With the current worldwide financial squeeze and the prices of everyday purchases constantly rising, people are looking for ways to save money on everything to help make ends meet.
Many people are cutting back on luxuries such as Health Club and Gym Memberships. This isn’t ideal, as we are also in an age where the vast majority of western society are grossly overweight.
However, it’s not all bad news, there are ways to stay fit and lose weight by spending very little to no money. Hill walking being one of them. Would you consider trying to lose weight hill walking? If so, then read on.
Can We Really Lose Weight Hill Walking?
The answer is yes, you can lose weight hill walking and a lot of it too, if you do the right things. There are several factors that will greatly affect the amount of weight you can lose hill by walking. Here’s a brief summary of them then we’ll discuss them in detail later:
- How Many Hours You Walk For
- How Far You Walk
- How Much Additional Weight You Carry
- How Fast You Walk
- How Steep The Hills You Walk Over Are
- The Terrain You Walk Over
- Your Diet
How Many Hours Should I Be Hill Walking To Lose Weight?
There is no set figure as to how many hours you need to do to lose weight hill walking. As a rough estimate and from my personal experience I would say that Hill Walking for anything over one hour will be enough to start with on your weight loss journey.
I always stay out for somewhere in the region of 3-5 hours, but I have been doing this for many years and I’m used to it. You really don’t want to overdo it and put yourself off. Little and often is a good place to start.
Will I Lose More Weight Going Longer Distances?
You will almost certainly lose more weight going longer distances providing you walk with the same intensity as you would if you were walking a shorter distance.
Losing weight by hill walking is a simple mathematical sum of how many calories you burn taken away from how many calories you have consumed. so providing you haven’t seriously overeaten in preparation for your longer walk, you should always burn off more calories, and therefore lose more weight on a longer walk that a shorter one.
Will I Lose More Weight Hill Walking if I Carry A Heavy Backpack?
Yes you will lose more weight hill walking with a heavy backpack than doing the same hill walk without it. As the saying goes, a bigger truck needs more fuel to drive it, which equates well to us making ourselves bigger by carrying a heavy backpack, so therefore requiring more fuel in the form of calories to carry us over the terrain.
I would recommend carrying no more than a third of your bodyweight in the backpack to start as it will take you some time to adapt to hill walking with the extra weight. That will be more than enough additional weight to ramp up your weight loss.
Will I lose More Weight Hill Walking If I Walk Faster?
This is another yes. Walking faster requires more calories to be burned too, just like driving faster in a vehicle requires more fuel. The more fuel we burn the more weight we will lose.
As a side bonus, if you can walk at just below jogging pace, it becomes incredibly an incredibly inefficient way to move, that’s why we naturally break into a jog at a certain speed, to save energy. If we can maintain that fast, uncomfortable walking pace, we will burn more calories than at our normal walking pace or than if we were jogging due to it’s inefficiency.
Walking quickly over hilly terrain is an excellent way to drop your weight quickly, but a word of warning, it will be tough going and is not for the weak willed amongst us.
Will I Lose More Weight Walking Up Steeper Hills?
Yes, you will lose more weight walking up steeper hills than if you were walking on hills with moderate inclines.
Again we have to go back to the “Burning more Fuel” analogy. Your car will burn off a lot more fuel driving up a long, steep hill, as will your body.
Hill Walking on steep hills can be extremely enjoyable if you are the type of person like me that loves a challenge. There is nothing better than the pleasurable dopamine hit when you reach the top of a challenging peak and take a break to enjoy the views.
What Is The Best Terrain To Walk Over To Lose Weight Hill Walking?
In my opinion the best terrain to walk over to lose weight is terrain that changes rapidly. Steep Climbs followed by Steep Descents, lots of different ground underfoot, such as walking in mud, clambering over rocks, navigating scree, stream crossings jumping puddles and a bit of scrambling when the terrain becomes too steep.
Your heart rate will be switching from super high to low, your strength, endurance and balance will be tested and all the little muscles that play a part in keeping you upright will be getting stretched, shortened and exercised for possibly the first time in a long time. I actually find it exhilarating to write this, as it is a Saturday morning as I sit here at my laptop, and I am going out to do exactly this in an hour or two.
Can I Lose Weight Walking On Flat Trails?
Yes, you can lose weight walking on flat trails, and I think something like a Park Walk is a great place to start if you are new to hill walking as a hobby.
If you choose to start by walking on flat terrain, than I suggest that you try to at least keep the pace and the intensity of your walk high and carry a little extra weight in a backpack or rucksack to add to your calorie burning efforts.
Do I Have To Adjust My Diet To Lose Weight Hill Walking?
No, you don’t have to change your diet to lose weight hill walking, but you will lose more weight and lose it faster if you do.
Remember calories in minus Calories Burned. If you put less in and burn some off by walking you are going to lose weight.
What Is The Quickest Way To Lose Weight Hill Walking?
If you want the quickest way to lose weight hill walking you will have to add in all of the features that we have discussed above together. So you will have to:
- Walk for several hours
- Walk long distances
- Carry additional weight in a backpack
- Walk fast
- Walk up steep hills
- Walk over rapidly changing terrain
- Change your diet to help with weight loss
Doing all of these will give you the the most dramatic weight loss results. Doing several of these will give you quicker results than just doing one or two of them.
However, remember that anyone can lose weight hill walking no matter how they choose to do it. Hill walking is an affordable enjoyable and accessible way to lose weight, so why not give it a try if you don’t already do it?
