Slim Down and Get Toned With This 15-Minute Walking Workout
Lace up your walking shoes, because we have just the workout for you to slim down and get toned. If you're a walker who's trying to burn calories and tighten things up, your routine is about to get a major upgrade that'll deliver solid results.
Getting involved in regular physical activity like walking is essential when you're trying to manage your weight because it's a calorie-burning exercise. Mayo Clinic reports that the more walking you do and the faster you walk, the greater amount of calories you'll torch. Just make sure you don't overdo it! After all, you don't want to deal with sore muscles, injury, or feeling burned out from pushing yourself too hard. After losing weight, staying active is even more crucial to keep packing on excess pounds at bay.
We chatted with Carla Baccio, a personal trainer on Fyt, who shares an ultra-productive walking workout with us that'll help you slim down and get toned. (For those who didn't know, Fyt is the largest personal training service in the nation that makes expert-guided fitness—whether virtual or in person—convenient and accessible for everyone.) The best part about this routine? It only takes 15 minutes of your time, making it an easy addition to every schedule.
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This productive 15-minute walking workout will help you slim down and get toned.
According to Baccio, walking is an amazing form of low-impact exercise that offers a ton of options for anyone who's in the mood to "step up" their game. She guides you through her 15-minute working, instructing you to warm up with dynamic stretches for three minutes. This could be moving your arms around in circles, performing butt kicks, marching in place, and doing some foot circles.
Now, it's time to walk! For the first five minutes, assume a regular walking pace, then bump up the speed every minute until you reach your max. Try to maintain the absolute quickest pace you can walk for a minimum of five minutes, then begin to decrease your speed to make a total of 15 minutes for this workout.
Add some resistance to your routine to ensure your body stays challenged.
Once you get used to this walking regimen, Baccio recommends adding some resistance to kick things up. You can do so by incorporating light weights for your arms or finding a walking route with several hills to ensure your body stays challenged. "The most important part is not to get comfortable with the walk," she says, adding, "Keep changing it so your body never gets used to it. This will bring the greatest benefit with only 15 minutes per workout."
How often should you perform this 15-minute walking workout in order to see results? Baccio tells us, "The latest recommendation from the US Department of Health and Human Services (along with the CDC, The American Heart Association) recommends a total of 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity, which translates into 30 minutes, 5 days a week." She recommends performing this 15-minute routine two times a day, five days a week, to soak up the best results. This will help you slim down, get toned, and boost your cardiovascular health.
