Work smarter, not harder to lose weight. Ditch chronic cardio and embrace the easiest form of calorie burn by simply walking for weight loss.

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One of the first things that I do with all new online coaching clients is convince them about the power of walking.

If you can increase your daily step count, it will go a long way towards finally realizing your weight loss goal.

Seriously.

I’d rather you commit to performing a 40 minute walk every single day instead of trying to force yourself to crank out a 30 minute treadmill session.

Read that again.

Cardio is beneficial. Even the type of cardio that plays out like a hamster wheel session on a treadmill or elliptical. But …

Cardio is not the main driver of your fat loss journey.

We all know that fat loss comes down to a calorie deficit.

Then you’ll need to make sure you’re eating enough protein.

And of course, you must commit to some form of resistance training on a regular basis.

Then, and only then, do we add cardio as a supplemental tool to assist with some additional calorie burn.

Some coaches get on their high horse about cardio and start preaching that it is not necessary in order to lose weight.

This is actually true.

But …

You should still be doing some cardio for overall health.

Now, if you enjoy going for a jog or run, keep doing it.

Me? I hate that stuff.

I don’t get that much-hyped “runner’s high” that they talk about … I just get bored. And frustrated.

So instead, we’re going to talk about the best form of cardio that you simply are not doing enough of right now.

It’s easy. Just about every single person on the planet can do it. No equipment needed.

Yup … we’re talking about walking for weight loss and how to make it work for you.

Let’s get into it.

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How walking promotes better weight loss and overall health

Humans are designed to move. We have over 600 muscles all working synergistically together to help us do everything from run that marathon to crush that deadlift to simply typing out this article.

And yet most humans are not doing one of the easiest things that our bodies were designed to perform on a regular basis.

Walking.

Early dudes were nomads that roamed the Earth looking for sustenance. And even when humans eventually settled, they still worked daily to harvest and hunt.

Now?

We’ve got GrubHub and Seamless. So the only hunting we need to do is with our fingers to swipe to the next high calorie meal that we’ll ingest whilst binge watching trash on Netflix curled up like a pretzel on our couches.

Yikes.

Let’s change that.

Walking is the easiest form of movement you can perform

While running and sprinting and cycling get all of the sex appeal, going for a walk a few times per day is my favorite form of cardio and the most underrated calorie burning option in your fat loss arsenal.

Before we dive into walking for weight loss, we need to discuss why this is important.

It boils down to activity and your metabolism.

Now, your metabolism is broken down into a few critical aspects:

BMR (basal metabolic rate)

I like to call these “coma calories.”

BMR is the minimum amount of energy it takes to keep your body actually functioning; this is the energy you burn before any exercise and it accounts for about 70% of the calories you burn on any given day.

When we refer to an individual’s metabolism, it is usually this number that we’re referring to, as it has the largest impact on our metabolic rates as a whole.

It’s the BMR that will really dictate how much someone can or can’t eat (whether that’s a goal of losing weight, maintaining or even gaining muscle).

Activity

This is purposeful movement in the form of strength training and cardio.

While we’ve been programmed to believe that exercise is the biggest factor or weight loss, the simple truth is that purposeful activity might only lead to about 5-10% of the daily calorie burn.

In other words: you cannot out-train a bad diet.

Thermic Effect of Food (TEF)

When you eat that steak and potatoes at your favorite restaurant, the body needs to digest the meal and needs fuel to actually break it all down.

So basically, you are in fact burning calories when you are eating calories.

This makes up close to 10% of your daily caloric burn.

And actually, the thermic effect of protein is the highest of the major macronutrients, which means it takes more energy to digest and efficiently process proteins once they hit your system.

Protein uses about 20-30% of its energy during digestion; carbs use about 10% and fats use only 0-3%.

It’s a large reason why protein is so celebrated in weight loss programming.

TEF can make a big difference in burning calories and seeing fantastic results. Simply upping your daily protein target might be all that’s needed to increase your metabolism.

NEAT

These are the calories burned through random, non-exercise related movements; like when you’re fidgeting or tapping your feet or fingers.

It takes calories to fuel these movements. And it can account for almost 10-20% of your daily calorie burn.

The best way to track how many calories you are burning through NEAT is to count the one movement you can manage: Walking.

So, how many steps should you aim for each day?

Simple answer here: more than you’re probably getting right now. The Mayo Clinic estimates that the average American only hits about 3,000 to 4,000 steps per day.

That’s … less than optimal.

Now, does that mean you should instantly hop from a complete sedentary lifestyle of just 3,000 steps to an active approach of 10,000-plus per day?

No. That’s just not sustainable.

So in this case, small improvements will win the day.

Aim to increase your average movement by about 1,000 steps per day at first. Hang out there for a week or two. Then increase by another 1,000 steps. And so on and so forth.

That’s how you build a sustainable habit.

Do you need 10,000 steps per day?

Not necessarily. That’s just some arbitrary goal that some person made up and it lands on a nice, even and easy to remember number.

You just need to do a little better each and every day.

Generally, I like to advise aiming for at least 8,000 steps per day, though. So about double the current standard for most sedentary Americans.

If you can get to 10,000 steps, that’s cool.

Personally, I average about 12,000 per day, sometimes even more. But keep in mind that I live in one of the most walkable cities on the planet in Brooklyn, New York.

How to increase your daily step count

My online coaching client Dani came to me looking to drop a few excess pounds.

After a quick audit on Dani’s activity levels, we discussed this Dad of three was pretty sedentary from working a traditional office job.

In this case, we didn’t just force Dani to go from 4,000 steps per day to 10,000 overnight. That’s just not sustainable.

Instead, the goal was a measured approach to slowly adding more average steps per week until we reached a more appropriate level. In Dani’s case, we added 1,000 steps for the first week and then worked up from there.

That’s what you need to do, too.

Take note of how many steps you average per day

Aim to improve that number by about 10 to 20-percent to start.

Then build up from there.

A few ways to help increase those daily steps:

• Take one or two daily walk(s) of 20 minutes
• Park farther away in any and all parking lots
• Skip the elevator and escalator and opt for the stairs instead
• Walk rather than take the car or public transportation whenever possible

With a little more planning and a bit of “want to,” you can easily build up your daily step count without an incredible amount of effort.

Dani now takes at least one 40 minute walk every single day.

He even brings the kids along on the weekends and has no problem hitting 10,000 steps.

And doing so has made all the difference in his overall health and weight loss efforts.

But what about jogging and traditional cardio?

There’s a time and place for your more traditional forms of cardio.

You know what I mean here, lacing up the shoes and pounding the pavement, track or treadmill (or any cardio machine of choice) for extended periods of time.

Now, let’s not kid ourselves … the heart is a pretty crucial part of the body and our ability to stay alive. Performing cardio helps improve heart health.

Therefore, you probably should do a little bit of cardio every single week.

But, please do not look to cardio as a means to burn off fat. Excess body fat will be burned off by a calorie deficit. Period.

Manage your eating first

In fact, the hierarchy of fat loss will look like this:

• Calorie deficit (controlled by eating, not by activity)
• Adequate protein
• Nutrient dense foods
• Getting stronger with some form of regular resistance training

After all of those pillars are met, you can add in some cardio for overall health. Again, this is for long-term health, not because it leads to better fat loss.

To be fair, a little cardio can help burn excess calories to improve the speed of fat loss. But cardio should never take the place of the four major pillars above.

Getting back to the big components of metabolism, it’s important to note that you can actually increase your BMR by improving body composition.

The best way to improve body composition is by adding lean muscle mass. And the best way to add lean muscle mass is to commit to a solid and consistent strength training program.

This is why I’m always emphasizing the importance of lifting heavy. For everyone. No matter the age.

Cardio simply does not increase muscle mass the way strength training does.

Walking for weight loss: Putting it all together

Here’s a sample way to set up your week so you can maximize calorie burn, emphasize strength training and develop a lean for life attitude without burning yourself out.

Remember that working out is a stressor on the body. Sure, it’s a productive and positive stressor that can lead to better overall health. So while it’s not as annoying as Melissa’s non-stop onslaught of HR emails, it’s still stress.

This is why I like to make sure that most of your movement throughout the week is low impact (walking). But, there is room to toss in the high intensity stuff once or twice per week.

Here’s what a sample week would look like for you:

• Monday: Strength training + 30-minute walk
• Tuesday: HIIT or MRT + 30-minute walk
• Wednesday: two 20-30 minute walks (OR one 60-minute walk)
• Thursday: Strength training + 30-minute walk
• Friday: HIIT or MRT + 30-minute walk
• Saturday: two 20-30 minute walks (OR one 60-minute walk)
• Sunday: two 20-30 minute walks (OR one 60-minute walk)

Really sustainable approach here that checks off all of the boxes without a massive hit to your schedule.

One day per week, drive those steps even higher

I always like to challenge my online coaching clients to really challenge themselves and increase the step count on one day per week.

Typically on a weekend when they can get outside and enjoy a park or playground with the kids.

On days like these, just once per week, I challenge you to increase your step count to about 15,000 to maybe even 20,000 that day.

That’s a ton of movement.

But doing so will keep you away from being constantly plugged into your screens all day. And it’s like an extra calorie bang for your buck.

Remember though, the point of this article is not to set some unrealistic goal and then give up because you can never achieve it.

The goal is to inspire you to find more ways to add more movement in your day.

So, get up and get moving. Like the human body was created to do.

Let me help you learn how to embrace walking for weight loss … 

I’m here to help you out. 

If you have any questions, reach out. I answer all of my emails at pete [at] petecataldo [.] com … Hit me up with the subject line “walking for weight loss” and I’ll answer any questions you have to make this work for you.

Or you can hit me up anytime on the socialz on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

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