Is walking a legitimate exercise?

shanaber

So, because I'm a giant nerd, I have honestly been searching for any evidence to support this claim you've made of HR/calorie burn not being correlated. I can't find any.... but I did find this.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15966347

"Based on these results, we conclude that it is possible to estimate physical activity energy expenditure from heart rate in a group of individuals with a great deal of accuracy, after adjusting for age, gender, body mass and fitness."

r=0.857 without VO2 max accounted for
r=0.913 with VO2 max accounted for

That's some pretty strong correlation.

Wish there was a like button!
I think ANYTHING that gets you up and moving, especially outside in the fresh air, is good for you. It may not however, be the caloric burn or provide the results you are looking for. I walked for many years, miles everyday, and lost very little. When I started running I started slowly, walk a few blocks run a block and increased the running amount over time. Then I started losing weight. But - my heart rate is normally very low and I needed to elevate it to begin to lose. Not my conjecture but what my doctor recommended.
Note I hated running before I started and wondered if I could ever keep it up. Now 3 years later I run 5 days a week and go on a really long walk with a friend and our dogs one day a week.

snowflake954

my 2 cents... IF you weigh 300 lbs... there's a reason why THAT is hard to do... YOU are carrying a lot of extra weight Captain obvious right? BUT if you are a marathon runner and have like 10% BF... chances are a walk is NOT much of a challenge...

SO visit your definition of "exercise" BY MY definition... exercise is any physical activity that challenges you to exceed your body's capacity to DO that activity...

SO a 300 lb person can be challenged to walk a flight of stairs... and that's exercise... where a marathon runner might load up a weight vest with an extra 60 lbs and "do" 10 flights of stairs to be challenged...

in the same breath I would dare anyone "in shape" and at a healthy BMI .. to pack on enough weight to weigh 300 lbs.. then go for a walk and say that it wasn't exercise.

Exactly this.

In addition, it can obviously start out as a good exercise, but it will become not an exercise, and if you lose and weight and don't increase the pace or the weight carried (not the duration), then it is actually LESS of a workout for you.

Not only are you burning less calories moving less weight, it is no longer an effort for your heart or your muscles.

It would no longer be an exercise for you.

Oh sure, it'll still burn calories, but it's no longer putting a load on your system that even requires the body to maintain it's fitness level even.

If - IF - IF - you lose weight and don't increase the pace or intensity somehow.

This is true of any exercise

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lifting, squats, running, etc, etc. Once your body gets used to the status quo, and you lose weight, you have to up the effort. This does not mean these activities are not exercises. Therefore, I vote walking is an exercise. :drinker:

pinkraynedropjacki

I'm aiming for 75,000 steps today. That is an average of 5555 steps per hour in the time frame I want it. 12 hours I have to do just over 62,000 steps.


I would say that is legit exercise. No treadmill so I am using my own body for this. Whoever said walking is not legit never saw this 59kg (129lb) 5'4" woman going full pelt to this goal. It's Winter, it's cold inside & I am dripping with sweat.


Meh... not exercise huh? Tell that to my thighs, my *kitten* & my feet. Tell that to my core that's lifting the legs. Tell that to my pedometer that is going WTF woman slow down before you pass out.

cottonta1l

IMO walking is perfectly fine for exercise. It burns calories so obviously will help you to lose weight and it benefits your health in many ways. It's good for the mind too which is so important. I would pair it with strength training though!

pinkraynedropjacki

I walked over 53km yesterday, 65500 steps in 11 hours. Nah not exercise at all. I stopped at 65k cause my stomach was aching kinda badly and that was the only thing that stopped me. Totally not exercise at all. I walked more than a marathon in 11 hours the whole time with sweat dripping from me. Sweat is no indication of a workout I know that cause I sweat in my sleep, but it was kinda freezing outside & I did not have the heater on in the house at all.... so I was kinda going for it. Totally not exercise.

My *kitten* feels like it's been doing squats for 24 hours, my legs are impressively not sore at all...my body feels great, even my core knows I got it working as well. Totally not exercise though. I just beat my own personal record of 60k in less time than it took me a year ago.

But it's totally not exercise........ to some. To those who could not do it. To those who would do ONE workout a day or every 2nd day and then nothing more.

I do this daily. I do half this every single day, when sick, when injured & without a rest day. For fun, for the ability to move & because it IS exercise. Would you rather people sit on the couch so YOU can feel better about it?

IMO walking is perfectly fine for exercise. It burns calories so obviously will help you to lose weight and it benefits your health in many ways. It's good for the mind too which is so important. I would pair it with strength training though!

Not everyone can do strength training. Not everyone can do what walkers do.

MzNurse6870

I love walking. I do it 3x a day

sculli123

Walked for 4 hours today. Definitely got a workout.

itsbasschick

a few months ago, in poor condition, i started walking 30 minutes a day - not all that fast, but walking. my weight started going down without changing my eating at all or doing anything else.

yes, walking is an exercise.