Find out what happens to your body when you walk 20,000 steps every day for 30 days. You don’t need to do them yourself, at least not yet, but look at what happened to Robin Laird.
Robin Laird is a fashion model turned biochemistry master, a certified health coach, a YouTuber and a podcaster. She talks everything she deems interesting about science and self-care to her followers.
According to her, walking 20,000 steps every day for a month was transformative in ways she didn’t imagined. Read below everything you need to know about it.
What Happens to Your Body When You Walk 20,000 Steps Every Day
Robin Laird remembers a time from childhood when there was a man who used to walk around the town at all hours of the day. Fast forward to the present month, and Robin finds himself becoming that man, although not as physically fit.
In a video, Robin, as the host of “The Science of Self-Care,” shares the experience of walking 20,000 steps daily for the past 30 days and its transformative impact on both mental and physical well-being.
Robin emphasizes the importance of starting with standardizing a new habit before optimizing it. This means making the habit a part of the daily routine before refining it for maximum benefits. Robin talks about the benefits of walking, including improved sleep, better posture, enhanced physical fitness, and most notably, improved emotional stability and resilience. Walking has become a form of mental health and meditation for Robin, promoting a positive outlook on life.
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One significant challenge Robin addresses is the time commitment required for walking. To overcome this, Robin suggests to combine walking with other activities, such as reading or working. By utilizing time more efficiently, anyone can find time for a daily walk. Additionally, Robin recommends tracking steps using wearables like Apple Watches or fitness trackers, as these tools can provide valuable feedback and motivation.
Robin also shares tips for optimizing walks, including walking with palms forward to improve posture, incorporating wrist and ankle weights for resistance training, and varying the intensity of walks by walking briskly or on an incline. In the video, she encourages viewers to embrace walking as a keystone habit that can lead to positive changes in various aspects of life.
Throughout the video, Robin emphasizes that walking should be a journey of self-improvement and self-care, rather than a strict goal to achieve. The focus is on taking small steps and observing the outcomes without becoming overly emotional about the results.
In general, walking 20,000 steps every day for a month can lead to several positive changes in your body. Firstly, it’s a potent cardiovascular exercise, which strengthens your heart and improves blood circulation. This, in turn, can enhance your overall cardiovascular health, reduce the risk of heart disease, and lower blood pressure.
The increased physical activity also contributes to weight management and can lead to fat loss. Walking is a low-impact exercise, making it sustainable over the long term without putting excessive strain on your joints. Additionally, walking regularly boosts your mood by releasing endorphins, which can help alleviate stress and reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression.
From a structural standpoint, walking can improve muscle tone and strength, particularly in the lower body. It engages various muscle groups, promoting flexibility and joint health. Over a month of consistent walking, you might notice increased energy levels, improved sleep quality, and enhanced overall well-being. It’s a simple yet effective way to positively impact both your physical and mental health.
Want to know more details about what happens to your body when you walk 20,000 steps every day?? Watch Robin’s video below.
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BOXROX previously wrote that walking is the best exercise to get rid of fat, and there are numerous reasons for that. In short, it allows you to stay active, without much time needed for recovery, which helps you reach or maintain a caloric deficit.
In-depth, this is why walking can be considered the king of fat loss exercise:
- Calorie Expenditure: Walking, especially brisk walking, is an effective way to burn calories. The number of calories burned depends on factors such as speed, distance, and body weight. While the exact calorie expenditure varies from person to person, walking can help create a calorie deficit, which is essential for fat loss. To maximize fat burning, it’s recommended to walk at a brisk pace for an extended duration.
- Accessibility and Low Impact: Walking is a low-impact activity that puts less stress on your joints compared to high-impact exercises like running or jumping. This makes it suitable for people of various fitness levels and ages. Additionally, walking requires no special equipment, and you can do it virtually anywhere, making it highly accessible.
- Increased Fat Utilization: Walking predominantly relies on fat as a fuel source. During low to moderate-intensity exercise, such as walking, your body primarily utilizes fat as an energy source rather than carbohydrates. This makes it an excellent exercise choice for fat loss, as you are directly targeting stored body fat.
- Preservation of Lean Muscle: Walking helps preserve lean muscle mass while losing fat. This is important because muscle is metabolically active and burns more calories at rest than fat does. By preserving muscle mass through walking and incorporating strength training exercises, you can maintain a higher metabolic rate, which aids in long-term fat loss.
- Sustainable and Consistent: One of the key factors for successful fat loss is consistency. Walking is a sustainable activity that can easily be incorporated into your daily routine. Whether you walk outdoors, on a treadmill, or even during your breaks at work, it is an activity that can be maintained over the long term, leading to gradual and sustainable fat loss.
- Mental and Emotional Benefits: Walking not only has physical benefits but also contributes to mental and emotional well-being. It can reduce stress, improve mood, boost creativity, and increase overall mental clarity. By enhancing your mental state, walking helps reduce emotional eating and improves adherence to healthy lifestyle choices, facilitating fat loss.
While walking alone may not provide rapid fat loss results compared to intense exercises, its combination with a balanced diet and other forms of physical activity can be highly effective for overall fat loss and weight management.
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Losing belly fat can be difficult for several reasons:
- Genetics: Genetics can play a role in where your body stores fat. Some people are more prone to storing fat in their bellies, which can make it more difficult to lose.
- Hormones: Hormones, such as cortisol and insulin, can affect how your body stores fat, especially in the belly area. High levels of cortisol, which is a stress hormone, can lead to increased belly fat.
- Age: As you age, your metabolism slows down, making it more difficult to lose weight and belly fat.
- Poor Diet: A diet high in processed foods, sugar, and saturated fats can contribute to increased belly fat. Eating a healthy diet is important for losing belly fat.
- Lack of Exercise: Exercise is crucial for burning calories and reducing belly fat. A sedentary lifestyle can make it more difficult to lose belly fat.
- Sleep: Lack of sleep can affect hormones that regulate appetite and metabolism, making it harder to lose belly fat.
Overall, losing belly fat can be difficult due to genetics, hormones, age, poor diet, lack of exercise, and lack of sleep. However, making lifestyle changes such as eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, getting enough sleep, and managing stress can help reduce belly fat over time.
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Image Sources
- pexels-gustavo-fring-6285182: Gustavo Fring on Pexels
- Walk on Ocean: Jupilu on Pixabay
- Loose pants: SHVETS production on Pexels