Walking isn't exercise- change my mind
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Anonymous
How fast is this fast? |
Anonymous
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Walking is fine for warming your joints and getting your blood moving some, but it isn't great cardiovascular exercise. You need something higher to get your heart rate up, and your lungs working harder.
One of my favorite exercises however, is walking/hiking uphill on the treadmill. If you do it right (NO HANDS) and add in some serious inclines (AGAIN DO NOT PUT YOUR HANDS ON THE MACHINE) is can be great cardio exercise while also challenging your legs, butt, and core. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
PP and I typically walk on my treadmill at a 3.8 - 4 mph pace so I can complete 3 miles in 45 minutes. |
Anonymous
| I was in the best shape of my life when I lived in a big, walkable city and covered 10 miles a day just in daily activity. Walking commute, walking social activities, walking errands. I never stepped foot in a gym. Carrying groceries and schoolbooks was plenty enough weight training. My fitness tanked when I moved to a car-dependent city. No amount of spin classes or a 30-minute run can make up for having movement infused into your entire day. |
Anonymous
Sure, everyday strolling isn't traditional exercise. It is movement and would be better than sitting on the couch for a large segment of the population. Sometimes it can be the first step to more intense and regular exercise. However, if you rarely see walkers that are fit, you haven't seen the blond guy who has been walking all over Montgomery County for years. This is a DCUM thread about him (he also has a Facebook page dedicated to him called The Walking Man): https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/307978.page |
Anonymous
It’s good for joints only if you a) don’t overextend yourself, which is really easy to do because you can’t know when your joints have had enough like you can with your heart b) you wear good shoes c) you take rest days d) you have good form e) you run on good surfaces. I choose walking thank you very much. |
Anonymous
If you do a strength program, you will quickly get much stronger than you were from carrying groceries. One hour a day, three days a week, and you will hit benchmarks that you'll never get from the kind of movement that was naturally part of your day. No woman gets her first chin-up from schlepping around a backpack. |
Anonymous
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I few years ago I went to France and Italy with my husband. We ate all the carbs and fats you can imagine. But we walked 15 miles + per day. I kid you not, at the end of my VERY indulgent vacation, I LOST weight.
Walking is the best! |
Anonymous
| Hills. I lost the 40+ pounds I gained with each of my 3 pregnancies by pushing a stroller up and down the steep hills in my NWDC neighborhood. I was not walking fast, but those hills were tough! |
Anonymous
This isn't necessarily true. I'm a fit person (triathlete, endurance runner). I started walking for my mental health during the pandemic and have actually noticed a big difference (shaved off that last 5 lbs over the span of 9 months without trying). I'm burning an extra ~500 calories per day walking (8-10km), and it's low intensity enough that I'm not starving and tired the way running an extra 10km per day would make me. OP, walking burns plenty of calories. It depends on weight and speed, but I burn about 75% of the calories per mile compared to running - it's nothing to scoff at. Your HR doesn't get as high, but it's absolutely burning calories and conferring many of the same benefits as other forms of exercise. But also just... stop judging people who are getting out there and trying to improve their health? You're wrong and rude. |
Anonymous
People who care about functional fitness don't care about chin-ups. They want to be able to schlep groceries and walk all day without it taking a toll. You do you, spend an hour a day three days a week on a strength program. Others will do themselves (awkward phrasing alert lol) and organize their lives so that they can remain active throughout the day. |
Anonymous
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There is ample evidence out there that the amount of hard workout you need to do is pretty small. I follow Mark Sisson, and here are his keys to longevity and health:
1) Eat Plants and Animals 2) Avoid Poisonous Things 3) Move Frequently 4) Lift Heavy Things 5) Sprint Once in a While 6) Get Plenty of Sleep 7) Play 8) Get Plenty of Sunlight 9) Avoid Stupid Mistakes 10) Use Your Brain Moving frequently could include walking, and it definitely depends on your age and fitness level, but also could be a slow run. This is what humans do most of the time. Sprinting is also beneficial, but all the evidence on HIIT shows that this can be of very short duration, and very few repetitions done pretty infrequently. 4-10 sprints of 10 seconds might be all you need in a week. I used to believe I needed more cardio, and ran almost every day until I got unremitting plantar fasciitis. I finally stopped. I mourned giving up running, but decided hiking and walking were things I wanted to be able to do for the rest of my life, and I wasn't giving them up to be able to run. I walk 5 miles a day or bike 10, lift weights (probably once a week) and do yoga. In any case, as other posters have noted, I actually feel in better shape, at a better weight, and less stressed with this routine. I don't think you need to be sweating for hours a week to be in optimal shape. |
Anonymous
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I was pregnant during the pandemic and given that I hate running, I opted for walking as my exercise. I was easily doing 45-75 min walks (I love them so much) and at 40 weeks was doing anywhere from 17.5 to 18.5 minute miles.
The month after I delivered my RHR went down to 59 BPM per my Apple Watch. I do spin now too, but I consider walking to be part of my regimen. |
Anonymous
But she didn't organize her life for that - she moved to a car-dependent city, her fitness levels went down, and she didn't believe she could remedy that via exercise. I'm saying you definitely can, and you can in fact far surpass what you are able to get via daily movement. And it will also improve your functioning when you do need to carry groceries/help a friend move/etc. |