Walking Beats Cardio for Fat Loss

If your goal is fat loss, the highest-leverage cardiovascular tool you have is not running, cycling, or HIIT. It is walking, and the eight to twelve thousand steps your phone is already counting.

Non-exercise activity thermogenesis, or NEAT, is the energy you spend on movement that is not formal training. It is also the variable most likely to crash when you start a diet, because your body unconsciously moves less to conserve energy. Defending your step count is how you defend your deficit.

The other reason to favor walking is that it does not interfere with the strength training that preserves your muscle in a cut. Long, hard runs, especially on lifting days, tax the same recovery resources your lifts need. Save high-intensity cardio for fitness goals. For fat loss, walk more, and more often.