Forget running — doing this one thing boosted the calorie burn on my daily walks

Whether you’re looking to lose weight, tone up, or just boost your mental health, walking is a great place to start.You don’t need any fancy equipment (although a comfortable pair of the best running shoes or one of the best fitness trackers can help) or a gym membership — just getting outside or getting off the subway a stop sooner can make a huge difference. But how do you increase your calorie burn?As a fitness editor and marathon runner, I use my daily dog walks as a form of active recovery — keeping my legs moving on days when I’m not doing a long run or workout.

I walk for at least 30 minutes with my dog every single day, although I’ve never really worried about how many calories I’m burning.That said, I wondered if there was a way to boost the calories I burnt on my daily walks, so I tried this one simple thing, read on to find out what happened.Doing this one thing boosted the calorie burn on my daily walksIf you’re looking to increase the calorie burn on your walking workouts, there are a few easy things you can do.



Firstly, you can add more hills to your walks — when you’re walking uphill, your leg muscles will be working harder to power up the incline, and your heart rate will increase with the effort.If you’re opting to walk on a treadmill, set the incline to 5-10% and really notice the difference.But what if, like me, you live in a pretty flat area? I don’t think my dog would appreciate a drive to hilly routes before his walk, so instead, I decided to add intervals to my walks.

During these intervals, I’d pick up the pace, walking faster and really thinking about my form. I’d suck my belly button into my spine to engage my abs, stand tall, and swing my arms as I powered along.Once the interval was complete, I’d return to my normal walking gait.

I didn’t jog, but if you really wanted to up the ante, you could.On day one, I opted for the following intervals for my 30-minute walk:Warm-up: 5 minutes2-minutes normal pace, 2-minutes faster pace — repeat 5 timesCool-down: 5 minutesHow many calories you burn when walking depends on several factors — how much you weigh, how fast you’re walking, and your current fitness levels. While the exact numbers aren’t important, I noticed that these intervals dramatically increased how many calories I burnt at the end of the walk.

(Image credit: Shutterstock)By the end of the week, I felt like I was up for more of a challenge, so decided to increase the length of the faster pace:Warm-up: 5 minutes1-minute normal pace, 4-minutes faster pace — repeat 4 timesCool-down: 5 minutesIt was easy to set up these intervals on my Apple Watch 10, using the Create Workout function, however, if you don’t have one of the best fitness trackers, you could easily just use the timer function on your phone, or a stopwatch.Remember it doesn’t have to be complicated — if timing your walks sounds too much like hard work, just count your steps and walk faster for 20 steps, then return to your normal walking pace.Really think about swinging your arms and standing tall as you move, and grab some of the best workout headphones to get that music pumping.

More from Tom's GuideIt's not leg raises — try the 'dragon flag' exercise to strengthen your abs and hips insteadI’m a personal trainer — forget regular squats, and try Spanish squats to reduce knee pain insteadForget running — this 25-minute walking workout will boost your metabolism and improve your core strength.