How Many Calories Does Walking Burn? A Weight Loss Doctor and Fitness Experts Explain

Many factors influence how many calories you burn while walking. Here’s a breakdown:

Weight

The heavier your body is, the harder it needs to work to move, says Jessica Cording, M.S., R.D., author of The Little Book of Game-Changers. That also means that the more you weigh, the more calories you burn, Glor adds. On average, a 150-lb person will burn about 100 calories per mile at a mild pace (say, 2.5 miles per hour), and a 120-lb person will burn around 85 calories per mile on average at the same pace, Glor explains.

Metabolism

Some people are born with a faster metabolic rate—in other words, they burn calories fast. “Men also tend to have a faster metabolism, partially due to their size and muscle mass,” Maleeff says. Calories burned may also decrease with age as you become less active and lose muscle mass.

Pace and resistance

In general, you’ll burn more calories the faster you walk, says Cording. “A 150-lb person walking at a pace of three miles per hour will burn 115 calories per mile on average, whereas a 120-lb person may burn an average of 100 calories per mile,” Glor explains. Similarly, you can use extra equipment (like ankle weights) or non-flat terrain to up the ante.

Number of steps

Counting steps can have a different impact on everyone, Cording says. “I’ve seen it be really motivating for people to see how many steps they’re walking—it pushes them to make good choices and to be consistent with healthy habits in other areas of their wellness,” she says. But some people can end up too fixated on their step count and just get stressed out as a result, she says.

Cumulative movement

“You don’t have to only be taking long walks for it to be effective for your mental and physical health,” Cording says. “Shorter walks throughout the day can be just as effective.”

“From what I’ve noticed as a bariatric surgeon, walking is both wildly underrated and wildly overestimated,” says Hector Perez, M.D., a bariatric surgeon with Renew Bariatrics
and advisor for BestSurgeons.com. “Patients in my clinic who lose over 60 pounds and keep it off almost all walk daily, but they definitely don’t rely on walking alone.”

It has to do with the mechanism of walking. “It’s gentle physical activity so, while it won’t torch 800 calories in an hour, it’s sustainable, low-injury, cortisol-friendly, and repeatable, which is basically everything you need for consistent fat loss,” Dr. Perez continues. He says his patients often land on two ends of spectrum, either assuming that 10,000 daily steps will “fix everything” or that walking is useless. “Both are wrong,” he says. “Walking is sufficient for early fat loss in de-conditioned individuals because it increases daily energy expenditure without triggering compensatory hunger the way intense cardio often does.” He continues, explaining that in the long run, without resistance training and managing your diet, walking alone becomes more of a maintenance effort.

Because everybody is different, there’s no exact number. According to Gail Barranda Rivas, A.C.E., A.F.A.A., personal trainer, functional strength coach, Pilates, and yoga instructor in New York City, it all depends on the above factors of weight, metabolism, and resistance. When in doubt, try to move with more gusto. “Walking at a brisker pace that brings your heart rate up and starts to make you sweat will definitely burn more than if you were walking at a slower pace,” Rivas adds.

On average, walking 10,000 steps a day might burn around 3,500 calories, Rivas says. This also depends on how much you weigh, your height, and your level of exertion. Keep in mind that you don’t have to complete all the steps at once. To get more steps in, Rivas recommends walking instead of taking other forms of transportation, parking your car further from your destination, or even taking a short walk during your lunch break.

The easiest way to increase calories while walking is to pick up your pace. “Increasing the intensity of your workout results in an elevated heart rate, which requires more energy and results in more calories burned,” Glor says. You can also walk a longer distance than your normal leisurely stroll to build endurance, and/or find some mixed terrain.

“If you’re walking outside, look for hills,” Glor suggests. And if you’re walking on a treadmill, Glor encourages setting your incline levels to 1.5 or higher. In addition to burning more calories, incline walking helps tone the glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, and core. “Avoid hinging at the hips, keep your shoulders back, and engage your core when you walk on an incline,” Glor suggests.

You can also add dumbbells during your walks to both incorporate strength training and to increase the weight you’re moving around. “This helps you target more muscle groups to strengthen your muscles and burn more calories,” Glor says.

Unless you’re using a tracker, it can be pretty confusing to know if you’re burning enough calories while walking. The good news is that you can check in with yourself to reveal if you’re working hard enough.

Do you catch yourself getting out of breath? That’s a pretty good indicator that you’re working hard. Glor says you want to aim for a thin layer of sweat, and to be slightly out of breath if you were to talk while you walk. “If you’re doing a slower, longer endurance walk, you want your rate of perceived exertion (RPE) to be at a six out of 10,” Glor says.

RPE is a way to measure physical exertion on a scale of one to 10. “If you’re doing a higher intensity type of walking workout with dumbbell work, incline hills, or lunges throughout, then your RPE should be at a seven, at least,” Glor adds.

Diet is also an essential aspect of weight loss. “Nutrition is the primary avenue for weight loss, and unfortunately, people overemphasize exercise,” Maleeff says. The amount of calories you require is determined by your age, height, and body weight, and you can use a weight loss calculator or speak with your physician or physical trainer to determine exactly how many calories you should be consuming and burning per day.

“Anything that moves your body burns calories,” Maleeff explains. “We take in energy through food and then burn them passively through body functioning (breathing or digesting food) and by actively moving (walking or exercising).”In addition to boosting metabolism, walking lowers stress hormones, like cortisol, that can contribute to weight gain. “Walking increases non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT), which is one of the most powerful yet overlooked components of daily calorie burn,” explains Dr. Perez. “A 200-pound person might burn roughly 100 calories per mile walked, depending on pace, which isn’t dramatic, but done daily, that’s about 700 calories per week, which translates to roughly half a pound of fat over time.” Dr. Perez warns that hunger hormones may rise after cardio, and the more intense your workout, the bigger the cravings may get. That’s another reason walking is great. “It works best [for weight loss] when it subtly raises baseline expenditure without dramatically increasing appetite,” Dr. Perez adds. “In my postoperative patients, daily walking stabilizes blood sugar, improves insulin sensitivity, reduces stress eating, and preserves lean mass better than aggressive cardio. The real secret isn’t behind the calories burned, it’s the fact that walking keeps people metabolically active without triggering the hormonal backlash that sabotages more extreme workouts.”

In conclusion: There are few reasons not to walk whenever you can.