Walking for weight loss: how much it burns and what it does on the scale
Eight thousand steps is about 5.6 kilometres and roughly 190–310 kcal above resting, depending on body weight. On its own, walking brings weight down slowly: in a review of pedometer programmes without dietary changes, participants lost about 50 grams a week on average. Its strength lies elsewhere — it adds to daily expenditure and helps keep the result, while food makes the bigger difference to energy balance.
How much energy walking uses
The cost of walking is measured in METs — how many times more energy an activity uses than rest. Rest is 1 MET, which is roughly 1 kcal per kilogram of body weight per hour. According to the Compendium of Physical Activities, walking on level ground at a moderate pace of 4.5–5.5 km/h is 3.8 METs, and brisk walking at 5.6–6.3 km/h is 4.8 METs.
To get the cost of the walk itself, subtract one from the MET value: that energy would have been spent sitting as well. The result:
| Body weight | One hour at 5 km/h | One hour at 6 km/h | 8,000 steps at a moderate pace |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 kg | ≈ 170 kcal | ≈ 230 kcal | ≈ 190 kcal |
| 80 kg | ≈ 225 kcal | ≈ 305 kcal | ≈ 250 kcal |
| 100 kg | ≈ 280 kcal | ≈ 380 kcal | ≈ 310 kcal |
Expenditure above rest, approximate. For 8,000 steps the table assumes a step of about 70 cm, or roughly 5.6 km, at 5 km/h. For your own weight: (MET − 1) × body weight in kilograms × hours.
Two things follow from the table. Expenditure depends most on body weight and distance covered. Pace adds less: per kilometre, brisk walking uses about 10–15% more than a moderate pace.
What pedometer trials found
People who walk a lot are leaner on average. That does not mean steps by themselves reduce weight: a comparison between groups cannot separate cause from effect. Only an experiment can test it — hand out pedometers and see what happens to weight.
A 2008 meta-analysis pooled such programmes: nine studies, 307 participants, pedometer walking without a diet, from 4 weeks to a year, with a median of 16 weeks. The average result was −1.27 kg per programme, about 50 grams a week. Longer programmes produced larger losses.
The arithmetic explains why it is so little. Two to three hundred kilocalories a day is the size of a small snack, and if one slips in unnoticed, the walk is cancelled out.
How much walking makes a difference
The American College of Sports Medicine reviewed how much activity weight change requires in its 2009 position stand. Its conclusions:
- 150–250 minutes of moderate activity a week gives only modest weight loss;
- more than 250 minutes a week is associated with clinically significant weight loss;
- with moderate calorie restriction, 150–250 minutes of activity improves weight loss;
- after weight loss, more than 250 minutes a week improves weight maintenance.
Moderate activity is walking that makes you breathe faster. A step-counter guide: in a study that measured gas exchange in adults aged 21–40, moderate intensity began at about 100 steps a minute. 250 minutes a week at that cadence is about 35 minutes a day, or 3,500 of the 8,000 steps.
Where walking works best
In keeping weight off. The US National Weight Control Registry follows people who lost an average of 33 kg and have kept it off for more than five years. Registry members report high levels of physical activity — about an hour a day — along with eating breakfast regularly, weighing themselves and eating similarly on weekdays and weekends.
This is observation, not an experiment: the registry describes those who succeeded and does not prove that activity is the reason. It is, however, consistent with the College's conclusions.
Walking has a practical advantage here: it needs no gym, no kit and no recovery days, so it is easier to keep up for years.
Walking and food in one count
The energy spent walking is worth seeing next to what you eat. If a walk added 250 kcal and an evening snack added 400, the balance moved the wrong way, and the step counter will not show it. How the balance works is covered in the article on the calorie deficit, and how accurately watches and machines estimate expenditure — in the article on calories burned during exercise.
Why 8,000 steps is increasingly named as the target instead of 10,000, and how to get there from 3,000, is covered in how many steps a day you need. For something more intense, there is Japanese interval walking, which alternates fast and easy pace.
Walking does not replace strength training: during weight loss, strength work is what helps preserve muscle. More in weight loss without cardio.
When to see a doctor first
If walking brings chest pain or pressure, marked breathlessness, dizziness, or joint pain that has not eased by the next day, discuss it with a doctor before increasing the load. The same applies to heart disease, diabetes treated with insulin and recovery after surgery.
Frequently asked questions
- How many calories do 8,000 steps burn?
- About 190 kcal at 60 kg, 250 kcal at 80 kg and 310 kcal at 100 kg above resting. The estimate uses the Compendium of Physical Activities for walking at 5 km/h and a step of about 70 cm, which is roughly 5.6 km.
- Can you lose weight by walking alone?
- Yes, but slowly. In a meta-analysis of pedometer programmes without a diet, participants lost an average of 1.27 kg over programmes with a median length of 16 weeks, about 50 grams a week. The result is larger when walking is combined with attention to food.
- How many minutes a week should you walk?
- According to the American College of Sports Medicine, 150–250 minutes of moderate activity a week gives modest weight loss; more than 250 minutes is associated with clinically significant loss and helps maintain it.
- What pace counts as moderate?
- One that makes you breathe faster. In a study that measured gas exchange in adults aged 21–40, moderate intensity began at about 100 steps a minute.
- What matters more — pace or distance?
- For calories, distance and body weight matter more. Brisk walking uses only about 10–15% more per kilometre than a moderate pace.
Read next
- How many steps should you walk per day — Everyone knows the number 10,000, but almost no one knows its origin.
- Calorie deficit: how to calculate it and how to hold it — A calorie deficit is the one thing without which weight does not come down.
- How many calories are burned during a workout: running, cycling, swimming, gym — An hour of running at a moderate pace for a 70 kg person is about 550–700 kcal, cycling at a leisurely pace is 350–450, swimming is 400–600, and strength training is 200–350.
This article is for general information. It is not medical advice, a diagnosis, or a prescription for treatment or a diet, and it does not replace a consultation with your doctor. If you have a health condition, are pregnant, take medication, or follow a diet prescribed to you, decisions about food belong with your doctor.
Figures from regulations, guidelines and studies are given as they stood when this article was prepared and may since have changed; check them against the primary sources. This article is not advertising, an offer, or individual advice, and neither the author nor the site owner is responsible for decisions taken on the basis of it.