Walking is the simplest form of exercise that doesn’t require special equipment. If you walk an hour a day for a month, you can achieve many health benefits such as weight loss, controlled blood pressure, increased energy levels, and much more.
Many people don’t give a second thought to regular walking as an exercise program. Instead, most of them spend a lot of money on personal trainers and gym memberships to stay fit.
Of course, it’s better to work out with a personal trainer or hit the gym, but you can stay fit and healthy by improving your walking technique and shedding belly fat.
So if you are health conscious and want to know the health benefits when you walk an hour for a month, keep on reading.
And we will show you how to lose weight by walking one hour a day.
Walk An Hour A Day For A Month: How to begin?
As we have established that walking is the simplest form of physical activity, and anyone can start doing it.
Suppose you are a beginner or are recovering from an injury. In that case, it is best to start slow and gradually progress your duration and intensity.
Intense walking or any other strenuous physical activity, in the beginning, can leave you exhausted and unmotivated, which are common negative effects of walking too much.
- So start regular walking for 10-15 minutes at an average pace daily, and don’t forget to wear your favorite walking shoe. It is best to select a comfortable pair of shoe for walking, especially for men and women with wider feet. To your surprise, you can now easily find the best walking shoes for wide feet womens.
- Now gradually increase your duration to 1 hour and your pace from average to brisk walking. You can increase or decrease your walking duration and intensity the way you like and feel comfortable.
To keep your walking experience engaging, you should modify your routine now and then by doing the following.
- You should change your walking trail or route to make it more interesting.
- Switch your walking time from morning to evening or vice versa. Or choose any hour of the day that suits you.
- Walk an hour a day for a month with your partner to keep yourself engaged and motivated.
- Listen to music, your favorite podcast, or an e-book to entertain yourself while waking an hour a day for a month regularly.
How Many Steps In 1 Hour Walk?
There is no strict guideline for how many steps in 1 hour walk a person should take, but on average, a person may take 4,500-6,500 steps daily.
So the recommended number of steps a day to stay healthy is around 10,000. But that might not be enough if you plan to lose an extra calorie or two.
It would require at least 16,000 steps per day for weight loss which counts as 666 steps in 1 hour walk.
It might sound too much for beginners, but you can increase your duration and intensity every week with progressive walking.
Walking 1 Hour a Day Benefits
Let’s begin with walking 1 hour a day benefits because it is a regular part of our daily lives in one way or the other.
It doesn’t require much walking to reap its benefits; instead, it takes only 30 minutes to an hour of walking time.
With regular walking, you can maintain your blood pressure, reduce belly fat, maintain a healthy heart rate and decrease health risks.
Following are some of the common benefits of regular walking.
Weight Loss
Like regular exercise, a daily walk is a great way to burn extra calorie. Walking for weight loss is better than other forms of exercise for beginners, those recovering from injuries, and people with higher body mass index.
Because walking is a low-impact exercise, it doesn’t put pressure on the joints and heart. So the more you walk, the more calories are burned, which results in weight loss.
Reduce Risk of Chronic Disease
People who regularly walk have a lower risk of developing chronic diseases than couch potatoes. For example, regular walking can decrease sugar levels and decrease the risk of type 2 diabetes.
It also lowers blood pressure decreasing any risks of stroke or hemorrhage. And the daily walk is also beneficial for your cardiovascular health as it keeps the heart rate normal and healthy by unclogging the arteries.
Better Blood Circulation
Our circulatory system is vital for the proper function of our bodies, and regular walking can help improve it.
Poor blood circulation leads to lethargy, body aches, dizziness, and cardiovascular diseases. Daily walk increases your heart rate to keep the blood pressure normal and unclog arteries.
In addition, with the circulation of fresh oxygenated blood, the body feels energetic.
Helps in Digestion
Studies have shown that walking after your meals can help digest the food properly. Going into resting mode immediately after meals slows down digestion resulting in stomach pain, heartburn, and increased blood sugar levels.
Regular walking after meals helps speed up the digestion process, due to which nutrients are delivered quickly through the body.
You should note that intense exercise after meals also slows digestion as blood flow is diverted towards the muscles instead of the stomach.
Walking after meals is also beneficial because it is a moderate exercise and keeps the blood flow balanced.
Stress Reduction
Regular exercise can reduce stress and benefit a person’s mental health. Similarly, walking for an hour can also have the same effects as an intense workout to relieve stress, anxiety, and stabilize your mood.
In addition, walking releases a chemical known as Endorphins in our brain that stimulates relaxation and pain relief. So walk more to relieve stress and stay relaxed.
Simplest Form of Exercise
Walking 1 hour a day benefits because it is the simplest form of exercise. Compared to other forms of exercise like running, or gym workouts, walking regularly is a good option.
First of all, intense workouts can impact your muscles and joints while walking is less stressful.
It is easier for those who are not exercising regularly to add a daily walk into their workday and don’t require a fixed workout schedule.
How much weight can you lose walking 1 hour a day?
As regular walking has many health benefits, weight loss is one of them. You can burn extra calories by walking 1 hour a day, but the number of calories burned depends on your weight and walking speed. Walking 1 hour a day can melt your belly fat, but you have to limit your calorie intake as well.
It is estimated that one pound of body weight is equivalent to 3500 calories. So to lose 1 pound of body weight in a week, you have to burn 500 calories per day.
And to burn 500 calories, you have to walk 1 hour a day at a speed of 3-4mph. This way, you can lose 4 pounds of body weight when you walk an hour a day for a month.
So let’s look at the calorie burn table achieved by walking 1 hour a day.
| Body Weight / Walking Speed | 2 mph | 3 mph | 4 mph |
| 120 pounds | 154 | 193 | 275 |
| 150 pounds | 190 | 238 | 340 |
| 180 pounds | 230 | 287 | 451 |
| 210 pounds | 266 | 333 | 475 |
| 240 pounds | 305 | 382 | 545 |
| 270 pounds | 344 | 431 | 615 |
| 300 pounds | 381 | 476 | 680 |
With reference to this calorie burn table, it is evident that you can burn more calories by walking faster or increasing the duration.
So for obese persons walking 1 hour a day for a month results in a surprising weight loss if they progressively achieve this walking time.
How to prevent walking injuries?
Although walking is safer than any other form of exercise, there is still a risk of injuries. To prevent walking injuries, you should wear proper fitting walking shoes, slow down or stop walking when you feel pain or discomfort, and always look out for any hazard on your walking trail. So by staying focused, you can prevent walking injuries.
You can read more on this article
Conclusion
You can stay healthy and fit by walking regularly, and it doesn’t require any special equipment.
When you walk an hour a day for a month, that results in weight loss, healthy heart rate, normal blood pressure, and many health benefits. Here we have discussed the benefits of everything related to regular walking. So stop procrastinating, walk more to burn the extra calorie, and stay healthy.
