A groundbreaking University of Queensland discovery promises to turn your next walk into a powerful “HIIT routine for fat loss.” The approach is so easy and so effective, it even helped a group of weak and weight-loss-resistant seniors get lean and strong at double speed. The secret: tucking 16 minutes of effort inside an ordinary stroll. “Almost anyone can do it,” says Milica McDowell, MS, DPT, co-author of the new bestseller Walk: Rediscover the Most Natural Way to Boost Your Health and Longevity—One Step at a Time. “And results are often remarkable!”
How intervals help you walk off fat two times faster
The double-speed fat loss in the new study was something called high-intensity interval training, or HIIT. Participants (including folks up to age 76!) went back and forth between 3 minutes at an easy pace and then 4 minutes at a high intensity, repeating this pattern 4 times, for a total of 16 high-intensity minutes.
While HIIT isn’t new, this is one of the first times it’s been tested on stubborn age-related weight gain—and it did not disappoint. When scientists measured fat loss, the HIIT group burned twice as much as a group who exercised steadily at medium intensity. And separate research has found that “people often find HIIT feels easier than steady-pace exercise,” says McDowell.
Why walking + HIIT makes fat burning soar
“With HIIT, you go hard, rest, then push again,” explains McDowell. Just as continuously stepping on and off the gas causes your car to guzzle fuel, HIIT causes your body to guzzle oxygen—which makes fat burning surge.
McDowell adds that there’s also the “afterburn.” Basically, once your body is in fuel-guzzling mode, it stays there for up to 10 hours. That’s compared with just 30 minutes or so after steady-pace exercise, per a European study.
Bonus: HIIT also makes you produce about 450 percent more human growth hormone, which helps build metabolism-boosting muscle. In the Queensland study, the HIIT group gained muscle while the steady-state group lost muscle. Muscle doesn’t directly increase fat burn, but it does make you burn more calories around the clock. And it also gives you more stamina for fat-burning activities.
An HIIT routine for fat loss gets you so motivated
HIIT works with most forms of exercise, but many of us favor walking—and McDowell says HIIT is ideal for leveling up the free, convenient activity. Not only will it set you up for weight loss and health gains galore, “it’s more engaging than a mundane steady-state walk—we call it a novel stimulus,” says McDowell. “It can be very good for boosting brain activity and motivation.” So you’re more likely to walk consistently once HIIT is part of your routine.
The smart way to create a walking HIIT routine for fat loss
Since high intensity is involved, McDowell recommends 7 minutes of gentle walking to warm up muscles and joints and help prevent injury. After that, beginners can set a timer and start with 2 minutes at higher intensity followed by 5 minutes of easy walking. Repeat this 3 to 4 times. Very gradually work up to the study’s pattern: 3 minutes easy walking and 4 minutes at high-intensity, repeated four times.
As for what “high intensity” means, you should be breathing very hard but still able to say a few words, says McDowell. Pay attention to your body and adapt your speed accordingly. Don’t push too hard. The ultimate goal, she adds, is to feel good, get fit and create a new routine “that is sustainable for life.”
Now you might be wondering how big a difference HIIT walking makes. For Lorelei Navarro, it was huge…
HIIT walking success story: Lorelei Navarro, 49, lost 45 pounds
Like so many of us, Lorelei blames age-related hormonal changes and a love of eating for the spare pounds she carried for years. Did she try to slim down? Yes. “I’d do brisk walks then lose motivation because they tired me out and I saw no real improvement,” shares the Texas mom, 49.
Diagnosed with high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes, she took a long look in the mirror. “I wanted to be healthy for my family, age well, be strong and independent later in life,” she says. So she started looking for ways to make it happen.
An Instagram post on “Japanese interval walking” caught her eye. It was a version of HIIT walking created at Shinshu University in Japan. “I was intrigued by how simple it seemed,” Lorelei recalls.
To do it, “you just alternate between three minutes at a slow pace and three minutes of brisk walking,” she says. Lorelei set two timers on her phone, one for the total time she planned to walk (often 40 to 50 minutes) and another for three minutes (which she restarted for each interval). “I liked the cadence, and there was ample time to relax, so I didn’t get fatigued.”
Success with interval walking gave Lorelei momentum
Boosted by her walks, Lorelei felt motivated to find more ways to improve her health. Prime example: She also heard that intermittent fasting might help with her diabetes, so she began aiming to eat healthy foods—going easy on sugar, bread, rice and pasta—between noon and 8 pm each day, consuming only water or black coffee the rest of the time. “I did that Monday to Friday for several months,” she shares. “It made it so much easier to eat better!”
Lorelei says she saw results after just a few weeks of walking and eating better. But even when plateaus hit, she stayed consistent. After five months, her blood pressure and blood sugar had normalized. At seven months, she was 45 pounds lighter.
Today, she’s more active than ever (even adding Taekwondo classes and rowing to her regimen) and loving life: “I highly recommend interval walking!”
