Walking for Weight Loss

The pandemic of weight gain has taken less than 30 years to spread primarily out of the US to affect middle and low-income countries who are suffering the ill effects of the problem; in some cases, alongside hunger and malnutrition at the other end of the social spectrum.

But it hasn’t always been this way. For many decades leading up to the mushrooming weight problem we now face, the obesity issue appeared to affect very few.

Indeed, if we go back only 150 years or so, roughly 90% of the world’s population lived and worked in agriculture, and, like our even more distant ancestors before them, walked to work, were physically active at work, and then walked home at the end of the day.

They were constantly on the go, if at a more modest walking pace than the modern way of life ... and for other different reasons.

Water carriage, food preparation, clothes washing and general household maintenance were all physically intensive, and walking was required for socialization.

We may have lost those specific needs to walk, but our bodies evolved to walk, so doesn’t it make sense to do exactly that?

Walking for Weight Loss

We can use walking for weight loss as well as for improved health benefits.¹

However, one problem facing many wannabe slimmers, is that we are still suffering the hangover of the constant bombardment of messages insisting that short bursts of high intensity, sweaty activity down the gym are the only way.

The argument still rages about whether sweaty aerobic exercise is more beneficial than intense effort anaerobic strength training (this despite the fact that both improve cardiovascular health in obese adults²).

During this time, the message conveyed by the exercise lobby was “more is better.” And even the US surgeon general’s report summarized the view that more exercise of greater intensity promises more health of greater duration³.

But a growing body of evidence shows that this is clearly not the case.

A recent article by Nemoto and co-workers⁴ reported that walking in middle-aged and older people results in the same health benefits that are similar to those provided by a workout down the gym.

Whether the outcome measurement is blood pressure, as in the Nemoto article, diabetes and other metabolic disorders, joint problems, mental health, or cardiovascular disease, collectively, the data suggests that walking improves health.

So what are we to make of the growing body of evidence relating the health benefits of simply walking in light of pressure from the exercise movement showing the benefits of high-intensity, high level exertion?

Well there are six key points that are important.

• Firstly, we all have to start somewhere, and walking for weight loss is easy to begin for those of us who have not been active for some time.

• Secondly, walking is far more accessible to many more people than expensive high-intensity exercise down the gym in terms of cost, as well as the tolerance factor mentioned above.

• Thirdly, evidence shows that a great deal of low-intensity activity can have as many health and physiological benefits as high intensity exercise.

• Fourthly, individuals who are able to undertake and sustain high-duration, high-intensity exercise are, by definition, fitter than the population who rarely exercises; so for example, a long distance runner is inevitably fitter than those of us who only occasionally stroll in the park.

• Walking for weight loss causes fewer activity-associated injuries,whereas nearly all high-intensity athletes frequently experience sports-associated injuries.

• And finally, any amount of walking, at any pace in any place, burns calories and as such has the potential, long term, for use in weight loss and subsequent management.

Other Walking Health Benefits

There are of course many other benefits to walking for weight loss which have not necessarily been scientifically proven beyond doubt, but are blindingly obvious to anybody who has ever stretched their legs.

The pleasurable and therapeutic, psychological and social dimensions of walking, the stress relief; whilst many of these effects are self-evident, they have only recently begun to be studied.

However, in one early study,⁵ Thayer and co-workers compared the effects of just a 10 minute walk versus a bar of chocolate. Volunteers rated their energy levels, tiredness, and tension feelings for a fixed 2-hr period after the two options (as compared to a normal day).

Results indicated that walking was associated with higher self-rated energy and lower tension significantly more than was snacking on the candy bar.

After the walk, reliable increases in energy and decreases in tension were observed for 2 hr. For comparison, the snack resulted in significantly higher tension after 1 hr, and a pattern of initially increased energy and reduced tiredness, followed 1 hr later by increased tiredness and reduced energy.

Another study on over 12000 people found that the greatest difference with regard to the level of stress and dissatisfaction was seen between the group with low activity levels (effectively sedentary) and the group with moderate physical activity (e.g., 2-4 h of walking per week).

This was reported to be due to the increases in adrenal activity enhancing the release of the so-called “happy hormones” such as beta-endorphin, serotonin and dopamine.⁶

Researchers from Finland found that a walking program of moderate intensity, started after weight reduction improved maintenance of losses in weight and waist circumference.

After a two year follow up the walkers had maintained better weight losses (still lighter by 3.5 Kg [7.7lb] than non-walkers) and waist circumference measurements were better by an average of 3.8cm (1.5 inches),⁷ by walking for around 1000 calories per week (approx 200 minutes/week of steady walking for a 150lb adult).

A study from researchers in Iowa investigated ‘walking for pleasure’. A group of normal weight and a group of overweight women were studied walking 2km at their own pace. Both groups reported the same degree on a pleasure:displeasure scale. However, when the pace was increased to normal pace plus 10%, the scores for the overweight women declined, indicating that they found the increase in pace uncomfortable and therefore of reduced pleasure.⁸

This study indicates that most can find pleasure in walking, so long as a self-selected pace is used, rather than trying to meet a prescribed target pace.

And finally, we will look into a study showing the effects of walking for weight loss within a university conducted trial. In a behavioral weight loss program, a group of women were assigned to a reduced calorie and fat diet along with standard behavioral therapy and one of four exercise patterns:

• vigorous intensity/high duration

• moderate intensity/high duration

• moderate intensity/moderate duration

• vigorous intensity/moderate duration

All groups initially began at moderate intensity/moderate duration (100 min/week of walking), but increased to meet their respective group targets.

The previously sedentary overweight women lost weight and improved cardiorespiratory fitness, but the consistency and duration of their walking program was more important for weight loss than the vigorous versus moderate intensity in achieving their goals.⁹

Bottom Line

Walking for weight loss and the critical health benefits of “exercise” may be achieved by replacing a sedentary existence with a more active lifestyle. The more we are active throughout the day, the better, regardless of what form that activity takes. Simple measures open to all, such as walking are equally useful for weight loss success, as well as fitness and numerous other health benefits.

Sources

1. Levine JA, Exercise: a walk in the park? Mayo Clin Proc. 2007 Jul;82(7):797-8. PMID: 17605957. Free full text available here.

2. Schjerve IE, Tyldum GA, Tjønna AE, et al. Both aerobic endurance and strength training programmes improve cardiovascular health in obese adults. Clin Sci (Lond). 2008 Nov;115(9):283-93. PMID: 18338980. Free full text not available.

3. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. 1996 Physical Activity and Health: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, Ga. US Dept of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 1996. Free full text available here.

4. Nemoto K, Gen-no H, Masuki S, et al. Effects of high-intensity interval walking training on physical fitness and blood pressure in middle-aged and older people. Mayo Clin Proc. 2007 Jul;82(7):803-11. PMID: 17605959. Free full text available here.

5. Thayer RE. Energy, tiredness, and tension effects of a sugar snack versus moderate exercise. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1987 Jan;52(1):119-25. PMID: 3820066. Free full text not available.

6. Schnohr P, Kristensen TS, Prescott E, Scharling H. Stress and life dissatisfaction are inversely associated with jogging and other types of physical activity in leisure time--The Copenhagen City Heart Study. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2005 Apr;15(2):107-12. PMID: 15773865. Free full text not available.

7. Fogelholm M, Kukkonen-Harjula K, Nenonen A, Pasanen M. Effects of walking training on weight maintenance after a very-low-energy diet in premenopausal obese women: a randomized controlled trial. Arch Intern Med. 2000 Jul 24;160(14):2177-84. PMID: 10904461. Free full text not available.

8. Ekkekakis P, Lind E. Exercise does not feel the same when you are overweight: the impact of self-selected and imposed intensity on affect and exertion. Int J Obes (Lond). 2006 Apr;30(4):652-60. PMID: 16130028. Free full text not available.

9. Chambliss HO. Exercise duration and intensity in a weight-loss program. Clin J Sport Med. 2005 Mar;15(2):113-5. PMID: 15782062. Free full text not available.

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