When Walking for Weight Loss, Should You Keep the Same Pace or Mix It Up? A Trainer Explains

Movement is beneficial for both the mind and the body. Walking, a free and low-impact exercise, is one of the easiest and most rewarding ways to reap the benefits. Just 11 minutes of walking per day can reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease and premature death, research found.

That’s why we launched our Start TODAY app with walking as its core feature. Regardless of whether your goal is to improve mobility, build strength or lose weight, every workout program incorporates walking podcasts to help you get your steps in.

Walking can also improve mood, reduce stress, boosting creativity and encouraging socialization. Now that you’ve found the motivation to get your steps in, it’s time to consider your pace. How quickly you walk can be as important as the amount of time you spend hitting the pavement (or treadmill).

Stephanie Mansour, Start TODAY Fitness Trainer, says the best way to up the ante on your walks is by interval walking.

By regularly increasing and reducing the pace of your walks you’ll “burn even more calories, boost your metabolism and get an even better cardiovascular workout — plus, reap these benefits in less time than doing steady-state cardio,” she said. Learn exactly how to make the most of your walks while picking up the pace.

Trainer Tip of the Day: Mix Up Your Walking Speed

Walking at various speeds is a form of high intensity interval training, or HIIT. This type of exercise requires you to switch between low-intensity exercise and high-intensity moves that will continue to burn calories long after the workout is complete, Mansour said. HIIT has been shown to reduce body fat, benefit your heart and boost metabolism.

Just because walking is often seen as a low-effort exercise doesn’t mean it can’t count as a HIIT workout. You just have to know how.

Luckily, Mansour has done the work for you! She created indoor walking workouts with Al Roker in the Start TODAY app that utilize the interval-style training method. Plus, she recorded guided audio HIIT walks you can follow to incorporate interval training when walking outdoors.

Why It Matters

Walking at any speed has its perks, but when you aim to raise your heart rate during a walk, research has noted greater advantages when compared to walks done at a slower pace.

A brisk walk can improve memory, decision making and bone density. Studies show that walking 80 steps or more per minute reduces the risk of serious illness at a higher percentage than walking 40 steps per minute.

How to Get Started

First, familiarize yourself with what a brisk walk is. A brisk pace typically ranges between 3 to 4 miles per hour, but it’s not one size fits all. To help you determine what it looks like for you, check in with your body. You should still be able to speak while walking without having to catch your breath. If you find yourself breathing heavily or unable to speak, you’re going faster than you need to.

Next, be sure to adequately stretch and warm up. Once that’s done, you’re ready to get going. Incorporating speed work into your walks can be as simple as alternating between a steady pace and a power walk.

You can try to mix up your pace every two minutes, or if you don’t want to time yourself, use your surroundings to track your intervals, Mansour recommended. Walk first at a steady pace, then, once you pass a stop sign, walk briskly until you reach the next stop sign. Continue this way throughout your workout.

If you want to take all the guesswork out of your walk, press play and zone out with guided audio HIIT walks on the Start TODAY app, where Mansour cues your speed changes and shares form tips. Or interval walk right in the comfort of your living room and get your steps (and laughs) in with Start TODAY’s Chief Motivation Officer, Al Roker.

TODAY’s Expert Tip of the Day series is all about simple strategies to make life a little easier. Every Monday through Friday, different qualified experts share their best advice on diet, fitness, heart health, mental wellness and more.