Is walking 30 minutes a day really benefical?

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  • flatlndr
    flatlndr Posts: 713 Member
    edited December 2014
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    It's about 200 cals burned better than sitting on the couch watching TV!

    My first 3 months involved walking at least 30 mins, twice a day. From there, as I lost weight and got more fit, my activity grew, which meant I lost more weight and got more fit ... a nice self-reinforcing pattern.

    ETA: Just caught up with the rest of the thread. "Is it the best?" is irrelevant. It is great, it is easy to do ... put on shoes and head out the door ... and you can choose to keep at walking - improving it with greater distance and/or pace - or you can supplement it with other activities. I started out with just walking, because knee issues and weight limited me from doing anything else. I still walk - did a 2 hour hike yesterday, and I walk around town rather than drive as much as possible - but I also now go to the gym and use the elliptical and hit the weights ... because walking enabled me to get to the next level. If you want to see my whole story go read this.

    The "best" exercises are the ones you do, and just about any exercise is better than no exercise.
  • Folmarv
    Folmarv Posts: 16 Member
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    That's how I got started! 30 minute walk every weekdays, and I lost over 50 lbs just doing that. Of course, you'll have to watch our calorie intake, too.
  • ThePoeToaster
    ThePoeToaster Posts: 1,681 Member
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    Hell yes, walking 30 minutes is good for you. Try this. Go to the gym and hop on a treadmill. Set the incline for 10%. Now walk. Watch how many calories you can burn in just 30 minutes! By the way, use a heart rate monitor for all your cardio work. It takes the guess work out of the picture.
  • KimofTas
    KimofTas Posts: 48 Member
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    Yep, do it. Up until 5 weeks ago I hadn't exercised in over 6 years (at all!) and when I started using MFP I was determined to "do this thing" and do it without delay. I had delayed and procrastinated so much before.

    Anyhow, I was UNfit so I just walked half an hour, slowly, like an afternoon stroll to check out the neighbourhood. Very low key, no stress to blow me out of this exercise thing straight away.

    From there, I just tricked my mind as above for a week or so that I was just going for a gentle stroll (every day) until I could manage more and more each week.

    Today I have just finished walking a total of 14kms (8.7 miles) throughout the course of the day in 4 separate lots (to save my bad knee). I like to see how many kms I can walk and how many cals I can burn in a whole day and today's challenge was to burn more calories than my food "budget" (1240) ... I burned 1997 cals over 14 kms (8.7 miles) in 3 hrs total and I STILL walk slower than most.

    Do it :) It's good for your mental health to just get started.
  • granturismo
    granturismo Posts: 232 Member
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    I attend college full time, hoping to major in Physical Therapy and minor in Exercise Physiology.


    Above is from the OPs profile, something's amiss here.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    granturismo wrote: »
    I attend college full time, hoping to major in Physical Therapy and minor in Exercise Physiology.


    Above is from the OPs profile, something's amiss here.
    "Hoping to." He might be in his first semester taking just general studies.

  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,160 Member
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    Just walking a quart of a mile daily down and up a steep hill means I no longer look for a power chair at Lowes or Wal-Mart. Now I can walk a mile OK which was impossible not too long ago.

    When one gets older walking and keeping down the weight it a good way to stay out of a nursing home. I have friends that had to go to nursing homes just because they were too heavy for family to manage at home.

    Walking is key to a healthy life in my case.
  • jrline
    jrline Posts: 2,353 Member
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    yes that is what I started out doing and lost about 40lbs on my way to losing over 100lbs

  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    The body adapting is a good thing!

    I completed a 21 day challenge last January, 40 minutes treadmill a day. Didn't lose any weight. But shortly afterwards, I had to run all over a hospital to find my dad's room, and my little legs just knew what to do! I'd gained stamina and mobility. I won't trade that up any day soon.

    Since then I've gone on two 5K walks and I am now running (Learn to Run, C25K).
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    https://www.thebmc.co.uk/six-surprising-scientific-facts-about-walking
  • hamoncan
    hamoncan Posts: 148 Member
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    I have a hard time considering someone active if they aren't taking at least 10,000 steps per day but I have a bit of a walking bias.
  • JoKnowsJo
    JoKnowsJo Posts: 257 Member
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    hamoncan wrote: »
    I have a hard time considering someone active if they aren't taking at least 10,000 steps per day but I have a bit of a walking bias.

    I have been told by a couple of the PT's at my gym, they prefer you to increase every 2 to 3 months, (switch your body up) say the 10K is just a base after about 3 months you should aim for 10, 500 then graduate up, to 11K then 11,500 until you can stay at 12K a day. Well to that, I am pretty happy with myself, if I can do a whole week, per day at 10 to 11K. The base being somewhere between 4.50 miles to 5.50 miles a day, do the best you can. :)

  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    I say inch (walk) up to your new norm. A ten minute-a-day walker can likely hardly imagine hitting 10,000. But once you're there it feels easy.

    http://www.ted.com/talks/emily_balcetis_why_some_people_find_exercise_harder_than_others
  • HappilyRubina
    HappilyRubina Posts: 206 Member
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    When I first started losing weight, the only activity I was comfortable with was walking. I walked for 25-30 minutes everyday as fast as I could. Slowly it started getting longer. And I kept getting lighter. My skin tone cleared. My focus and concentration improved. My digestion got way better. Slowly I started getting into other activities like Aerobics, Circuit training etc. But even today, walking is my first love when it comes to exercising.
    Without questioning the benefits, just do it!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    theskyrimjedi wrote: »
    Just to clarify, I asked because I wanted to know is it really the best method to stay fit? Won't the body adapt?

    It's good exercise...but really, what is "best" for your fitness is going to be highly dependent on your fitness goals and aspirations. Walking is good, general exercise...but it's not going to help you run a marathon for example.
  • MoiAussi93
    MoiAussi93 Posts: 1,948 Member
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    It is beneficial to general cardiovascular health. However, for weight loss the body will quickly adapt. In order to have it help you lose weight, you need to gradually increase the intensity. Start by walking slowly, then increase speed or walk hills, then increase speed even more or walk steeper hills, then start adding in some intervals of jogging (it can just be 30 seconds at a time, followed by walking however long you need to recover), then more jogging or faster jogging, etc.

    I have had this problem in the past. Whatever I do to start works for a while, then I just stop losing weight. But now when that happens I ramp up the intensity and start losing again because my body has become more efficient and what I was doing is no longer a challenge for it. I have found high intensity intervals VERY effective...and you need to spend less time working out.

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