Is walking a legitimate exercise?

1…810121314

Replies

  • CorvusCorax77
    CorvusCorax77 Posts: 2,536 Member
    i haven't read all the comments on here so i don't know if this has been mentioned, but walking at a brisk pace actually burns more fat that running, as you burn the most fat when your heart rate is under 65% its maximum rate (you find your maximum heart rate by taking your age from 220) i walk around 3 hours a day at least 3 days a week and honestly i feel great! I've lost loads of weight as well as inches actually!!

    I read that somewhere too and as I mentioned in my post I lost more weight walking at a brisk pace than I did working out at the gym, this usually includes running on the treadmill. According to MFP/the machines I burn more cals at the gym but in reality lost more weight walking.

    I'm with you both! Also read an article here in Italy that brisk walking, and swimming are the best ways to tone up celulite. It's worked for me.

    er, wot?

    Tone up cellulite?

    Cellulite is a type of fat deposit and can't be "toned". Eye don unnastahnd ewe!

    "walking burns more than running"

    I call BS on that. Unless you are talking about equal distance (not equal time) in which case, if you are power walking without any bouncey bounce, I think it's possible. But in terms of time (which is what we are mostly limited by if we are employed and parental units), running burns more per hour. No question.
  • CorvusCorax77
    CorvusCorax77 Posts: 2,536 Member
    But eating is exercise?
    And I'll get more out of a run than a hike.
    And more out of weights set and maybe some interval training than a steady state run.

    YOU AREN'T EXERCISING UNLESS YOU ARE EUROTRAINING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    In for Ravens.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    i haven't read all the comments on here so i don't know if this has been mentioned, but walking at a brisk pace actually burns more fat that running, as you burn the most fat when your heart rate is under 65% its maximum rate (you find your maximum heart rate by taking your age from 220) i walk around 3 hours a day at least 3 days a week and honestly i feel great! I've lost loads of weight as well as inches actually!!

    I read that somewhere too and as I mentioned in my post I lost more weight walking at a brisk pace than I did working out at the gym, this usually includes running on the treadmill. According to MFP/the machines I burn more cals at the gym but in reality lost more weight walking.

    I'm with you both! Also read an article here in Italy that brisk walking, and swimming are the best ways to tone up celulite. It's worked for me.

    er, wot?

    Tone up cellulite?

    Cellulite is a type of fat deposit and can't be "toned". Eye don unnastahnd ewe!

    Yes, that's what I read in an Italian newspaper in an article on the best way to eliminate celulite or at least better it's aspects. The doctor writing the article stated that genics play a big part, as well as diet. Laser is an option, as is massage---although you can worsen the situation with an overly strong massage since cellulite is also inflamation. Best results were with swimming and brisk walking. I'm going from memory since I read it 3 weeks ago in a waiting room (so don't have the article myself to rereference). Since I both swim and do alot of brisk walking and have seen great results with my celulite (which any woman can tell you is close to impossible to get rid of), I was very interested and pleased to see that I had gotten it right. By the way I do know celulite is a fat deposit. Have you dealt with it personally yourself? I'd be interested to hear how you got rid of yours. :smile:
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member

    Yes, that's what I read in an Italian newspaper in an article on the best way to eliminate celulite or at least better it's aspects. The doctor writing the article stated that genics play a big part, as well as diet. Laser is an option, as is massage---although you can worsen the situation with an overly strong massage since cellulite is also inflamation. Best results were with swimming and brisk walking. I'm going from memory since I read it 3 weeks ago in a waiting room (so don't have the article myself to rereference). Since I both swim and do alot of brisk walking and have seen great results with my celulite (which any woman can tell you is close to impossible to get rid of), I was very interested and pleased to see that I had gotten it right. By the way I do know celulite is a fat deposit. Have you dealt with it personally yourself? I'd be interested to hear how you got rid of yours. :smile:

    Being a fat deposit, those exercises don't and can't spot reduce it, you know that right? If the doctor was claiming that, then he's simply a charlatan. Now, losing weight will impact the size and magnitude of the cellulite, so anything you do for that is great. Since diet is a major contributor to bodyfat %, that's a correct statement, that diet plays a part. I know a few ironman triathletes, great women, put in a lot of hard work, but have those cellulite dimples, it's a genetic predisposition and it sucks.

    Swimming is a great exercise, and the overall impact of it in your life can't be overstated. It won't blast cellulite though, but it will support a proper diet to reducing the size of the cellulite you do have.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^ Diet is first and foremost of course---but then? As you've said yourself you know women in shape that have trouble bettering the look of it. Since I have been able to without doing triathalons, I just thought I'd mention it. Best :smile:
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^ Diet is first and foremost of course---but then? As you've said yourself you know women in shape that have trouble bettering the look of it. Since I have been able to without doing triathalons, I just thought I'd mention it. Best :smile:

    Uh. Nope. I guess you don't know what a triathlon is?

    Getting rid of cellulite is 100% diet, and 100% not relevant to the OP's question.

    I award you no points, and may god have mercy on your soul.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    We were talking about briskwalking being an exercise, were we not? It is an exercise. My soul is just fine thanks, and as for points--don't need any. Good luck to you. Best :smile:
  • chi2teach
    chi2teach Posts: 29 Member
    At a decent speed (4 mi/hr), it definitely is. Not sure I'd count walking the dog, unless it's at a good brisk pace. I wouldn't count a stroll or < mile. My dietitian says "It all counts".
  • sus49
    sus49 Posts: 94 Member
    LOL Actually house cleaning IS listed as exercise. Look up Cleaning in the database
  • travlingchick49
    travlingchick49 Posts: 1
    A brisk, 30 minute walk 6 days per week is good exercise.
  • perseverance14
    perseverance14 Posts: 1,364 Member
    It is a very low level exercise unless you speed walk walk very long distances and a brisk pace, or use Nordic walking poles or something like that, but it is an exercise,

    Any exercise is better than sedentary, but I would not count on it to get you toned, but it will still help your heart and overall fitness if you do a lot of it.
  • CA_Underdog
    CA_Underdog Posts: 733 Member
    LOL Actually house cleaning IS listed as exercise. Look up Cleaning in the database

    Yup! House ceaning also gets my heat rate up better than walking.

    It makes total sense--"doing the laundry" involves a weighted farmer's walk (to bring the clothes bin to the laundry room and then to the bedrooms), walking (to bring the clothes from the floor to the bin and from the bin to the closet), and lots of bending (to pick up things) and shoulder raises (to put away things).
  • cadaver0usb0nes
    cadaver0usb0nes Posts: 151 Member
    If you are just getting started than walking definitely is exercise. Anything besides sitting on your *kitten* all day is exercise technically. After you start to get into better shape you should incorporate more exercises in besides just walking.
  • Cherylllyn
    Cherylllyn Posts: 114 Member
    Yes walking is a workout. It's easier on your joints then jogging/running.
  • DeterminedFee201426
    DeterminedFee201426 Posts: 859 Member
    personally walking never got me in shape fully just my legs ... i would'nt consider it a great workout but its a start
  • birkona
    birkona Posts: 24
    My friend is considered to be obese and so it's difficult for her to do intense workouts. She walks for 1 hour everyday after dinner and she lost 20 pounds the first month (with a clean diet as well.) So yes, walking is considered to be a great exercise. But it also helps to increase the speed and length that you walk for a maximum capacity.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    LOL Actually house cleaning IS listed as exercise. Look up Cleaning in the database

    Wow! Thanks, I was looking for it one time out of curiousity, since I do alot of housecleaning. Good to know.
  • DeterminedFee201426
    DeterminedFee201426 Posts: 859 Member
    It is a very low level exercise unless you speed walk walk very long distances and a brisk pace, or use Nordic walking poles or something like that, but it is an exercise,

    Any exercise is better than sedentary, but I would not count on it to get you toned, but it will still help your heart and overall fitness if you do a lot of it.
    this .. was my point here
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    This content has been removed.
  • Mandroll
    Mandroll Posts: 1
    I lost my first 100 pounds just walking 1 hour a day... with pretty much only small changes to my diet...

    It really depends what you're trying to achieve... say losing weight? its great if you're walking fast enough to get your cardio going. But if you're already pretty much in shape, you're gonna have a LOT more walking to do than a 350 pound person to get the same "weight loss" results...pretty much just like everything else.
  • joannaphipps00
    joannaphipps00 Posts: 21 Member
    I walk about 2.5 miles per day as part of my exercise plan. Right now at an average pace of 2.5 mph I burn about 300 Calories per day simply walking. My distance is about 1.25 miles and I try to do that twice a day.

    I don't care what others say and heck I even count the times that I walk around places like Costco and Walmart. I use a walker mainly for balance and you should see the look on the faces of some when I hit the local track, I average 2.5 to 3 MPH with water and rest breaks. The kids don't make comments they just stay out of my way.
  • Dewines
    Dewines Posts: 6 Member
    Covering 1 mile on the flat whether by walking, jogging or fast running burns approximately 100 calories. The actual amount burnt varies a little depending on circumstances, thus a sprinter would burn a little more than a slow walker, a very heavy person would burn a bit more than a very light person. However, 100 calories per mile is a useful rule of thumb. I actually find, when comparing with my heart rate monitor data, MFP tends to underestimate calorie burn for walking.
  • SlightFigureOfSpeech
    SlightFigureOfSpeech Posts: 5 Member
    I don't care what others say and heck I even count the times that I walk around places like Costco and Walmart.
    This! I got a FitBit this year to track my steps, and try to get at least 10,000 steps in a day. If I know I have a lot of errands to run in the evening & won't have time for jogging or the gym, I make sure to walk around extra at work or when I'm at the store to reach my step goal. Not always great for my wallet because it means browsing even more cool stuff in the store but oh well :)
  • bluebird321
    bluebird321 Posts: 733 Member
    Great exercise, but especially if you are just starting out and don't want to "overdo" it. It does burn fat and is relatively very gentle on the body.
  • andylowry
    andylowry Posts: 89
    I burned a thousand calories this morning with a walk. It did involve a mountain that was in the way, and took three and a half hours, but hey-- I count that as exercise.
  • FatOldBat
    FatOldBat Posts: 3,307 Member
    :laugh:
  • conqueringsquidlette
    conqueringsquidlette Posts: 383 Member
    My heart absolutely gets high enough for walking to be aerobic. Heck, one of those "walk at home" videos of Leslie Sansone's gets me up to the 150s.

    For somebody that's in awesome shape whose heart doesn't budge at all when they walk, maybe it wouldn't do so much for their CV health (without lots of hills or distance, anyway)..... but for where I am, it's the BEST I can do!
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    Heck, one of those "walk at home" videos of Leslie Sansone's gets me up to the 150s.

    That's not being "aerobic', that's being in very poor physical condition.

    As a gateway to more meaningful exercise and as a way to keep from sitting around all day, walking has value, but in general that value is highly over-estimated by MFPers. In terms of creating a deficit, you're only burning 35 calories per 100 pounds of bodyweight per mile.

    Those doing 3+ hour hikes across terrain (which I love) are of course in a separate category again.
  • sculli123
    sculli123 Posts: 1,221 Member
    Walking is one of the best exercises.

Categories