SS 161 – Walking for Fat Loss

For this month, each episode is going to cover a topic centered around their fat loss theme. Last week in episode 160, the boys talked about HIIT versus Steady State Cardio.

 

This week, Heavey and Grant talk about the influence of walking on fat loss. How effective is it? Heavey presents the research and Grant brings the entertainment.

 

[00:55] Health IQ: Get Savings on Your Insurance

 

Grant and Heavey are excited to announce their new sponsor (drum roll please) – Health IQ, an insurance agency that allows people who are fit and take their health seriously to get savings on their insurance.

 

Visit HealthIQ.com/scotch and get a quick quote on life insurance. Lifters can save over 25% on their life insurance. Studies have shown that people who lift weights have 41% lower risk of heart disease, 46% lower risk of all-cause mortality, 19% lower risk of cancer – all you’ve got to do is put in a few things at HealthIQ.com/scotch.

 

 

[03:45] Check Out Costco Prices!

 

First off, Costco has really good prices on scotch! Check out the pictures on their pricing on this podcast’s Instagram account @strength_and_scotch. It’s mind-blowing!

 

Speaking of scotch, the hosts talked about the email they got last week from one of their listeners who wanted them to talk more about scotch. Specifically, Luke asked about the Glencairn whiskey glass. To know more about it, go back and listen to episode 160.

 

 

[07:00] Training for Obstacle Racing versus Training for Running or Lifting

 

Heavey explains this depends on the race you’re doing since these races have different obstacles. With that said, running needs to be fundamental to your training since many courses have very long bouts of running and you need to be well-trained to do well. At the same time, you need to prepare for these obstacles. There could be challenging things to prepare for. For instance, they may have walls or ropes you have to climb or things you have to carry. These are the sort of things you need to have in your training. You don’t have to do the exact same things but you can train in ways to prepare for those obstacles.

 

It all comes down to the elements in the obstacle race you’re doing and doing the best you can to replicate those in your training.

 

Moreover, Grant sees an obstacle course as predominantly a running exercise with the shorter bouts of more intense usage. He suggests looking at how long it is. If you know it’s five miles of running, train for seven miles. Get yourself ready to go harder so you get used to it. Heavey also adds that you can mix in different elements.

 

For instance for a five-mile race, stop after each mile and do 30 burpees. This is going to take you out of the rhythm of your steady cardio pacing and jack your heart rate. Then you have to recover from that and get back into your training. Sprinkle these sort of pieces within your runs to better prepare for it.

 

Grant shares another example. Incorporate a sprint for 30 seconds every 5 minutes as you’re doing your mileage.

 

 

[11:15] Losing Weight After Pregnancy

 

Grant’s ex girlfriend said that their episode on fat loss got her rejuvenated after having a baby. She made the changes in her consumption levels and the way she was trying to lose weight. Listen to the episode with Rudy Mawr back on Episode 157 where they brought up issues specific to women and fat loss. This is common to women who gain weight after pregnancy and they have trouble losing weight. One of the reasons for this is the lack of sleep.

 

 

[12:35] How Powerful Is Walking for Fat Loss?

 

Grant used to do rock climb, which had him in great shape. But after giving that up due to several injuries, he gained a bit of weight. He then got his dog, Sasha, and started walking her around. As a result, Grant noticed he started losing weight. So he was been wondering if walking is really that effective for fat loss.

 

Heavey points out how Fitbit was one of the pioneers who gamified their pedometers to make walking cool. Initially, he found it silly at first. However, with his experience working with Grant’s mom on her nutrition, she asked him about Fitbit, telling him how it was so motivating to her to hit that step count. So Heavey learned how adding a gamifying piece to something is so powerful.

 

This is an interesting element that has brought walking into the limelight. People may not think of it as walking and may think of it as steps, but it’s walking. Additionally, it would be interesting to know whether it really is powerful for weight loss, especially for the obese people. Walking may be the only real option they have.

 

 

[16:15] Walking to Unplug from Work

 

Heavey and his wife, Nicole, actually walk every single day, or at least they do try it everyday. For him, the idea is to unplug from work for the day. They work from home and when you do, you might just not stop working. So it’s nice to take a break from work and go out. Spend time together, get outside, and be with nature for 30 minutes a day. Then you come back and get back to work.

 

 

[17:01] Studies on Walking for Fat Loss

 

Heavey mentions that the effect of walking on fat loss has been unclear in the research. So he did a quick calculation and found that an 180-pound male walking one mile burns 100 calories. For a 120-pound female, she burns about 65 calories. The expenditure may not be as great. Walking a mile is more or less equal to walking for 15 minutes.

 

As Heavey dug more into the research, he found one randomized controlled trial that looked at walking. They compared two groups. One group did an energy deficit, reduced calorie diet. The other group was on the same diet but added with 3 hours of walking per week.

 

They looked at 82 individuals that completed the study. The diet was around 500-800 caloric deficit lower than what they need for the day. And their macro breakdown for the diet were as follows, 25% protein, 35% fat, and 40% carbohydrates. They had monitored intake. These people were overweight or obese, both men and women, aged 25-50, for a period of 12 weeks. Then the researchers measured the daily added energy expenditure on average for the walking group and they found it was about 200 extra calories a day being burned.

 

The result? Both groups lost the same amount of weight, about 8% of their total body mass. This is a pretty good amount. The difference? The walkers lost more fat. On average, they lost 6.4 kilograms of fat over the 12 weeks. While the non-walkers lost 4.8 kilograms. Interestingly, when you’re on a caloric deficit diet, just going out and walking can be something that really helps you save muscle mass.

 

 

[23:23] The Good Things About Walking and Building Small Habits

 

One of the things Grant likes about walking is you can listen to audiobooks or podcasts and then you can zone out that not even notice that you’re exercising. As with Heavey, he doesn’t listen to something. Instead, he takes the time to enjoy his surroundings and observe what’s going on around him. This comes down to doing what you enjoy. Then all of that is better than doing nothing.

 

Heavey notes from the study that the dropout rate is about 10%. When you look at some of the studies that have some more intense protocols, they have a much higher dropout rate.

 

Comparing this to people who buy online courses (not necessarily fitness related), the completion rate for that is 1-2%. The point is people are able to do this. Again, stick with the things that you enjoy and can stick to over time and it’s what’s going to get you the greatest results. At the end of the day, there’s no real technique that can get give you fat loss for a month. It’s all about finding these small habits that you’re going to incorporate into your life and do them forever. That’s how you win.

 

 

[27:14] A Teaser on Next Week’s Article

 

Stay tuned for next week’s article about a study on how long should sex last when they sampled 4,000 men and women.

 

 

[27:14] Other Benefits of Walking

 

Heavey wants to add that it’s just not about the fat loss benefit of walking, but it also has other benefits. It’s been shown to help people with depressive symptoms. It helps with anxiety, insomnia, and post-menopausal women. Walking in natural settings has been shown to help improve both mood and cognition.

 

 

[28:22] Time for Scotch!

 

Grant and Heavey give their take on Highland Park 12. They’ve had this before though but it’s an interesting bottle. It hails from the northernmost whiskey distillery in Scotland, far away from everywhere else that’s making scotch.

 

It has a distinct bottle shape. They have that flavor of some peat without being so overwhelming. It’s core bottling has always been the Highland Park 12. It’s warmer, sweeter, honeyed but still has that peat. The packaging of this bottle says Viking Honour, with a new box, and a new bottle with cool Viking symbols.

 

Heavey likes its taste and thinks this would make a great whiskey for someone that wants to experience peat but not really ready for the heat that comes when they drink the other whiskeys. Grant agrees with Heavey on this. There’s just medium smoke with spiciness on the tongue. There’s sweetness and creaminess to it.

 

What’s interesting is that Highland Park has completely redone their core range. So the old bottling is not available anymore. Grant feels their Origins must have sold so well that they got caught up with this idea to the point that they replaced their core range. He thinks this is going to push away some consumers, making it a good value buy.

 

Nevertheless, the bottle is unique and there’s nothing wrong with it according to Grant. He feels it would be great to show that core that you rest on while you have some things on the side to make it more fun. But as for Highland Park 12, they’re trying to take the fun out and make it part of what they’re all about. They’re probably just embracing its Viking heritage, which makes sense. This differentiates them from the market. But Grant still thinks there are people that care about the purity and history.

 

Additionally, they’ve also added this whole Viking line – all related to different vikings that have no age statements. So they might just be re-envisioning their whole brand. All this being said, there’s no doubt the quality of their flavor remains outstanding.

 

Links:

HealthIQ.com/scotch

@strength_and_scotch

Episode 160: HIIT versus Steady State Cardio for Fat Loss

Episode 157: Fat Loss with Celebrity / Sports Nutritionist Rudy Mawer