A top personal trainer has revealed the incredible health and fat-burning benefits of walking, as more Aussies are opting for brisk walks over intense gym sessions.
The buzz about the underrated exercise and its long list of benefits has gotten so loud this year that Google has seen searches for “gait training” jump 1,500 percent.
Rachel Attarda sports nutritionist and personal trainer from the Gold Coast, Queensland, speaks of her love of walking and recommends it to her clients as a secret fat-burning weapon.
“Walking has all the health benefits you’ve probably heard of, such as improved cardiovascular fitness and endurance, lowered blood pressure and prevention of heart disease,” Rachael, 34, told FEMAIL.
“But one of my favorite things about walking is that it’s the best exercise for slimming legs and burns a surprising amount of calories for a workout that’s relatively easy.”
Rachael Attard, a sports nutritionist and personal trainer from the Gold Coast, speaks of her love of walking and regularly recommends it to her clients as a secret fat-burning weapon
The average person can burn about 300 calories during an hour’s walk; this is often all you need to put your body in a calorie deficit to lose weight.
“You don’t have to be young or super fit, moms can do it with kids in a stroller, the chance of injury is slim, and you can do it if you don’t feel motivated and it still does great things for your body,” Rachael added.
The science behind running is simple: The “fat-burn zone theory” says you shouldn’t push your body all the way to 100. Instead, you burn the most fat when you work at 60 to 70 percent of your effort. maximum.
Fat burning occurs when carbohydrates and fat are converted into energy called adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
The body needs oxygen to convert fat into ATP, and doing low-to-moderate-intensity exercise will help you breathe easier, giving your body more oxygen than when you’re doing high-intensity workouts.
“In my programs, I always encourage my clients to start their day with a walk and aim for 10,000 steps a day if possible,” said Rachael (pictured before and after her Lean Legs program)
“The most efficient thing your body can do during lower and moderate forms of exercise is turn your stored fat into energy,” said Rachael.
“So according to the fat-burning theory, you need to do long, low-intensity exercise to use up the fat stores and burn enough calories to see weight loss.”
During high-intensity workouts, the body is more likely to burn carbohydrates (glycogen) than fat because it does not have enough energy.
Rachael said one of the biggest changes her clients notice in their bodies when they walk consistently is in their legs: They appear significantly slimmer.
“This happens to me too, nothing makes my legs slim like walking. It’s by far the best exercise for slimming the fat off your legs…but you can’t choose where you lose this fat on your legs, you lose it from all over your lower body,” she said.
Rachael’s Lean Legs program involves a lot of walking, with clients (pictured) seeing incredible results from brisk walks and low-intensity home workouts
“Usually, the areas with the highest fat content will lose weight the fastest. For example, if you store the most fat on your legs on the inner thighs, your inner thighs will typically lose the fastest weight.
“In my programs, I always encourage my clients to start their day with a walk and aim for 10,000 steps a day if possible.”
Rachael recommends a combination of cardio and resistance/strength training for best results, as walking will help you lose fat and improve fitness, while building muscle will help. increase your metabolism, overall tone, bone health and mobility.
Before she had kids, Rachael walked every night, but now she opts for three to four times a week while her little one is at daycare.
“Usually I’ll take about 6000-7000 steps in an hour walk and then I’ll make a conscious effort to try and take more steps throughout the day.” Sometimes it can be hard to get to 10,000, especially if you have a desk job, so being able to get out in the morning really helps,” she said.
She then does a resistance workout at home from her Lean Legs program, which is usually low-impact because it keeps her toned yet slim.
When it comes to nutrition, she follows an 80:20 approach where you eat healthy 80 percent of the time, and eat what you want the other 20 percent.
“I don’t drink tea or coffee and I also prefer three larger meals to smaller meals and snacks,” she said. “This gives my digestive system a chance to rest and I also notice that I am less likely to overeat this way.
When it comes to nutrition, Rachael takes an 80:20 approach, eating healthy 80 percent of the time, and eating whatever you want the other 20 percent.
“I don’t count calories or macros and eat intuitively (listen to your body, eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re full, eat what makes you feel good). No one can eat healthily 100 percent of the time, and if my clients try, they’re already failing.”
In the past, Rachael has been swept up in extremely healthy eating and calorie counting; a mistake she’s eager to help women avoid.
“I see so many women doing the same as me. It wasn’t really a healthy mindset for me because I’d be so strict and then overeat or overeat, and then get super strict again. I was looking for a quick fix, but it always failed,” she said.
“It took me a long time to follow intuitive eating, but now I never feel restricted or guilty when I eat something. I don’t think about food as much as I used to and the best thing about it is that it’s sustainable in the long run.’
In the past, Rachael was swept up in extremely healthy eating and calorie counting; a mistake she would like to avoid by helping women make this mistake
Rachael is also a big proponent of training for your body type.
“Many women (myself included) work out to look good, not just feel good. There’s nothing wrong with training for either and I think it’s important to be happy with your results and love the way you look because it will motivate you to keep going,” she said.
“Some women are naturally very slim (ectomorphs) and have a hard time building muscle, so they need a program with heavier weights and a high-calorie diet. Some women are naturally muscular (endomorphs), so they need an exercise program to lose weight and gain strength at the same time, and a specifically tailored diet, usually less carbohydrates and more fat and protein.’
That said, there are also no exercises I would never recommend. The one thing I recommend to my clients is that if you have hormone issues, sleep issues, or fatigue issues, it might be best to avoid super-high intensity workouts, as this can put more stress on your adrenal glands and make your problems worse.”
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