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Working on whittling down your waistline? It may be easier than you think - modified walking can help you take inches off your waistline, slim your tummy and drop excess pounds in no time.

If you walk four to six times a week for six weeks and incorporate one of these modifications - hills, plyometrics and/or intervals - you'll be amazed at the results. This article on CNN Health defines all three modifications and gives you practical applications for each. Three women featured in the article each lost between 36 and 50 pounds using these three walking mods.

"I look and feel great because of walking," says Virginia Cox, who lost 45 pounds in 6 months walking intervals. "Plus, I now fit into the jeans that I wore when I was in my 20s." An unexpected bonus: She's sleeping much better, too.



Plyometrics: Skipping, jumping, or bounding moves are all plyometric modifications. Add them to your walking routine and burn twice as many calories and lose more belly fat. Warm up by walking at a moderate pace for 15 - 20 minutes and then add a series of squat jumps and traveling lateral squats (sideways squats) before walking normally again. Repeat.

"These moves vary the walking pattern your body has grown accustomed to, so you engage different muscle fibers," says Joy Prouty, veteran Florida-based trainer and American College of Sports Medicine-certified health-fitness director. "And that helps shape and define your body."

Hills: If you walk on hilly terrain, you can effectively triple the number of calories you burn. Really, it's that easy. Start off by replacing 25% of your flat walking routine with uphill terrain and you'll notice a difference right away. Add 10% more hills each week and watch that belly melt away.

Robyn Kammerer dropped 50 post-pregnancy pounds in four months by eating healthier and walking every day on the hills near her home. "If I'm out of breath at the top of one of these killer hills," she says, "I remind myself that I can now wear skirts that haven't fit in years."

Intervals: Nothing blasts fat quite like interval training. Add bursts of speed to your walking routine and burn twice the calories. It's easy, too, and great for your heart and blood pressure. Simply add one-minute speed walking bursts to your routine at regular intervals. For example, after you warm up for 10 minutes or so, add 10 one-minute speed walk "sprints" with two minute recoveries in between. (For an extra boost, consider running the intervals and walking in between.)

"I look and feel great because of walking," says Virginia Cox, who lost 45 pounds in 4 months with intervals. "Plus, I now fit into the jeans that I wore when I was in my 20s."

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