A simple change of pace during your daily Walk can help boost your metabolism.
In fact, it’s estimated that you’ll burn up to 20 percent more Calories by varying your walking speed than you would if you move at a constant clip.
Researchers at Ohio State University found that changing walking speed usually isn’t factored into estimates of the number of calories burned while exercising. They reported that up to 8 percent of the energy burned while walking is used when stopping and starting. They based their findings on measurements of the energy expended by volunteers altering their pace on a treadmill operating at a constant speed. The participants walked faster to move to the front of the treadmill or slowly to move to the back. If the treadmill speed itself is changed, you don’t get an accurate measure of energy used since the machine is doing some of the work, the researchers said.
Also, they found that people walk slower when covering shorter distances and faster when they’ve got farther to go. And they advise that to burn more calories while walking “do weird things” - carry a backpack, walk with weights and stop, then start while you’re walking, or walk a curve rather than a straight line.
