As I write this, the Spring is just beginning to appear, and the trails around where I live are suddenly beginning to fill up with Walkers again, which is great to see.
Many people will be looking to burn off some of the excess weight that they have put on over the festive period, especially the fatty deposits around the thighs that the ladies dislike so much.
So, does walking burn fat on thighs? I would say the answer is definitely Yes, but let’s take a deeper look at how and why we should be able to burn off our thigh fat by simply walking.
How Do We Get Fat On Our Thighs In The First Place?
In simple terms, we get Fat on out Thighs by constantly eating more Calories than we burn off. When we put in too many Calories our intelligent bodies store some of it as Fat so that it can be called upon it times of need, such as Famine.
It makes sense for our bodies to store Fat, as it is a powerful form of energy when it is called on to be burned, it is more than twice as powerful as burning Carbohydrates.
Interestingly, where we store our Fat, and how much Fat we store depend largely on our Gender and our Age. Men tend to store more of their excess Fat as Beer Bellies and Women store the majority of their Fat on their Thighs and Buttocks. We also tend to store more excess Fat as we get older and less active.
This is not an exact science and in some cases you will see men with fatty thighs and women with beer bellies, but as a general rule it stands true.
How Can I Get Rid Of Fat On My Thighs?
For us to get rid of Fat on our thighs and beer bellies we need to burn more Calories than we consume. Dieting is a common way to do this, but there far more enjoyable ways to burn more Calories than you consume than the very restrictive forms Dieting that many people follow.
Cardiovascular Exercise, normally referred to as Cardio is far more enjoyably than Dieting, and an extremely efficient way to burn of excess Fat. An incredibly popular, free and accessible form of cardio available to almost everyone is Walking.
If you stick to a few simple guidelines you can lose the Fat on your thighs in only a handful of sessions. You could then adjust the length of and drop the frequency of your walks in an effort to maintain the target weight and look that you require.
Can I Target Just My Thigh Fat When I’m Walking?
Unfortunately the answer is No. Spot targeting of certain areas where we want to burn fat from first is not possible, at least not yet anyway. We will burn fat when we go on walks, but we don’t get to choose which fat is burned off first. Thankfully, a proportion of it will be from our thighs and beer bellies.
How Long Will I Have To Walk For To Burn My Thigh Fat?
This is an interesting question and the answer is that it depends. It depends on a lot of associated factors such as, how much excess fat you have to burn, how fast and intensely you walk at, how much additional weight you carry, the terrain you walk over, the diet you currently and several more. In the next few paragraphs we’ll look more closely at the main factors and how you can use them to skyrocket the speed at which you burn off your excess thigh Fat.
Saying that, as a general rule of thumb you want to be walking for at least 1-2 hours as a minimum. Our reasoning for quoting this figure is that is seems to be the sweet spot for people of the majority of shapes and sizes.
When we Exercise and do Cardio such as Walking, our bodies will initially start to react to the higher demand for energy by burning off the readily available Carbohydrate Energy supply stored in out Liver and Muscles in the form of Glycogen.
This Glycogen supply is always on hand for short term spikes in energy demand, however out Glycogen Levels are quite limited. Once we have used them up, our bodies quickly switch to burning the Fatty Acids in our blood stream from recent meals. It is only once these two energy supplies are used up that we move to where we want to be, burning our stores of excess fat.
In the range of somewhere between 30 and 60 minutes of moderate exercise, depending on the individual, our bodies will realise they are running our of energy.
This is when we begin to break down some of our stored fat deposits held in the form of Solid Fats into Fatty Acids. The Fatty Acids can then be released into our blood stream to be burned off to provide energy for our ongoing exertions. Once we reach this state, we want to remain there, continuing our fat burning efforts for a while to reap the benefits of the exercise. This is how we come up with the figure of at least one to two hours.
What Is A Good Distance To Walk For Fat Burning?
From my extensive walking experience with groups of Walkers, Hikers, Backpackers DofE Students and Weight Watchers we have gathered that the average speed that the groups walk at is around 4 km/hour.
So if we are going to follow the advice of walking for one to two hours that we only just stated above, then we will be looking to walk for between four and eight kilometres, which is 2.5 to 5 miles if you still measure your distances in Miles.
Do I Have To Walk On Hills To Burn Fat?
No, you don’t have to walk on hills to burn fat. You could quite easily burn off plenty of excess stored fat by walking around a flat local park or lake.
But, If you want to burn more fat and to burn it faster, then walking on hills is going to be one of the best ways to get you there.
Walking up, and down steep inclines will place a far greater energy demand on your body than walking on the flat. A greater energy demand means that we will burn through our Glycogen and Fatty Acids faster and more into the Fat Burning Zone quicker. As we will still be walking up and down hills once we reach the Fat Burning Zone, we will continue to burn that Fat due to the high energy demand at a faster rate than if we were walking on a flat area.
Do I Need To Change My Diet To Burn Thigh Fat?
Probably not. Unless you have a particularly bad diet and you are eating a lot of unhealthy foods in excess, you shouldn’t have to change your diet.
However, changing your diet only slightly at the same time as adding walking to your exercise routine could have a dramatic effect on your fat burning results.
Simply by cutting out high carbohydrate, sugary snacks and drinks and replacing them by snacking on fruit, as well as drinking water and fruit juices should reduce your calorie intake dramatically. This in turn will speed up your fat loss from walking, assisting you in reaching your goals more quickly.
Will Walking Faster Speed Up My Fat Loss?
Yes, walking faster will increase the rate at which you burn calories and therefore increase the rate of your fat burning.
Over millions of years of evolution our bodies have worked out an extremely efficient way to propel itself, walking. We have become good at it and can do it without using up too much energy.
You have probably noticed in your past, that if you walk faster and faster suddenly your body will break into a jog without any conscious effort.
This happens at the point when fast becomes more inefficient than jogging. If we can get close to, but not pass this point, we will be burning the maximum amount of calories that we can without actually running or jogging.
Walking quickly is a very good way to burn off excess fat. That is one of the reasons why you will see so many people in the local parks Speed Walking on evenings and weekends.
Will Carrying A Weighted Backpack Speed Up My Fat Burning?
Yes, Carrying a heavy backpack when you walk will require you to burn more calories than doing the same walk without it. it will also burn calories at a far faster rate, cutting down the amount of time that you have to walk to tone your thighs.
The more weight you carry, the more fat you will burn, but take note, carrying more than a certain amount of weight could have a detrimental effect on the joints of your lower limbs and your back.
We recommend carrying any weight up to one third of your body weight, carrying anything more than this increases the risk of of injury significantly, especially if you aren’t used to walking while carrying additional weight.
What Is The Quickest Way To Burn Fat On Thighs By Walking?
If we want to burn the fat from our thighs in the quickest way possible, it will require us to put in some effort and intensity during our walks and combine all of the methods above.
So, walking for at least two hours, at a fast pace, over some hills, carrying a heavy backpack while cutting back on sugary snacks and drinks would be the ideal. Taking away any of the above will slow the rate of your fat burning efforts, but will still provide positive results in the long run.
Does Walking Burn Fat On Thighs? – Summary
So, as we can see, walking will burn the fat on your thighs. Just remember that you won’t be able to sport target fat loss on your thighs alone.
There are several ways to increase the rate of Fat Burning, namely:
- Walking for more hours
- Walking longer distances
- Walking faster
- Carrying additional weight
- Walking over hilly terrain
- Modifying your diet
Combining the factors above will give you the fastest results, but there is no need to if you aren’t in a hurry to do so. Just Walking for a couple of hours is enough to burn off some excess fat.
