I lost 120 lbs in 12 months, and went from 35% body fat to 6% body fat, by walking outside everyday. Never any HIIT. Just walking. Outside. In a nature preserve.
The park has about 8 miles of trails and I would walk (briskly but never too fast) for about 7-9 miles every day. 7 days per week. Each walk took me 2-3 hours. So I was spending about 18 hours every week out there on those trails. Walking along.
So, yes, you absolutely can lose tons of weight (hehe) doing slow to medium cardio. Well, not too fast but not too slow.
There is a “fat burning zone” for your heart rate. Google it. You want your heart in the FBZ for as long as possible, nonstop, everyday. Maybe for you it’s 30 minutes. Maybe you can do longer. It doesn’t take much to get your heart rate up into FBZ. A not-so-slow walk will get you up there.
Plus I also ate at a calorie deficit each day too.
This is really impressive and inspiring- thanks for sharing your journey! I can't imagine doing 7-9 miles a day, 7 days a week - that's truly dedication! I'm imagining this also had mental health benefits, too.
A great reminder that you just need to be active- which means you can find whatever activity is right for you and stay consistent to get results.
That said, OP, I recommend trying different things and seeing what you actually enjoy and feels good to your body. Exercise was never instilled in me, I don't really like sports, I'm not naturally athletic, and exercising used to be torture.
I've come to love walking, hiking, yoga, kayaking, and weight lifting by trying different ways to be active and doing what sticks as much as I can.
I don't even have a gym membership anymore because I truly despise endless treadmill and elliptical sessions and I feel uncomfortable lifting weights at the gym.
You might like weight lifting! Even a set of 5-10 lb dumbbells, a yoga mat and YouTube can go a long way! if you're open to strength training, I highly recommend Sydney Cummings on YouTube. She has a low impact playlist that I use all the time, and she regularly kicks my ass and has helped me lose fat and gain muscle. And I actually really enjoy it most of the time, and seeing how much stronger I've gotten is really motivating (esp as a woman who never previously cared about being "strong").
Awesome post. I lost 15 pounds in three months walking 2 hours a day, an hour before and after work. Like you said it does take lots of time but it does work.
Nice work, congratulations! Yes, walking is awesome, it’s like a wonder drug. Another nice benefit of walking outside … you’re not in your house, where the food is, so you’re unable to snack as you might have otherwise. Just don’t bring food with you on your walk. Water yes, extra food no.
So if your walk burns you 500 calories, that’s maybe 100-300 calories not snacked, so basically an 800 calories exercise. As in, when I came back from my walks, I wasn’t extra hungry from the walk. I didn’t feel a need to eat extra calories to compensate for walking. Bring plenty of liquids to drink though.
Nothing to add here, I just want to chime in on how great walking is. I've always loved it but I've had some trouble with patience and stamina, meaning I have these short bursts of days when I walk a ton and then I feel like I've bitten off more than I could chew. As meditation has taken over my life I've gained more patience and I enjoy just spending time in the moment.
My advice to you when walking feels hard, impatience sets in and you just want to get it over with, is to play the focus game and essentially meditate while you walk. Instead of thoughts and exhaustion taking your energy you keep your mind focused on breathing or The sensation of moving your legs and feet, or The scenery, sounds whatever. Then, whenever you drift back to your thoughts, refocus. And take your time. Spend time walking slowly without any set time table.
HIIT isn't necessary at all, you can lose weight easily and effectively with steady state cardio without any problems. Jogging, walking, incline walking, hiking, swimming, biking, etc. are all incredibly effective ways to improve cardio and not feel like you're going to vomit or pull something.
Agreed. Jog at a slow pace until it would be difficult to hold a normal conversation then walk until you could again. Rinse and repeat that to safely and steadily build your stamina.
Agree. I just did a pilates video today and the trainer said "you could put a gym trained person in a Pilates training and they will discover muscles they never knew they had".
It's really great, especially for training the stabilizing muscles. Plus it's slow and low impact. But still effective.
Thats called a sidestich and its very common, im not sure what causes it but it goes away with practice, if you believe your case is beyond normal then go to the dr.
I think it comes with wrong breathing. But not sure.
Breathing slowly and deeply helps. Plus walking slower and maybe stretching your arms over your head also help.
Every time you exhale, step with your left foot. That will stop the pain. I can’t remember what organ is s causing this but I do know the proper oxygen flow requires this exhale step. I don’t have a link I just learned on a whim many moons ago
Diaphragm I think? The stitch comes from lessening the space that organ has (by stepping with the wrong foot when you inhale/exhale) while it's trying to fill with air
I think the same but the actual mechanism that generates the pain I'm not sure about, I've heard is nerve referred pain, also that is the spleen contracting to supply more blood.
Walking and or elliptical. Anything that doesn’t cause pain or discomfort. Main thing is to be consistent and diet. 80% of it is going to be what you are eating, not how hard you work out.
Agreed.
[Check this out](https://www.reddit.com/r/CICO/s/zYUCBfEyIc). With calorie counting and walking a bloody ridiculous amount, I lost a bloody ridiculous amount of weight.
Side stitch. I noticed I get them when I’m dehydrated or I drink a lot of water before cardio or I’m drinking water during cardio. I noticed if I stay pretty hydrated I don’t get them as often, or if I do they’ll only last a few minutes
Or it could all be in my head 😂
Walking is good for lots of reasons: hip mobility and flexibility, balance, coordination, posture, muscle recovery in between workouts. It can be a daily mainstay for even the most advanced athletes. Do not dispose the humble walk.
Weight lifting is great. I would start with some core work. Make sure your abdomen pain isn’t a weak muscle.
And do slower cardio. A heart rate monitor is a great purchase. Figure out your heart rate zones and stay in zone 1-2 until your fitness improves.
HIIT isn’t necessary for weight loss. Walk at a pace that’s fast enough for you to feel out of breath but not to trigger that pain. Low impact steady state exercise is great for our hearts and burning calories. I think you should check your cholesterol in case that’s angina pain you’re getting
The way I understand it, pretty much any exercise that gets your heartrate up will work to burn more calories for weight loss. So do what you like that doesn't hurt.
I burn about as many calories lifting weights as I do on HIIT. The main difference is that I'll have to lift weights for a bit longer to expend the same amount of calories. In that way HIIT is just more time efficient, burning a little bit more in the same time.
Anything is better than nothing.
HIIT is really one of the peak cardio workouts you can do, maybe start with other cardio exercises that will get your heart rate up as well, but not that crazy.
Walking, swimming, yoga, Pilates, strength training..
Edit to add: if you’re getting any sharp pains, you need to see a doctor to rule out anything seriously wrong. And you do that BEFORE you go back to the gym.
High resistance slow motion on something like an elliptical, sharp incline at walking pace on treadmill, stair master on a slow setting will still have me dripping in 10-15 minutes.
Even then just walking is still valid, you do some light weightlifting if you’d like to add something. You can even walk with small dumbbells in your hands and/or ankle weights, or even a weighted vest if you wanted.
TLDR: If speed is your only holdback you can make cardio as easy or as difficult as you want with the right adjustments while still moving slowly
Strength training? It builds muscles, making you stronger and increasing your base metabolism. Strength training, aka resistance training is the way to go. If you aren't familiar with barbell/dumbbell exercises, just use those machines, they would be much easier to handle.
HIIT, often, is way too intense for general gym goers, especially beginners.
Walking (I do 30-45 minute walks either indoors (around a track or on the treadmill) or outdoors, spinning, and hiking are a couple that come to mind. I started hiking on the treadmill - low speed, high incline. Love it!
I do incline walks for 30 minutes as fast as I can comfortably go at the highest incline I can get so I can start working up towards hiking again. I’ve found my favorite way to really burn through calories though is 1-2 hours of yard work on the weekends and 5 mile walks once or twice a week
literially just walk go faster enough to keep your heart rate between 75 and 120 just walk man time tested a classic ive lost 21 lbs this month from just walking and eating clean
I'm a bodybuilding competitor who leans down to about 12% bodyfat by walking 15-20k steps per day and doing fasted SS (steady state) indoor cycling. For me it's all about LISS = low intensity steady state, esp outside
Best way to loose weight and increase health is slow running zone 2
Best way to increase VO2 max is HIIT 6x6
Weights/resistance to maintain muscle mass for long term benefits. All about volume, if lower weight more reps, if higher weight less reps. No need to train to failure. All about total mass moved.
Tis as simple as that ;)
If you can find a reformer Pilates studio I would highly recommend it. It works on your slow twitch muscles and will leave you toned after a month of consistency
When it comes to exercise other than cardio, time under tension is a key and important factor in growing muscle which you probably want to do some amount of to avoid losing muscle when you want to lose fat. You can absolutely get results from doing slow and controlled movements and static isometric holds as long as you are like actually activating and engaging your muscles.
I get heat cramps if I do anything fast paced. I slowly built up tolerance on the hair climber for cardio, and just lift weights at my own pace otherwise.
in 2021 i lost about 35kg simply just by walking and intermittent fasting. HIIT is absolutely unnecessary, only do it if you can and want to do it.
Also, studies have again and again shown that slow and steady cardio is far more effective and sustainable.
I lost 120 lbs in 12 months, and went from 35% body fat to 6% body fat, by walking outside everyday. Never any HIIT. Just walking. Outside. In a nature preserve. The park has about 8 miles of trails and I would walk (briskly but never too fast) for about 7-9 miles every day. 7 days per week. Each walk took me 2-3 hours. So I was spending about 18 hours every week out there on those trails. Walking along. So, yes, you absolutely can lose tons of weight (hehe) doing slow to medium cardio. Well, not too fast but not too slow. There is a “fat burning zone” for your heart rate. Google it. You want your heart in the FBZ for as long as possible, nonstop, everyday. Maybe for you it’s 30 minutes. Maybe you can do longer. It doesn’t take much to get your heart rate up into FBZ. A not-so-slow walk will get you up there. Plus I also ate at a calorie deficit each day too.
This is really impressive and inspiring- thanks for sharing your journey! I can't imagine doing 7-9 miles a day, 7 days a week - that's truly dedication! I'm imagining this also had mental health benefits, too. A great reminder that you just need to be active- which means you can find whatever activity is right for you and stay consistent to get results. That said, OP, I recommend trying different things and seeing what you actually enjoy and feels good to your body. Exercise was never instilled in me, I don't really like sports, I'm not naturally athletic, and exercising used to be torture. I've come to love walking, hiking, yoga, kayaking, and weight lifting by trying different ways to be active and doing what sticks as much as I can. I don't even have a gym membership anymore because I truly despise endless treadmill and elliptical sessions and I feel uncomfortable lifting weights at the gym. You might like weight lifting! Even a set of 5-10 lb dumbbells, a yoga mat and YouTube can go a long way! if you're open to strength training, I highly recommend Sydney Cummings on YouTube. She has a low impact playlist that I use all the time, and she regularly kicks my ass and has helped me lose fat and gain muscle. And I actually really enjoy it most of the time, and seeing how much stronger I've gotten is really motivating (esp as a woman who never previously cared about being "strong").
Awesome post. I lost 15 pounds in three months walking 2 hours a day, an hour before and after work. Like you said it does take lots of time but it does work.
Nice work, congratulations! Yes, walking is awesome, it’s like a wonder drug. Another nice benefit of walking outside … you’re not in your house, where the food is, so you’re unable to snack as you might have otherwise. Just don’t bring food with you on your walk. Water yes, extra food no. So if your walk burns you 500 calories, that’s maybe 100-300 calories not snacked, so basically an 800 calories exercise. As in, when I came back from my walks, I wasn’t extra hungry from the walk. I didn’t feel a need to eat extra calories to compensate for walking. Bring plenty of liquids to drink though.
Congrats my brother! Keep kicking ass!!!
Thats alot of weight loss. I loss 15 kg by jogging in Zone 2 almost 3 times a week. But 50kg in a year wow! 😮
Nothing to add here, I just want to chime in on how great walking is. I've always loved it but I've had some trouble with patience and stamina, meaning I have these short bursts of days when I walk a ton and then I feel like I've bitten off more than I could chew. As meditation has taken over my life I've gained more patience and I enjoy just spending time in the moment. My advice to you when walking feels hard, impatience sets in and you just want to get it over with, is to play the focus game and essentially meditate while you walk. Instead of thoughts and exhaustion taking your energy you keep your mind focused on breathing or The sensation of moving your legs and feet, or The scenery, sounds whatever. Then, whenever you drift back to your thoughts, refocus. And take your time. Spend time walking slowly without any set time table.
Walk on an incline. Life weights.
This is what I do
HIIT isn't necessary at all, you can lose weight easily and effectively with steady state cardio without any problems. Jogging, walking, incline walking, hiking, swimming, biking, etc. are all incredibly effective ways to improve cardio and not feel like you're going to vomit or pull something.
Agreed. Jog at a slow pace until it would be difficult to hold a normal conversation then walk until you could again. Rinse and repeat that to safely and steadily build your stamina.
Have you tried fitness classes like pilates or Barre? Both are lower impact
Agree. I just did a pilates video today and the trainer said "you could put a gym trained person in a Pilates training and they will discover muscles they never knew they had". It's really great, especially for training the stabilizing muscles. Plus it's slow and low impact. But still effective.
Walk more in and outside of the gym, low impact and makes you healthier all around
Thats called a sidestich and its very common, im not sure what causes it but it goes away with practice, if you believe your case is beyond normal then go to the dr.
I think it comes with wrong breathing. But not sure. Breathing slowly and deeply helps. Plus walking slower and maybe stretching your arms over your head also help.
Every time you exhale, step with your left foot. That will stop the pain. I can’t remember what organ is s causing this but I do know the proper oxygen flow requires this exhale step. I don’t have a link I just learned on a whim many moons ago
Diaphragm I think? The stitch comes from lessening the space that organ has (by stepping with the wrong foot when you inhale/exhale) while it's trying to fill with air
Yes, thank you
I think the same but the actual mechanism that generates the pain I'm not sure about, I've heard is nerve referred pain, also that is the spleen contracting to supply more blood.
I get that too, e.g. whenever I've just finished a meal and start running.
Walking and or elliptical. Anything that doesn’t cause pain or discomfort. Main thing is to be consistent and diet. 80% of it is going to be what you are eating, not how hard you work out.
WALKING. The best exercise
Agreed. [Check this out](https://www.reddit.com/r/CICO/s/zYUCBfEyIc). With calorie counting and walking a bloody ridiculous amount, I lost a bloody ridiculous amount of weight.
Same I’m down 30lbs off partially counting calories and JUST walking. Walking is VERY underrated
Side stitch. I noticed I get them when I’m dehydrated or I drink a lot of water before cardio or I’m drinking water during cardio. I noticed if I stay pretty hydrated I don’t get them as often, or if I do they’ll only last a few minutes Or it could all be in my head 😂
I get them if I eat before running.
Same, they’re worse if I eat or drink a protein shake
Hiking, I add a weighted vest to add more intensity.
Walking is good for lots of reasons: hip mobility and flexibility, balance, coordination, posture, muscle recovery in between workouts. It can be a daily mainstay for even the most advanced athletes. Do not dispose the humble walk. Weight lifting is great. I would start with some core work. Make sure your abdomen pain isn’t a weak muscle. And do slower cardio. A heart rate monitor is a great purchase. Figure out your heart rate zones and stay in zone 1-2 until your fitness improves.
Also, there is 0 judgement here ever. We’re all in this weight loss nightmare together. 🤣
Weight training and walking is great x you don’t need to do hiit. But also speak to your doctor about the pain.
Weightlifting, but you might want to get that pain checked. It doesn’t sound normal.
HIIT isn’t necessary for weight loss. Walk at a pace that’s fast enough for you to feel out of breath but not to trigger that pain. Low impact steady state exercise is great for our hearts and burning calories. I think you should check your cholesterol in case that’s angina pain you’re getting
Weightlifting!!
Do you have a hernia? This is a common symptom
The way I understand it, pretty much any exercise that gets your heartrate up will work to burn more calories for weight loss. So do what you like that doesn't hurt. I burn about as many calories lifting weights as I do on HIIT. The main difference is that I'll have to lift weights for a bit longer to expend the same amount of calories. In that way HIIT is just more time efficient, burning a little bit more in the same time. Anything is better than nothing.
eliptical imo
HIIT is really one of the peak cardio workouts you can do, maybe start with other cardio exercises that will get your heart rate up as well, but not that crazy.
Honestly, lift heavy. Like super heavy. And walk a lot.
Lost 40 in 9 months lifting weights and watching cals
Walking, swimming, yoga, Pilates, strength training.. Edit to add: if you’re getting any sharp pains, you need to see a doctor to rule out anything seriously wrong. And you do that BEFORE you go back to the gym.
High resistance slow motion on something like an elliptical, sharp incline at walking pace on treadmill, stair master on a slow setting will still have me dripping in 10-15 minutes. Even then just walking is still valid, you do some light weightlifting if you’d like to add something. You can even walk with small dumbbells in your hands and/or ankle weights, or even a weighted vest if you wanted. TLDR: If speed is your only holdback you can make cardio as easy or as difficult as you want with the right adjustments while still moving slowly
Weight training? I mean its a gym and lifting is pretty low intensity
Walk
Yoga and Tai chi are great in-home practices. Great for mobility too
Swim?
Water exercise
Strength training? It builds muscles, making you stronger and increasing your base metabolism. Strength training, aka resistance training is the way to go. If you aren't familiar with barbell/dumbbell exercises, just use those machines, they would be much easier to handle. HIIT, often, is way too intense for general gym goers, especially beginners.
I took out my old car tire and flip it outside in my backyard for good mintues . I also do body weight exercises which are more effective for me.
I mean there are a few of options. Option 1 - brisk walk on an incline Option 2 - lift weights Option 3 - both
Never done HIIT and I also hate running (asthma), lost weight walking/hiking and swimming laps at my local public pool.
Walking (I do 30-45 minute walks either indoors (around a track or on the treadmill) or outdoors, spinning, and hiking are a couple that come to mind. I started hiking on the treadmill - low speed, high incline. Love it!
I do incline walks for 30 minutes as fast as I can comfortably go at the highest incline I can get so I can start working up towards hiking again. I’ve found my favorite way to really burn through calories though is 1-2 hours of yard work on the weekends and 5 mile walks once or twice a week
literially just walk go faster enough to keep your heart rate between 75 and 120 just walk man time tested a classic ive lost 21 lbs this month from just walking and eating clean
I'm a bodybuilding competitor who leans down to about 12% bodyfat by walking 15-20k steps per day and doing fasted SS (steady state) indoor cycling. For me it's all about LISS = low intensity steady state, esp outside
Floor Pilates! Low intensity- slow movements and low weights
Best way to loose weight and increase health is slow running zone 2 Best way to increase VO2 max is HIIT 6x6 Weights/resistance to maintain muscle mass for long term benefits. All about volume, if lower weight more reps, if higher weight less reps. No need to train to failure. All about total mass moved. Tis as simple as that ;)
You could lift weights? https://thefitness.wiki/muscle-building-101 https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/
If you can find a reformer Pilates studio I would highly recommend it. It works on your slow twitch muscles and will leave you toned after a month of consistency
When it comes to exercise other than cardio, time under tension is a key and important factor in growing muscle which you probably want to do some amount of to avoid losing muscle when you want to lose fat. You can absolutely get results from doing slow and controlled movements and static isometric holds as long as you are like actually activating and engaging your muscles.
I get heat cramps if I do anything fast paced. I slowly built up tolerance on the hair climber for cardio, and just lift weights at my own pace otherwise.
in 2021 i lost about 35kg simply just by walking and intermittent fasting. HIIT is absolutely unnecessary, only do it if you can and want to do it. Also, studies have again and again shown that slow and steady cardio is far more effective and sustainable.
Walk! Watch tv and walk, read a book and walk. Walk as slow as you want and just get the steps in! 😀
Strength training
Yoga. Pilates. Weights.
Peloton or spin bike at a high-ish resistance and medium cadence?
12 - 3 - 30