Walking to help burn fat: 4 NG postures to avoid

If you want to lose weight healthily, in addition to controlling your diet, you also need to exercise more to improve your metabolism! Choose aerobic exercises such as walking and jogging that can effectively burn fat. You can easily lose weight in half an hour every day. However, when walking, people often have NG postures such as shrugging shoulders forward, swinging arms too much, hunching over, and walking with feet turned outward. These postures are incorrect, so be careful not to get back pain after just two days of walking. (Video/Photographer Huang Zhiwen)

Common walking NG postures include swinging your hands too much, feet turned outward, hunching your back, shrugging your shoulders, etc., which may increase the burden on your muscles for a long time. (Photography by Huang Zilun)

Fitness coach Mimi mentioned that brisk walking is a form of exercise adopted by many people because it can be done at any time and does not require any special equipment. As long as you wear a pair of light sports shoes, you can easily enjoy "slimming". However, it is common for people to use incorrect postures to compress their muscles when walking, which results in less than optimal results. Common NG actions are as follows:

NG action 1: shrug and lean forward

Shrugging your shoulders for a long time may increase the burden on your shoulders and back, cause your upper body to lean forward, and increase the pressure on your feet. The correct movement is to relax your shoulders and focus on using the strength of your lower body to achieve the best fat burning effect.

Shrug and lean forward (Photography/Huang Zilun)

NG action 2: Too much swing

Shrugging your shoulders can cause excessive force in your arms, making your hands swing unnaturally. If you swing your hands too much or too hard, it may cause discomfort in your back. The correct movement is to swing your hands naturally back and forth, but do not move the same hands and feet.

The swing is too big (Photography/Huang Zilun)

NG action three: hunching over

If you frequently look down at the ground while walking, it is easy to cause hunchback. If you don't correct it, you will feel back pain immediately after the exercise. The correct movement is to lift your chest and contract your abdomen so that your stomach can be exercised as well.

Hunched (Photography by Huang Zilun)

NG action 4: Feet outward

Turning your feet outward will cause uneven force on the feet, increase the pressure on the legs and knees, and even damage the bones over time. The correct movement is to align your knees with your toes, and then step forward naturally following the rhythm of your body.

Feet turned outward (Photography by Huang Zilun)

Tips from the coach

Teacher Mimi added that the correct walking speed is about 1 kilometer every 12 minutes, which is equivalent to two and a half laps of a 400-meter playground track. Depending on personal physical condition, the speed can be adjusted to within 12 to 15 minutes. The body should feel a little out of breath but still be able to hold a conversation. 30 minutes a day is appropriate. If you have poor physical strength at the beginning, start with 15 minutes.