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Most fat loss experts will tell you the same thing. If you want to lose fat, the single easiest and most effective thing you can do is simply to get in more steps. However, what none of these experts seem to agree on is the exact specifics of this.
All you do is for 3 minutes you're walking fast and then for 3 minutes you're walking normal. And you simply go back and forth, back and forth five times. That specific type of walking for 30 minutes gives you more benefits than an hour and a half to 2 hours of just regular walking. Stop walking 10,000 steps to get lean. Instead, I want you to walk 15,000 steps to get [music] lean. And I'm going to show you how this method is guaranteed for you to finally lose your belly fat.
So, does walking in the morning on an empty stomach actually help you burn more fat? The answer is yes. And there was a really cool study kept the calories the same. >> The people who walked before the meal actually gained weight and the people who walked after the meal lost weight. So then, who's actually right? Today, we're going to figure that out.
There are many great new studies that have been published on the best principles to follow when walking for maximum fat loss. This new science tells us how many steps per day is best for fat loss, exactly how much fat is burned per thousand steps, and gives us many small adjustments to make that can actually double the amount of fat burned when walking, including one that specifically targets visceral fat.
Let's first look at the data on what the science says is the best number of steps for fat loss. Now the best data on this comes from a 2017 study published in the journal nature. How it worked is they analyze the step data from an app called Argus. In total there were 717,000 participants, 68 million days total across 111 countries. So people were categorized by average daily steps. And what they found was at the very low end between 1 and 2,000 steps, roughly 30% of people were obese. And then as the number of steps increased, it correlated with a lower percentage of people that were obese. Now, this data only went up to 11,000 steps and above. This is because there weren't enough people who averaged a daily step count above this for the data to be reliable.
Now, very clearly looking at this data, there's an obvious correlation between more steps and a better body composition. However, it is very important to remember that this is simply an association study. So, there are lots of other factors called confounding variables at play here. And I just want you to imagine for a second, you know, think about the average person that gets 1,000 steps per day versus 11,000. Obviously, they live very different lifestyles. The person that's getting lots of steps per day, they're much more likely to be an overall healthconscious person. So, they're much more likely to drink less alcohol, eat less processed food, get more sunlight, get better sleep, etc. Whereas the person that's getting 1,000 steps per day, they're much more likely to drink lots of alcohol, eat more processed food, so forth. This right here is called healthy and unhealthy user bias, which is why studies like this, whilst being very interesting, don't actually give us a solid conclusion.
But there is a way we can actually calculate this. And the math on this is going to surprise you. What is a much more accurate way to work out the best number of steps per day is to look at how much fat is actually burned for every 1,000 steps. The best study on this is a 2022 study published in physical activity and nutrition. How the study worked is it looked at 34 adults and measured calories burned per minutes walking. They found that at 3.1 mph or 5 km/h, it resulted in fat burn between 3.5 calories per minute, which is 210 calories, and 4.5 calories per minute, which is 270 calories per hour.
Now, let's translate this to how much fat is burned per thousand steps. At 3.1 m or 5 km/ hour, the average person takes about 6,600 steps an hour. So, if 1 hour burns between 210 to 270 calories, that works out to roughly between 32 and 41 calories per,000 steps. So, how many steps would you need to burn 1 lb or kilogram of fat? Well, in 1 lb of fat, there is 3,500 calories. And in 1 kilogram of fat, there is 7,700 calories. So you would need to do 85,000 to 110,000 steps to burn one pound of fat or 188,000 to 241,000 to burn a kilogram of fat.
Now, by this number right here, it seems that you're burning, you know, close to zero fat when you're walking. However, when you do the math per month or per year, things look very different. If you got 10,000 steps per day instead of a,000, 9,000 extra steps per day, you'd burn an extra 2.5 to 3.2 2 lb of fat or 1.1 to 1.4 kg per month. Times that by 12 and it's 30 to 38 lb or 13.5 to 17.5 kilos per year. This is also what I look like with 30 lb difference in weight. And here's what this amount of fat actually visually looks like. So yeah, walking is certainly good for fat loss, especially when you consider just how easy it is in comparison to other forms of cardio.
But what makes walking even better for fat loss is fasted walking or does it? Let's see what the science says about this. There was actually a great study on this done in 2017 that was published in the journal of functional morphology and kinesiology. It was a systematic review and metaanalysis. A systematic review gathers every study on a given topic then compares the findings. A metaanalysis then combines all of the data into one data set. So, this study is the closest thing to a definitive answer. What they found was that there was no significant difference in fat loss between those who walked in a fasted state and a fed state. This may sound counterintuitive. You might intuitively think that walking in a fasted state, you're going to burn more fat. However, when you walk in a fasted state, yes, you may burn less fat at the time because you're not burning what you've just ate. However, the extra fat you do burn by walking in a fasted state is then mitigated by the fact that when you do eat, you're burning less of this meal. In comparison to the person who eats then walks, they will be burning more of this meal they've just had. So yeah, it essentially cancels itself out and walking in a fasted state essentially provides no meaningful benefit.
However, what is interesting though is walking after a meal. Now, the data here is actually very interesting. What happens is when you walk, you've lots of small muscle contractions going on. And these muscle contractions, they signal to your glucose, aka your sugar transporters, to take sugar from your bloodstream and send it to your muscle cells. A 2016 study out of the University of Otargo actually showed walking after meals lowers your blood sugar by about 12%. And a 2013 study out of George Washington University showed a 13 mgram per diliter drop in 24-hour average blood glucose levels. Now, what is very interesting is this 2025 study right here out of uh yeah, I'm not going to try and pronounce the name of that university, some Japanese university. This was published in scientific reports, and they found that a 10-minute walk was just as effective as a half an hour walk pending it was right after the meal rather than at least half an hour later.
Now, this right here is very important for fat loss because when your blood sugar spikes too high, what actually happens is that it comes crashing back down and often in fact goes below baseline. This right here is called reactive hypoglycemia. In this state, your body thinks it's run out of stored energy in the form of body fat. Your body has the ability to convert its own body fat into glucose, which then raises your blood sugar levels. So, your body's thinking, well, if our blood sugar is this low, we must be completely out of stored body fat. And this is why after a high carbohydrate meal come 3 4 hours later you're starving. All you can do is think about food. Everyone seems annoying. It is because of this reactive hypoglycemia. So because a postmeal walk mitigates this blood sugar spike. It means you're less likely to experience this crash and therefore it's going to significantly help with your appetite. So at least in my opinion based on all current data we have available I think that the best time to walk is actually after a meal.
Next up, we have the best walking principle to specifically make the fat you burn from walking visceral fat. This is very different from subcutaneous fat, the soft fat you can see and grab. Visceral fat is the fat stored around your organs. Not only does visceral fat make you look bloated, but it's also the most dangerous type of fat you can have. Visceral fat is actually the only type of fat that releases a compound called cytoones. These are incredibly inflammatory molecules, so visceral fat is certainly something you don't want.
To understand how this connects to the postmeal walk, you need to know this one key fact about visceral fat. It is more sensitive to a hormone called insulin than the fat under your skin is. The way this works is simple. Insulin is the hormone that tells your cells to take sugar in. When your blood sugar rises, your body releases insulin to move that sugar out of your blood and into your cells for energy. For this process to occur, insulin must bind to tiny receptors on the outside of your cells called, and you're never going to guess this name, insulin receptors. These receptors are basically tiny docking ports. Insulin plugs into one like a key does into a lock. And this right here is the signal telling the cell to open up and take the sugar in. The reason we know visceral fat responds so strongly to insulin is a 2006 study published in the journal Diabetes. This study found that visceral fat cells have more of these insulin receptors on them. And not only is there more of them, but they also respond faster and harder the moment insulin shows up. This means if you have high insulin levels, you're likely going to store more visceral fat. So, because walking after a meal decreases the blood sugar spike from it and therefore also lowers the amount of insulin your body releases, it means that a post-meal walk is going to result in you storing less fat around your organs. So yeah, if you're someone who's walking specifically to lose visceral fat, walking postmeal is certainly the best time.
Next up, we have intensity leaders. What are some tricks we can use to help make walking more effective for fat loss? There are three great tricks you can use to burn significantly more fat in the exact same amount of time walking. In a 2012 study published in the Journal of Biomechanics, they put 16 adults on treadmills and measured the energy they burned whilst walking at the same speed on a flat surface versus on an incline of 10%. What they found was that this 10% incline actually doubled the amount of calories being burned, which honestly is quite insane.
Another lever we can use came from that same study we looked at earlier. The 2022 study published in physical activity and nutrition. Not only did this study look at calories burned per minute walking, but it also looked at the differences in calories burned walking at different speeds. At 1.9 mph or 3 km/h, they burned on average 3 calories per minute, which equals 180 calories. At 3.1 mph or 5 kmh, they burned on average 3.5 to 4.5 calories per minute. This equates to 210 calories. At 4.5 m or 7.2 2 km/h they burned on average between 6.5 and 8 calories per minute. It is also very well demonstrated across countless studies that heavier people burn more energy during physical activity. This is simply because it takes more energy to move a heavier body the same distance. This right here is why wearing a weighted vest whilst walking burns more fat. In a 2013 study published in the International American Council on Exercise, people who wore a weighted vest equivalent to 15% of their body weight burned about 12% more calories than those walking without a vest. So, by walking on a 10% incline at a slightly faster speed with a weighted vest on, you can more than double the amount of fat you're burning when walking.
In saying that, however, the number one most effective way to ensure you do get the fat loss benefits from walking is that you actually do walk. For me personally, 99% of the walking I do is just simply normal walks. This is the type of walking that is most convenient for me and it's also what I enjoy the most. So, I actually do end up getting my steps in. But, I mean, if you do have David Gogggins like discipline and you want to squeeze every bit of fat burn out of every minute, then those three tricks will absolutely help.
In terms of the best number of steps per day for you, well, the most common quote magic number thrown around is 10,000 steps per day, but I'm not so sure about this. Earlier this year, I was in a fat loss phase and dropped about 10 lbs in 2 months. During this time, I averaged 10,000 steps or more per day, whereas now I am in more of a maintenance phase and have been super busy. So, I've only been averaging around 5,000 this past month. So, I mean, it really depends on what your main goals are. Obviously, as we've seen today, the more steps you do, the more fat you do burn, but you also don't want to be walking for an obscene amount of time every day to the point that it hinders other aspects of your life.
If you've made it this far, it tells me you're serious about getting into fantastic shape. If you're ready to put this into practice, I'd like to personally invite you to apply to work one-on-one with me. We'll work together through a personalized three-step protocol designed to work with your biology and strip body fat without ridiculous amounts of willpower, endless cardio, or having to starve yourself. It's already changed the lives of hundreds of people. If you're ready to be next, click the top link in the description.
Anyway, you now know all the science behind walking and fat loss, so you can work out what is the best step count to aim for and the principles you should follow that work best for your lifestyle and goals. Anyway, as always, great speaking with you.