Originally published 2018-05-07.
Yes, a short daily walking routine can help you lose weight, but on its own it works slowly. A 30-minute walk at a brisk 3.5 miles per hour burns roughly 107 to 159 calories, depending on your body weight, so a 20-minute walk burns somewhere around 70 to 105. That is useful, especially if you are starting from very little activity, but the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that most weight loss comes from eating fewer calories, with exercise adding to it and helping you keep the weight off.
The 21-day plan below, first published by the fitness app Better Me, is best seen as a way to build a walking habit that you can keep. It starts with two five-minute walks a day, adds brisk intervals in week two, and finishes with stairs and squats in week three. Here is the full schedule, how to do each part safely, and what you can realistically expect.
Before you start
If you have a long-term condition such as heart disease, diabetes or joint problems, or you are recovering from an injury, talk to a doctor before beginning a new exercise plan. For most people, walking is one of the safest ways to become more active.
A few basics make the plan easier:
- Shoes: comfortable, supportive trainers that fit well matter more than special clothing.
- Pace: the NHS describes brisk walking as about 3 miles per hour. A simple check is the talk test: at a brisk pace you can still talk, but you could not sing.
- Warm up and cool down: start each session with a few minutes of slow walking and finish the same way.
- Route: choose well-lit paths away from busy roads. In bad weather, a shopping centre or indoor track works too.
Week 1: build the habit
The first week is about consistency rather than effort. You walk twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening, at an easy to moderate pace where you can chat comfortably. Each day, add two minutes to each walk.
| Day | Morning walk | Evening walk |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 min | 5 min |
| 2 | 7 min | 7 min |
| 3 | 9 min | 9 min |
| 4 | 11 min | 11 min |
| 5 | 13 min | 13 min |
| 6 | 15 min | 15 min |
| 7 | 17 min | 17 min |
By day seven each walk lasts about 17 minutes, so the "20 minutes a day" in the plan's original headline is really the length of a single session by the end of week one. If two walks a day do not fit your routine, one longer walk of the same total time works just as well.
Week 2: add brisk intervals
In week two you start alternating easy and fast walking on every other day. The fast parts should feel challenging: you can say a few words, but holding a conversation becomes hard. The days in between are steady moderate walks, which give your body time to recover. From now on you can walk at any time of day.
| Day | Session |
|---|---|
| 1 | 2 min easy, 10 min fast, 2 min easy |
| 2 | 20 min moderate |
| 3 | 5 min easy, 12 min fast, 5 min easy |
| 4 | 20 min moderate |
| 5 | 5 min easy, 15 min fast, 5 min easy |
| 6 | 20 min moderate |
| 7 | 5 min easy, 18 min fast, 5 min easy |
The original plan calls this week HIIT, or high-intensity interval training. Strictly speaking, brisk walking is moderate rather than high intensity for most people, so it is better thought of as interval walking. That is no criticism: Mayo Clinic notes that alternating faster and slower stretches is a time-efficient way to improve fitness, and it keeps sessions from feeling monotonous.
Week 3: stairs and strength
The final week adds climbing and a little strength work. Stair walking makes your leg and hip muscles work against gravity and raises your heart rate quickly, while squats strengthen the thighs and glutes. The CDC recommends that adults do muscle-strengthening activity on at least two days a week, so this week is a gentle introduction to that habit.
| Day | Session |
|---|---|
| 1 | 10 min up and down stairs, then 2 min easy walking |
| 2 | 20 min moderate |
| 3 | 12 min on stairs, then 2 min fast walking |
| 4 | 25 min moderate, plus 2 sets of 12 bodyweight squats |
| 5 | 20 min on stairs, then 3 min easy walking |
| 6 | 25 min moderate |
| 7 | 20 min fast, then 3 min easy |
Use a handrail on stairs, take them at a steady rhythm rather than racing, and stop if you feel pain in your knees, chest pain, dizziness or unusual breathlessness. If your knees complain, a slope or hill gives a similar effect with less impact on the way down.
How much weight can you expect to lose?
It varies widely, and three weeks is a short time. Calorie figures from Harvard Health show the scale: a person weighing about 155 pounds burns around 133 calories in 30 minutes of walking at 3.5 miles per hour, and a heavier person burns more. Over the 21 days of this plan, the walking alone might add up to a few thousand extra calories, which is real but modest.
The CDC says that losing weight and keeping it off requires either a high amount of physical activity or, more practically, combining activity with eating fewer calories. Pairing the plan with small, sustainable food changes, such as fewer sugary drinks or smaller portions of energy-dense snacks, will make a much bigger difference than walking alone. Where walking shines is in everything else: Mayo Clinic links regular brisk walking to a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes, along with better mood, sleep and bone strength.
Common myths about walking for weight loss
- "You can lose weight while eating exactly as before." Some people will, especially if they were very inactive, but for most, results depend on food as much as on walking.
- "Taking the stairs will transform your metabolism." Small choices add up and are worth making, but no single habit dramatically speeds up your metabolism.
- "Walking burns belly fat specifically." You cannot choose where your body loses fat. Overall activity and diet reduce fat everywhere over time.
- "If the scale has not moved, it is not working." Fitness, blood pressure, blood sugar and mood often improve before weight does.
After day 21: keep going
Finishing the plan is a good moment to set your next target rather than stop. The CDC recommends that adults get at least 150 minutes a week of moderate activity, such as brisk walking for 30 minutes on five days, plus two days of strength work. Doing more brings additional benefits.
Simple ways to stay on track include recording your time, distance or daily steps in a notebook or app, walking with a friend, and adding a weekly hill or stair session. In the UK, the free NHS Active 10 app tells you when you are walking briskly enough and suggests goals. Above all, choose routes and times you enjoy. The best walking plan is the one you are still following months from now.
Sources: Walking plan originally devised by the Better Me app; photos from Shutterstock. Guidance from the CDC adult activity guidelines, CDC on physical activity and weight, Harvard Health calorie estimates, Mayo Clinic on walking and the NHS on walking for health.
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