Walking is amazing for the body. It’s free, you don’t need a gym and can choose any time of the day to walk. Walking has a variety of health benefits such as improving your mood, improving your cardiovascular system or even lengthening your life. One of the main reasons people go for walks as their exercise is to help maintain a healthy weight or assist in weight loss.
Yes, walking can help slim down your thighs, especially when combined with a healthy diet. A 30 minute walk each day can help you burn between 847 to 1,414 calories, depending on speed. A 60-minute daily walk can help you burn between 1,701 to 2,835 calories. Walking can also help you tone your legs and trim overall body fat.
In this article we’ll discuss how much you should walk to slim your thighs, as well as other activities that can help with thigh fat loss. Let’s dig in!
Contents
How Long Does It Take to Lose Thigh Fat from Walking?
There is no hard and fast answer here. Everyone’s fitness journey is different. Generally speaking, if you stay consistent with your program and diet, you should begin to see results in approximately 10-12 weeks. For some people it’s more, and for some its less.
The American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of moderate to intense physical activity per week. For walking, this is defined as walking at least at 2.5 miles per hour. It will take you 24 minutes to walk one mile at this pace.
You will likely see more benefits if you increase the time, as well as the intensity of walking. For example, if you walk at 4.0 miles per hour, you will walk 1 mile in 15 minutes.
How to Lose Thigh Fat in a Week
Spoiler alert – you can’t. There is no healthy, sustainable way to lose thigh fat in a week.
However, by walking 30 to 60 minutes each day for a week you can burn between 847 to 2,835 calories!
Keep it up! Healthy sustainable weight loss takes time, and walking is an excellent way to help lose weight overall and slim your legs. Read on to learn how much you should walk per day to burn calories and lose weight.
How Much Should I Walk to Slim My Thighs?
Based on your weight and the speed in which you walk, everyone’s calories burned level will be slightly different. There are online calculators that may be able to give you an estimate on the number of calories burned.
It’s important to not compare your progress to someone else and continue toward your goal and what works best for you.
Try your best to find the joy in exercise and movement and not get too hung up on the numbers. Pop in your ear buds and turn on a new podcast or your favorite music and a 30–45-minute walk will be done in no time!
To keep it consistent to show you an example, we will use an example of someone who is 170 pounds and see how their walking speed will vary their calories burned. Remember, this is going to help weight loss overall and not just solely in your thighs.
| Speed | Time | Calories Burned/Day | Calories Burned/Week (If walking every day) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.5 mph | 30 mins | 121 | 847 |
| 3.0 mph | 30 mins | 142 | 994 |
| 3.5 mph | 30 mins | 174 | 1,218 |
| 4.0 mph | 30 mins | 202 | 1,414 |
| 2.5 mph | 60 mins | 243 | 1,701 |
| 3.0 mph | 60 mins | 283 | 1,981 |
| 3.5 mph | 60 mins | 348 | 2,688 |
| 4.0 mph | 60 mins | 405 | 2,835 |
Other Ways to Get Rid of Fat Around Thighs
Does Cycling Reduce Inner Thigh Fat?
Cycling, like walking, works your lower body. If you would prefer to cycle instead of walk, some days, that’s great! Cycling will help reduce inner thigh fat by toning the legs overall.
If you are cycling indoors, like at a spin class, and you are cycling with the resistance elevated you will not only be working your cardiovascular system, you also will be working on building muscle in your legs.
Losing weight and building muscle from resistance training will collectively slim down the thighs and inner thighs as a whole.
Does Running Burn Inner Thigh Fat?
Yes, it can. Running will help tone up the legs overall.
Running for distance, instead of sprinting, would be the best way to achieve a leaner leg appearance.
Does Swimming Reduce Thigh Fat?
Swimming can also help lose weight overall and thus slim the thighs.
Breaststroke works your thighs, but the butterfly is best for overall calories burned.
What about Squats and Lunges?
Squats and lunges are going to help build muscle in the legs, especially if done with weights, to help give them a leaner appearance.
Squats and lunges work your glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calves.
You can’t spot reduce certain areas, however, adding a strength training program with lower body exercises along with cardio exercises (walking) will help you reach your results of slimmer legs, quicker.
Does My Diet Play a Factor?
Absolutely! With any kind of exercise regimen, diet is important. Keeping a diet full of fruit, vegetables, whole grains and healthy fats and lean proteins will keep you fueled for your walks.
Swapping out some high calorie options for lower calorie ones can help with weight loss overall to help slim down your thighs:
- Make water or other diet beverages your main fluid intake for the day. Juice, sodas, and even some coffees can pack in excess calories when trying to lose weight. Try seltzer water or adding frozen fruit to your water to flavor it.
- Swap out desserts like ice cream or cakes for yogurt and fresh fruit.
- Condiments, sauces and dressings can be a source of hidden calories, make sure to read the food label to see the serving size!
- Cook meats by grilling or baking instead of frying.
- Meal prepping for the week for breakfast and lunches can help save you time and money so you aren’t scrambling to find something quick for meals.