of special equipment or previous training.—ALLISON HERRIES, RDN, MEDICAL EXPERT BOARD
A Word From Verywell
Walking is known to improve heart health, increase bone and joint strength, and help manage conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and depression. Even better, walking is a cost-effective form of exercise that doesn’t require much in the way of special equipment or previous training.—ALLISON HERRIES, RDN, MEDICAL EXPERT BOARD
Walking is known to improve heart health, increase bone and joint strength, and help manage conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and depression. Even better, walking is a cost-effective form of exercise that doesn’t require much in the way of special equipment or previous training.
—ALLISON HERRIES, RDN, MEDICAL EXPERT BOARD
Summary
Walking can be good exercise to burn calories. The number of calories you burn per mile depends on your weight and walking speed.
You can incorporate walking into a weight loss plan. You can track how much you walk, how far you walk, how long you spend walking, and how fast you walk. You could also just walk at a regular, steady pace while increasing your time, distance, or pace a little bit every day.
It’s always recommended to aim for a steady weight loss plan that utilizes lifestyle adjustments that are realistic, healthy, and that you can maintain for the long run.
A Note on Gender and Sex TerminologyVerywell Health acknowledges thatsex and genderare related concepts, but they are not the same. To reflect our sources accurately, this article uses terms like “female,” “male,” “woman,” and “man” as the sources use them.
A Note on Gender and Sex Terminology
Verywell Health acknowledges thatsex and genderare related concepts, but they are not the same. To reflect our sources accurately, this article uses terms like “female,” “male,” “woman,” and “man” as the sources use them.
Running for Weight Loss: How to Do It Right
6 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Ainsworth BE, Haskell WL, Herrmann SD, et al.2011 compendium of physical activities: a second update of codes and MET values.Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2011;43(8):1575-81. doi:10.1249/MSS.0b013e31821ece12Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Physical activity and your weight and health.National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.Healthy eating plan.National Institutes of Health.Number of steps per day is more important than step intensity.Harvard Health Publishing.Wearable weights: how they can help or hurt.National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.Food portions: choosing just enough for you.
6 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Ainsworth BE, Haskell WL, Herrmann SD, et al.2011 compendium of physical activities: a second update of codes and MET values.Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2011;43(8):1575-81. doi:10.1249/MSS.0b013e31821ece12Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Physical activity and your weight and health.National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.Healthy eating plan.National Institutes of Health.Number of steps per day is more important than step intensity.Harvard Health Publishing.Wearable weights: how they can help or hurt.National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.Food portions: choosing just enough for you.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Ainsworth BE, Haskell WL, Herrmann SD, et al.2011 compendium of physical activities: a second update of codes and MET values.Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2011;43(8):1575-81. doi:10.1249/MSS.0b013e31821ece12Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Physical activity and your weight and health.National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.Healthy eating plan.National Institutes of Health.Number of steps per day is more important than step intensity.Harvard Health Publishing.Wearable weights: how they can help or hurt.National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.Food portions: choosing just enough for you.
Ainsworth BE, Haskell WL, Herrmann SD, et al.2011 compendium of physical activities: a second update of codes and MET values.Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2011;43(8):1575-81. doi:10.1249/MSS.0b013e31821ece12
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Physical activity and your weight and health.
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.Healthy eating plan.
National Institutes of Health.Number of steps per day is more important than step intensity.
Harvard Health Publishing.Wearable weights: how they can help or hurt.
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.Food portions: choosing just enough for you.
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