Walking does help with weight loss after 50, but it works slowly.
It works best alongside other habits. Knowing what to expect keeps you from quitting in week three.
Here is what the research says walking can do, and how strength work and eating fit around it.
Why weight loss gets harder after 50
Muscle tends to shrink with age. Less muscle means your body burns a little less at rest, so the same meals add up differently than they did at 35.
None of this is a personal failing. It is a reason to protect your muscle while you lose weight, not only to cut calories.
A steady walking habit helps on that side too, and walking as exercise after 50 covers what else it does for the body.
How much weight can walking help you lose?
Less than most people hope, when walking is the only change.
A meta-analysis of 9 pedometer-based walking studies with no diet change found an average loss of about 1.27 kg (2.8 pounds). The programs had a median length of 16 weeks.
That works out to about 0.05 kg (about a tenth of a pound) per week. The pooled studies were small, 307 people in all, and mostly women. Longer programs led to more weight loss than shorter ones.
Judge your walking by how you feel and how far you can go, and let the scale be a slow side effect.
Walking is still worth it for your heart, joints and mood. For weight, treat it as one part of the plan, with food and strength work doing the rest.
To estimate what a walk burns at your pace and weight, see calories burned walking after 60.
Easy walks count
Many people assume a walk only counts if it leaves them breathless. It does not.
An easy walk you can repeat most days does more than a hard one you dread.
Easy walks have a few practical advantages:
- They are gentle on your joints
- They leave energy for strength work
- They are easier to repeat most days of the week
- They give you recovery time between harder sessions
Adding variety to your walks
Easy walks are a fine base. Once they feel comfortable, add some variety to keep walking interesting.
One option is interval walking, where you alternate faster and slower stretches. Another is a hillier route, or a longer walk on the weekend.
Change one thing at a time, so you can tell what your body handles well.
Add change gradually. Once walking is a habit, a good rule of thumb is to add no more than 10% to your weekly walking time. The 4-week plan shows the gentler first month that gets you there.
How often and how long to walk
The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans set a target for adults of at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity a week. They also call for muscle-strengthening on 2 or more days a week.
Older adults are advised to add balance training, so a plan that only walks leaves something out.
In practice, a week might look like this:
- Several walks a week at a pace where you can still talk
- Two days of strength work for your legs, hips and core
- Some balance practice, such as standing on one foot beside a counter
Build toward the 150 minutes.
You do not need to start there.
What to eat so your walks work
Walking uses energy, but food decides most of what happens to your weight. Eating enough protein matters more as you get older because of muscle loss.
In a meta-analysis of 17 trials of older adults, average age 73, people who added protein supplements to strength training gained more lean mass and leg strength than those who only trained.
The trials tested supplements with strength training, not with walking.
Pair your food changes with strength work, since that is the combination the research tested for keeping muscle.
If you plan to lose weight, take medications or have kidney or heart disease, ask your doctor or a dietitian about protein and calories first.