Walk Off 10 Pounds This Month

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Walk Off 10 Pounds This Month

Wake up your walking workout! These 3 calorie-burning walking routines are designed to challenge your muscles and maximize every step you take. Follow the 28-day walking plan to lose up to 10 pounds this month!

By the editors of FITNESS magazine

3 Get-Lean Walking Routines

Every step you take burns calories, but you can seriously slim down and get toned by adding hills, intervals, and sculpting moves to your walk. "Your muscles will constantly be challenged in new ways for faster results," says racewalking coach Judy Heller, who created the three fresh walking workouts in this 28-day plan exclusively for FITNESS. Follow the plan on the last page of this story and you could lose up to 10 pounds this month.

What You'll Need

An exercise band or tube -- we love Spri's Deluxe Xertube ($13, spriproducts.com)
A pair of good walking sneakers

Check out our favorite sneakers here! >>

Burn Fat: Steady-Pace Walk

Aim for a speed at which you're hustling but still able to speak in sentences (your rate of perceived exertion, or RPE, on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is sitting still and 10 is a full-tilt sprint, should be about 6 or 7). Depending on your fitness level, this will be somewhere between a 13- and 17-minute mile, which will keep you in the exercise zone.

Maintain this pace until you've reached your time goal, and not only will you burn more calories, you'll boost your heart health.

Calories burned (45 minutes): 182 (17-minute mile) to 302 (13-minute mile)*

*Calorie burns are based on a 140-pound woman

Look Twice as Toned: Hills Walk

Tackling hills or stairs will sculpt your legs and butt double-time while burning big calories -- 58 percent more at a 17-minute-mile pace.

Start out on a flat surface for 15 minutes at a speed at which you're hustling but still able to speak in sentences (RPE: 6 or 7).
Find a hill or some steps -- or set your treadmill to a 4 to 6 percent incline -- and walk uphill quickly for 2 minutes.
Walk downhill to recover, or if you're on a treadmill, walk at a 0 percent incline for 2 minutes.
Aim to maintain your speed or go faster so that you can speak just a few words at a time (RPE: 8). Only one set of stairs? Walk up and down for 4 minutes.
Continue up- and downhill intervals until you've reached your time goal. Beginners can alternate between hills and 5 minutes on a flat surface.

Calories burned (45 minutes): 220 (17-minute mile) to 366 (13-minute mile)

Get Lean and Melt Calories: Intervals Walk

You'll torch more fat in less time by bumping up your pace a little for manageable bursts -- accelerating from a 17-minute mile to a 13-minute mile means 66 percent more calorie burn.

Warm up at your regular pace (RPE: 6) for 6 minutes.
Alternate these intervals: Walk as fast as you can for 1 minute (RPE: 8), then slow down to your regular pace (RPE: 6) for 2 minutes to recover.
Repeat intervals until you've reached your time goal.

Calories burned (45 minutes): 241 (17-minute mile) to 326 (13-minute mile)

Your Lose-10-Pounds Plan

Time to put these walks to work! Drop 10 pounds this month when you follow our 4-week plan, which combines all three calorie-blasting walks with a super-sculpting strength-training routine.

Get the moves for the super-sculpting strength training routine here! >>

Week 1

Monday: Super-Sculpting Strength Routine

Tuesday: 40-Minute Steady-Pace Walk

Wednesday: 30 minutes of cross-training (swimming, biking, yoga, or Super-Sculpting Strength Routine)

Thursday: 30-Minute Intervals Walk

Friday: Super-Sculpting Strength Routine

Saturday: Rest day

Sunday: 45-Minute Hills Walk

Week 2

Monday: Super-Sculpting Strength Routine

Tuesday: 45-Minute Steady-Pace Walk

Wednesday: 30 minutes of cross-training (swimming, biking, yoga, or Super-Sculpting Strength Routine)

Thursday: 30-Minute Intervals Walk

Friday: Super-Sculpting Strength Routine

Saturday: Rest day

Sunday: 45-Minute Hills Walk

Week 3

Monday: Super-Sculpting Strength Routine

Tuesday: 45-Minute Hills Walk

Wednesday: 30 minutes of cross-training (swimming, biking, yoga, or Super-Sculpting Strength Routine)

Thursday: 40-Minute Intervals Walk

Friday: Super-Sculpting Strength Routine

Saturday: 45-Minute Steady-Pace Walk

Sunday: 45-Minute Hills Walk

Week 4

Monday: Super-Sculpting Strength Routine

Tuesday: 40-Minute Intervals Walk

Wednesday: 30 minutes of cross-training (swimming, biking, yoga, or Super-Sculpting Strength Routine)

Thursday: 45-Minute Intervals Walk

Friday: Super-Sculpting Strength Routine

Saturday: 45-Minute Steady-Pace Walk

Sunday: 45-Minute Hills Walk

Originally published in FITNESS magazine, September 2008.