Will walking in the park count as exercise? Of course! Walking engages your entire body and, when done consistently, can improve both strength and endurance. Let me explain how many calories are burned through walking, the health benefits, and tips for how to do it well. 

Walking Benefits

While walking burns calories more slowly compared to running, it’s sustainable for longer durations, resulting in significant calorie consumption. 

Moreover, walking carries lower risk of injury compared to running, making it an accessible exercise for everyone. Its convenience, allowing you to do it anywhere, anytime, whether on your commute or during lunch breaks, is also a major plus point.

Walking Calories

To calculate calories burned through walking, you first need to understand MET (Metabolic Equivalent of Task), which is a measure used for calorie estimation. 

MET represents the amount of oxygen consumed by the body per kilogram of body weight per minute. 1 MET is equivalent to 3.5 milliliters of oxygen consumption per kilogram of body weight per minute, which is the amount of oxygen consumed while at rest.

When 1 liter of oxygen is consumed, approximately 5 kilocalories are burned. Therefore, by using MET to calculate oxygen consumption over a period of time and converting it to liters, you can determine the calories burned.

Calories Burned by Hourly Walking

For an adult weighing 60kg, the amount of calories burned per hour is as follows.

Calories Burned by Distance Walked

For an adult weighing 60kg, it takes about 90 minutes to walk 6km. This means it takes about 15 minutes to walk 1km. Walking 1km in approximately 15 minutes burns about 63kcal. Please refer to the table below for more details on calories burned over various distances.

Effects of Walking Exercise

Walking is an aerobic exercise. When you walk, it helps supply enough oxygen to your blood, promoting good blood circulation, and consuming sugars and neutral fat in the blood, which is beneficial for reducing body fat. 

Not only does it contribute to physical health, but it also benefits mental well-being. A study conducted at Stanford University found that walking increased creative output by an average of 60%, showing that walking opens up the free flow of ideas and can enhance creativity. [1]

How to Walk ‘Well’

1. Walk Fast

The speed of walking is a crucial element in the intensity of the exercise. Walking quickly for an hour can offer greater exercise benefits than walking slowly for two hours. 

According to scientists at the Diabetes Research Center of the University of Leicester, the faster you walk, the higher your likelihood of living longer. [2] People who walk quickly, even if they have an unhealthy lifestyle (excluding smoking), have a lower mortality rate than those who live healthily but walk slowly.

2. Walking for Over an Hour a Day

For adults, walking for about an hour burns approximately 250 calories. When converted to steps, assuming 1,000 steps every 10 minutes, that’s roughly equivalent to around 6,000 steps. 

Since the calorie burn from walking for an hour isn’t as high as one might expect, walking for at least an hour is more effective for dieting and exercise.

3. Walk Periodically

Instead of sitting for a long time and then walking all at once, it’s advantageous to walk for 10 minutes every 30 minutes. 

Experiments by exercise physiologists at Columbia University showed that light walking exercises every 30 minutes can significantly improve blood sugar and blood pressure levels, whereas walking every 60 minutes did not show a marked effect. [3] This means that frequent and light walking can be more beneficial than setting aside a specific time for exercise.