YouTuber Jack Massey Walsh revealed he had managed to walk 250,000 steps in a week and noticed some surprising changes to his body – so we spoke to two experts on whether this is a safe way to lose weight
A man has revealed he managed to walk a whopping 250,000 steps in a week, averaging around 37,700 a day, but is this something we should really try to achieve?
British YouTuber Jack Massey Welsh said he saw his belly fat ‘shrink’ as well as his arms while also building leg muscle as he took on the extreme walking challenge.
By walking 17 miles a day – more than a half marathon distance, Jack walked ten times more than the average person does a day (3,000-4,000) and over three times the recommended 10,000 a day. We spoke to two experts about whether upping your steps to the extreme is the way forward.
GP Dr Deepali Misra-Sharp told The Mirror that while this is an impressive distance to walk, it’s not recommended for everyone. She explained: “Walking 250,000 steps a week, circa 37,000 a day, is quite extreme and should only be tried by those who are fit. I would advise that the risks are likely to outweigh the potential benefits at such an extreme count unless someone has prepared for it, as you do for a marathon and done sensibly.”
Jack documented his journey in a video that’s been watched over 1.5 million times, as he shared the honest reality. Detailing the gruelling impact of the mission, he said he endured seriously painful feet, swollen ankles and a black toenail in the aftermath. However, he described it as “an amazing feeling of accomplishment” and said it was worth it for the experience alone.
On the first day, he started with a 15,500 step two-hour walk in the morning, followed by a 14,000 step walk and then a ‘small’ walk with his dog in the evening. While he admitted it was tough after the first day, he said he got himself into a good rhythm after tweaking his routine and shared: “I am tired, but I am fine. It’s just one step in front of the other.”
But as time went on, Jack noted that each day was getting harder, and on day five, he needed to take some painkillers to help the pain in his feet – covered in blisters and a swollen ankle. But as he managed to complete the gruelling task, it was all worth it for the extreme challenge setter as he noticed huge changes to his body.
Comparing his before-and-after photos, Jack said, “I seem to be narrower than when I first started, which I didn’t really expect. Does this mean I’ve lost a bit of muscle mass, maybe?” He revealed he had dropped 2 lbs (0.9kg) over the week. His arms and torso had shrunk, while his thighs grew 0.5cm.
“I wasn’t expecting to be able to see any difference, so this is really surprising,” he said. However, he wouldn’t recommend the challenge. “Do I recommend walking 250,000 steps in a week? Absolutely not. My joints just couldn’t keep up. It’s two days later and I’m still waiting for the swelling around my ankles to reduce.”
Professor Lindsay Bottoms also told the Mirror that while doing this many steps a day can help to lose weight, she also wouldn’t recommend it. She said: “As much as we want to be active and try and do as many steps as we can, we can do too much. The news about Mr Welsh, who suddenly walked 37,000 steps a day for a week, can highlight some of the issues this can bring.
“If you aren’t used to doing that volume of steps and then suddenly start doing them, you can cause over-training symptoms. It can reduce your immune system and make you more susceptible to colds and flu viruses. Moderate physical activity improves your immune system, but if you do too much it suppresses it.”
The expert added that it can make your resting heart rate higher, which may make it harder to sleep and develop more anxiety. As for the swelling, she said this can occur “as blood can end up pooling in your legs”. She concluded: “Although you may burn lots of calories and start to burn fat and lose weight, you can develop a lot of other problems along the way if you suddenly increase your step count considerably.”
So for those who are looking to lose weight safely, Lindsay recommends cutting down calorie intake within reason and increasing the amount of steps you do each week. “Look to increase about 500 steps a week rather than a massive increase, and doing some muscle strengthening exercise such as pilates can help with increasing weight loss. If you increase your muscle mass, then you will burn more calories at rest.”
The NHS recommends walking as a good way for daily exercise. It suggests “a brisk 10-minute daily walk has lots of health benefits and counts towards your 150 minutes of weekly exercise, as recommended in the physical activity.”
A brisk walk is about 3 miles an hour, which is faster than a stroll and you can tell you’re walking briskly if you can still talk but can’t sing the words to a song.
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