Key Takeaways
- Walk as part of your exercise routine. Use stairs instead of elevators, or park farther away to increase miles walked.
- Walking at a faster pace burns more calories because your muscles work harder.
- Track your walking distance and pace with a fitness tracker or use online tools to calculate calories burned.
Whether you’re walking to stay healthy or lose weight, you can track your progress by learning how many calories you’ll burn walking a mile. You’ll also need to know the variables that influence calories burned, such as your weight and pace.
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What Factors Affect the Calories Burned?
The number of calories you can expect to burn while walking depends on variables like your weight, distance, terrain (flat surface vs hills), and pace.
Your walking mechanics and techniques, such as whether you swing your arms, take small or large steps, or engage in power walking affect the energy (calories) your body uses while walking.
However, for estimating the number of calories you’ll burn, the two most critical factors are your weight and pace.
The more weight you carry, the more energy your body uses while walking. Walking speed matters because the faster you walk, the harder your muscles work and the more your heart rate increases, changes that burn more calories.
These are the definitions of pace:
- Light pace: A light pace is about 2.5 miles per hour (mph). At this pace, you would walk a mile in 24 minutes, which is similar to a leisurely stroll.
- Moderate pace: A moderate walking pace is 3.5 mph. If you walk at 3.4 mph, you’ll cover a mile in 17 minutes. This is a comfortable pace and the typical speed for most people taking a walk with a friend.
- Brisk pace: When walking at a brisk pace, you’re moving at 4 mph, which takes 15 minutes to walk one mile.
How Many Calories Will I Work Off?
Based on body weight and pace, you’ll burn the following calories after walking one mile at a moderate or brisk pace:
| Calories Burned Walking 1 Mile | ||
|---|---|---|
| Weight in Pounds | Moderate Walking Pace | Brisk Walking Pace |
| 100 | 53 calories | 57 calories |
| 120 | 64 calories | 68 calories |
| 140 | 74 calories | 80 calories |
| 160 | 85 calories | 91 calories |
| 180 | 96 calories | 102 calories |
| 200 | 106 calories | 114 calories |
| 220 | 117 calories | 125 calories |
| 250 | 133 calories | 142 calories |
| 275 | 146 calories | 156 calories |
| 300 | 160 calories | 171 calories |
How to Calculate the Calories Burned
The easiest way to calculate the calories burned is to use an online calorie calculator. However, you can also determine the calories burned for specific types of walking using metabolic equivalent (MET) values.
MET values show the calories burned during specific activities. The values are precalculated based on the amount of oxygen the body uses during the activity compared to the amount it uses when at rest (resting metabolic rate).
The resting metabolic rate, also called the basal metabolic rate (BMR), is the number of calories the body burns at rest in order to support essential functions, such as keeping your brain, heart, and digestive system working.
Here’s how to use the MET values to determine how many calories you burn:
- Look up the MET value for the type of walking you engage in. You can go to the 2024 Compendium of Physical Activities and search for “walking” (or any other activity). Or, navigate directly to the walking page. You’ll find a long list of various walking activities and can choose the best fit.
- Calculate the calories burned by plugging your MET value into the following equations:
To calculate calories burned per minute:
- Multiply the MET value x 3.5 x bodyweight in kilograms (kg). One pound equals 0.45 kg, so multiply your weight by 0.45.
- Then, divide by 200.
- Full equation: MET × 3.5 × bodyweight ÷ 200
To calculate the total calories burned:
- Calculate the calories burned per minute.
- Multiply that number by the total minutes you walked.
- Full equation: Calories burned per minute ÷ minutes walked
Calories Burned Walking 10,000 Steps
How many calories are burned walking 10,000 steps? There are about 2,000 steps in a mile, which means that if you walk 10,000 steps per day, you would walk about 5 miles. If you weigh 180 pounds, you would burn about 480 calories by walking 10,000 steps at moderate intensity.
What’s the Best Way to Track Walking Distance?
You can track your walking distance using a phone app, smart watch, or fitness tracker. With the numerous devices available on the market, you can choose to keep it simple and track your steps and miles or go more high-tech.
Today’s advanced devices monitor details and provide medical-grade metrics for values such as your heart rate, basal metabolic rate, calories burned, blood oxygen, and hours of sleep.
Alternatively, you can use a low-tech approach, using a watch to time yourself and walking on a path of a known length so you don’t need a device to track distance. For example, high school tracks are standardized to 400 meters (about 1/4 mile) around the inside lane.
How Many Calories Do I Need to Burn to Lose a Pound?
You’ll lose one pound of weight by burning 3,500 calories more than you consume. The large number of calories needed to drop one pound is one of the reasons why it’s essential to lose weight at a gradual rate of about 1-2 pounds weekly.
You need to burn 500 calories per day more than you eat in order to lose 1 pound in a week. You can achieve that by exercising more, eating fewer calories, or a combination of both strategies.
Based on the calories-burned chart above, you would need to walk 3 to 9 miles to burn 500 calories. A 100-pound person walking at a moderate pace needs to walk 9.4 miles to use 500 calories, while a 300-pound person walking at a brisk pace will burn the same amount in 3 miles.
While walking always burns calories, it doesn’t guarantee weight loss. The calories you burn won’t translate into weight loss if you consume more calories than you burn.
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH):
- Consuming 1,200 to 1,500 calories each day will help most women lose weight safely.
- Consuming 1,500 to 1,800 calories each day is suitable for men and also for heavier women and people who exercise regularly.
However, it’s important to find your ideal daily calorie intake and consult a healthcare provider before starting a weight loss plan. You might have specific restrictions or recommendations based on your own health.
Keep in mind that losing weight too quickly can lead to nutrient deficiencies or health complications. And rapid weight loss often guarantees that you’ll regain the weight.
How Can I Burn More Calories Walking?
You can increase the number of calories that you burn while walking in a few different ways, such as:
- Add hills or increase the degree of incline: You could incorporate walking in hilly areas rather than in flat areas, or you could set your treadmill to a higher degree of incline while you’re walking.
- Walk farther: If you want to walk a longer distance or for a longer period, you can build up to longer walks gradually, or you could walk a few times a day to increase your total walking time and distance.
- Increase your pace: Increase your walking pace incrementally. One way is to add short intervals of walking as fast as you can for 15 to 30 seconds, followed by walking at your usual pace for a few minutes, and then repeating.
- Adding or carrying weight: Carrying weight to increase your calories per mile can be beneficial or harmful. Wrist and ankle weights put additional strain on muscles, feet, and joints. For this reason, wearing a weighted vest may be the best choice if you want to add weight when walking.
A Word From Verywell
Walking is known to improve heart health, increase bone and joint strength, and help manage conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and depression. Even better, walking is a cost-effective form of exercise that doesn’t require much in the way of special equipment or previous training.
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