Annette NelsonPeople getting exhausted in the gym, enduring workouts, early wake-ups, and strict food limitations – that’s what we typically imagine when thinking about weight loss and getting a muscular body – quite an unreachable goal, you believe. Instead, imagine a light breeze caressing your face, fresh air after a day in the office, and you just let your mind dance to the rhythm of the music in your earphones. Meanwhile, your body gets moderate exercise and cardiovascular fitness, your cells are enriched with oxygen, and your mental health eliminates waste.
Is this a figment of imagination? No, it’s a simple walk, a beneficial and pleasant workout, and one of the best exercises to lose weight.
Will walking 4 miles a day help weight loss? Definitely. We are going to look into the health benefits of walking 4 miles a day weight loss program and its requirements.
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Benefits of Walking 4 Miles a Day
The result of walking 4 miles a day is going to surprise you. That’s not something we consider a physical activity. Let’s have a closer look:
1. Improved Blood Circulation
Walking is a moderate cardiovascular exercise. Any pace you take increases your heart rate and blood flow throughout your body, including fingers and toes (quiet stagnant areas); it lowers your blood pressure and prevents heart disease.
2. Strengthen Bone Mass
Walking increases bone density. Being a form of exercise, it puts pressure onto your musculoskeletal system, which, in return, must adjust to it and become more arduous and thicker. Want to prevent the risks of osteoporosis? Go for a walk.
3. Prevents or Manages Diabetes
Diabetes is a chronic disease that embraces up to 7% of the world’s population – quite a worrying statistic. If you start taking daily walks on a regular basis, you will reduce the sugar levels in the blood. Of course, it’s not a treatment but a helpful tool.
4. Weight Loss
Weight loss is an eternal problem; you can spend days and years trying to find a suitable type of workout. Instead, just start moving. Avoid transport if you can get somewhere on foot, even if it takes 20-50 minutes (do you think you will spend this time on something useful, not just surfing the Internet?). It will help you burn calories and not gain new ones.
5. Prevents or Manages Back Pain
Our lifestyle is too sedentary nowadays. Cars, public transport, elevators in shopping centers, stores at the entrance of the building, and food delivery – comfortable life, which leads to obesity and muscle strain. If our muscles don’t work, they don’t function well. Same story with our spine. The lack of movement can cause chronic back pains. Walking is an excellent way to strengthen your core muscles and have a good posture.
6. Improves Mental Health
That’s an enormous benefit for us in the modern world. Our brain is overloaded with information to digest; it’s everywhere. The daily news feed may be a good option in terms of our awareness, but it’s also a source of anxiety and worries, which keep storing in your head. If you feel a need to unwind, have a walk of 4 miles – just enough not to get tired and to see healing results. Check it next time you feel low.
7. Improves Cognitive Performance
While aging, our ability to think fast and clearly reduces. To prevent it, keep moving. Clinical research shows that our memory and cognitive skills improve with regular daily exercise. It’s quite a good bonus to losing weight.
8. Boosts Energy
As long as walks stimulate faster blood circulation, we get more energized. Besides, more oxygen helps us think clearly. Instead of an extra cup of coffee, go for 30 minutes walk, and your day will become brighter.
9. Improves Quality of Sleep
A lack of sleep causes tiredness and exhaustion. How often do you go bed feeling that your head is about to explode? All the duties and responsibilities, news, needs, events – get together, especially the moment your head touches the pillow. Make a change. Go for a walk straight after dinner, don’t check the news and messages along your 4 miles walk. Listen to the wind, to music, talk to your friends. Switch the modes. It will help you fall asleep faster and have more quality sleep.
10. Creates Social Connections
It’s high time you met your close friend who lives next door, but you only chat or talk to your Mum (adults are pretty short on social time). See people face-to-face. Walking 4 miles together can make you stronger and more sociable in real-time.
How to Walk 4 Miles a Day?
If you need to walk – just start walking without finding excuses. If you want to burn calories, reduce weight, and improve your heart work, consider a 4 miles walk. Going to the nearest shop and back to buy a doughnut doesn’t count.
What Is Good Form for Walking 4 Miles a Day?
To get more benefits out of walking, try to stick to the following rules:
- Keep your back straight, always. Your posture is an integral part of good work of the whole body.
- Avoid polluted and overcrowded – it’s nothing but annoyance.
- The movement of your step – from heels to toes.
Why Does Good Form Matter?
A good form places you on the safe side while walking 4 miles. This way, you’ll avoid the risks of getting injured.
How to Increase the Intensity of Your Walk
Walking every day will help you lose weight after some period of time. However, if you want to burn more, increase the intensity of your walks.
1. Increase Your Pace to Burn More Calories
Brisk walking burns more than moderate exercise; it increases the heart rate, which leads to better and faster results.
2. Make Hills More Difficult to Burn More Calories
If you have a possibility, change the surface for your walks from time to time. If there’s nothing like that, it’s a good idea to organize weekend walking tours. A Hill walk will bring you way more benefits and calories you burn. It will be challenging initially, but health pluses are worth the effort.
3. Add Resistance to Burn More Calories
More resistance, more burned calories – buy canes that help you support and train your shoulders with arms, or you can make do with ankle weights.
4. What Do You Need to Get Started?
If you are serious about training, take care of the kit:
5. The Right Shoes
No shoes – no training. Don’t put the health of your feet to risk saving money on specialized shoes. You don’t need brand ones, just check for good-quality shoes with a shop assistant.
6. The Right Outfit
An intensive workout will make you sweat. To avoid the nasty feeling of cold, wet clothes, buy a breathable outfit, which helps to evaporate water soon.
7. A Hydration Kit
Walking is a great exercise, but you lose a lot of water during intense training. Don’t forget to bring enough water.
8. A Quality Sports Watch
Fitness bands help you check your progress, speed, effort, distance, heart rate, and steps. Quite a good tool if you want to improve your results.
Tips for Getting the Best Results Out of Walking 4 Miles a Day
Walking 4 miles per day is just a part of our body weight loss puzzle. Without other aspects, the results will not be as you want.
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Change Your Diet
Change your attitude towards food – you eat to live, but not vice versa.
- Fill your plate with fruits and vegetables
- Add enough protein, minimum 0.75-1 gram per 1 kilo of your weight.
- Avoid fizzy sweet drinks.
- Lower the intake of refined carbs and processed food.
- Don’t feed your emotional hunger.
- Drink water.
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Create an Exercise Schedule
Being organized helps you reach your goals. Walking regularly, several days a week, you will create a system that will grow into a habit. 30 minutes are considered a good start when making you prepared for a longer walking journey. Make 1 mile your first-day goal, and gradually move on to more significant numbers. Regular exercise has more benefits than just an occasional long walk.
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Commit to Your Routine
Commitment defines your attitude towards the goal. It’s an equivalent of an agreement with your own self. The moment when you are doubtful about going out, you definitely need to go. Don’t let the laziness get tricky on you (except for the health issues, of course); every activity hour a day helps you lose every other pound in perspective.
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Add Interval Training
Interval training means the alteration of quick and moderate forms of the exercise. Interval walking training has demonstrated more benefits for fitness and metabolism.
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Get Plenty of Rest
Getting out of breath daily is not the best way to exercise. It would help if you had some relaxing days so that your muscles regain strength and energy.
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Increase Your Activity Levels Throughout the Day
Don’t wait for a scheduled activity; use every chance throughout the day – go up or down the stairs on foot, clean at home, sweep the floor, and walk to the supermarket for the groceries.
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Add Variety to Your Work
Monotony is the first killer of motivation. Change your route, change the music, add new turns, lengthen or shorten the course, add some running process, or take a jump rope. Make your daily walk diverse so you won’t get tired of it.
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Lower Your Stress Levels
Stress is among the main factors that make us weak and tired. Not just emotionally but physically. Besides, you sleep less, eat more, and gain more weight quickly. Now, think about the time you need to spend burning these extra calories and do everything to get rid of stress:
- Avoid reading the bad news for some time
- Have a relaxing bath with oil in the evening.
- Practice some yoga.
- Try breathing practices; they are handy in stressful situations.
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Walk with a Friend
With a company, everything becomes more manageable. Take your friend for a walk, and you will support each other on the way to your goal.
Side Effects of Walking 4 Miles a Day
Despite being an extremely efficient activity, walking 4 miles a day can have some drawbacks.
- Your joints may start aching if you decide to start from a long distance at once, having no previous activity history.
- Muscles may be sore initially; that’s an integral part of training.
- You can have a headache due to the changes of pressure outside while doing the activity.
Listen to your body; it’s essential. When your joints hurt, slow down, and reduce the speed. If something worries you, arrange a meeting with your doctor to avoid any risk to your health. If you have diseases that require a stay-in-bed time, do so to prevent injury and dangers to your health.
The Bottom Line
Is walking 4 miles a day for a month a good idea? Definitely, and not just a month. Adults who want to improve their health need to consider brisk walking one of the best workouts to add to their exercise routine. Light and easy, but beneficial and effective. Walking doesn’t know any age limits – either you’re 10 or 80 – it helps anyway.
If you want to increase the number of calories burned – walk more steps during the day. Instead of taking transport, have a brisk walk to work (if the distance is relevant) or the store. While shopping, give preference to healthy food and less sugar.
How many times did you want to start being active? Instead of planning to start the following Monday, just take a brisk walk across the park to see your friend or just feed the ducks. Quite a good start, don’t you think?.
