To lose 2 pounds a week by walking you should walk for 150 minutes to 300 minutes of brisk walking per week.
And also incorporate intensity of the walks with hills if possible or intervals, and hit 10,000= steps daily.
You can also pair the walks with a calorie deficit through diet, as walking helps to burn 300 to 400 calories/hour but you also need 1000 calorie/day deficit for 2lbs a week.
Consistency is also key when walking to lose weight, so you should build up gradually and also use a tracker, and also focus on short and frequent walks if you need to, especially after eating meals, which can boost your metabolism and blood sugar.
Aim for at least 30 to 60 minutes of walking 4 to 5 days a week or more for faster weight loss results and a moderate, brisk walking pace where you're slightly breathless but can talk is ideal.
40 minutes walking a day is enough to help maintain your health and keep your heart healthy and keep your weight down as well.
Although if you're trying to really lose weight then you should walk longer than 40 minutes a day and increase your walking pace.
But for maintaining health 40 minutes of walking a day is enough for many people.
A 40 minute brisk walk a day can also contribute to a longer lifespan and provide you with benefits for your circulatory system and heart health as well as immune system and bone density.
Walking 40 minutes a day can also reduce stress and improve your mood by improving and increasing the blood flow to your brain.
Walking 40 minutes a day can also burn a significant amount of calories and contribute to weight loss, especially if the 40 minute a day walks are done vigorously.
And walking is a great, low impact form of exercise that is suitable for most people and the 40 minutes of walking doesn't even need to be in one continuous session.
If your goal of walking is mainly weight loss then you may need to increase your walking time to 45 to 60 minutes a day and or increase the intensity of your walks and to achieve higher levels of fitness, you also may need to incorporate more vigorous activities such as running or even strength training in addition to the walks.
If you're new to exercise, you should first begin with slower and shorter walks, then gradually increase your duration of the walks to 40 minutes or more each weak along with the pace of the walks.
If you can't walk for 40 minutes straight, it's also okay to split your walk into shorter and more frequent sessions throughout the day.
One long walk is also better than many short walks.
Going on one longer walk, helps your body fully engage it's systems for greater health benefits.
Although the best approach when walking also depends on your goals and your schedules, shorter walks are also great for remaining active and preventing sedentary time, although adding longer, sustained walks such as 15+ minutes will boost cardiovascular and mortality risk reduction significantly.
The key when walking for health is consistency and also increasing the duration of your walks over time, making the longer walks a priority when possible.
It's also better to walk both fast and longer for optimal health.
Walking faster is also strongly linked more to reduced mortality risk and more improved health and longer walks also build your endurance and can also be more sustainable.
The ideal approach to walking for health benefits is to actually combine both walking faster for a portion of your walk and then continue walking for a longer distance.
The more you walk, the healthier you can become and you can also lose weight by walking longer and even faster and can help to maintain a healthy weight.
Walking a faster pace is associated with a lower risk of death from all causes, especially from cardiovascular disease as it helps keep your heart healthy and helps improve blood flow.
Brisk walking and walking fast also improves your heart's efficiency and increases oxygen delivery to your heart and the rest of your body and helps to reduce cardiovascular issues.
For older adults, increasing your walking speed and walking as fast as you can, can also lead to substantial improves in your overall ability to walk longer distances.
Longer walks also help to build up your overall endurance over time.
And slower, longer walks also put less strain on your body, when compared to fast walking, which can also potentially lower your risk of injury.
Longer walks can also be good as they can also provide you more time for a mental time out and can also improve your emotional well being.
To combine both walking fast and longer walks, start out with a brisk walking pace to get your heart rate up, as this also provides the most significant health benefits.
Then add longer distance at a moderate pace.
After the fast paced portion of your walk, continue walking for longer distances at a slower or even more moderate pace to meet your step goals and help build your endurance.