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Is walking a legitimate exercise?

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Replies

  • knra_grl
    knra_grl Posts: 1,566 Member
    walking is great exercise

    I also love hiking - we have some great trails here - no mountains though :(
  • verhunzt
    verhunzt Posts: 154 Member
    It depends. Does walking make you get out of breath? If I generally have a lazy day and then go for a 4 mile lazy walk I definitely won't log it as exercise. But if I go get my running shoes on and push myself to walk fast and get a little out of breath - I log it as exercise.
  • RhysMN94
    RhysMN94 Posts: 6 Member
    uh yeah!! walk 4mph on a 5 or 10 incline on the treadmill. The good thing about walking (for me anyways) is you can last much longer than running, aka burn more calories. A 20 minute run for me might burn 250 calories, but walking for an hour on an incline will burn more calories. and it doesnt burn you out later in the day.
    my motto - if your heart rate is up, its exercise
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Yeah, it's exercise...would I really consider it a "workout" these days...probably not, but when I started I could barely walk around the block for 10 minutes without being fatigued.

    Really, it's all relative to your fitness goals. At this point, I train for 1/2 and full centuries and triathlons so walking doesn't really do much for me in RE to my overall fitness these days...but I still enjoy taking the dog out 3-4 days per week for a good three miles just because.
  • likitisplit
    likitisplit Posts: 9,420 Member
    Walking is incredibly important to human health and proper physical functioning. So is squatting.

    http://www.katysays.com/save-your-knees-hiking-tutorial/
  • livinatthegym
    livinatthegym Posts: 81 Member
    short answer: yes! Longer answer: still yes but if you have a lot to lose there are more effective ways to lose weight. Also some form of resistance training to help shape the body is good.
  • loubidy
    loubidy Posts: 440 Member
    Personally I consider myself to have exercised if I have raised my heart rate, worked up a little sweat and had to puff.

    I think exercise is relative. It is relative to the person doing it, depending on your "size" and fitness level simply standing up can be nearly a workout for some.

    So long as your pushing yourself and not finding the easiest way to do it you can burn calories and therefore lose weight.

    Good luck and don't let people put you down!
  • AglaeaC
    AglaeaC Posts: 1,974 Member
    I can't believe nobody has mentioned Nordic walking, it's walking with poles. When you use them, they seem to encourage faster walking somehow.

    In the summer season you put rubber thingies on the end points for smooth contact with the ground, whereas the metal tips are good in winter conditions. They come in different heights so you should make sure to get the proper one.

    I definitely break a decent sweat when doing Nordic walking compared to normal walking and it involves the upper body in a fantastic way.
  • AglaeaC
    AglaeaC Posts: 1,974 Member
    short answer: yes! Longer answer: still yes but if you have a lot to lose there are more effective ways to lose weight. Also some form of resistance training to help shape the body is good.
    A personal trainer, who did a body composition measurement on me once, suggested walking as first choice. He had walked off several tens of kilos that way in addition to strength training and it is much easier on joints compared to running for instance. I don't know what you base the "if you have a lot to lose there are more effective ways" on, because anyone can walk and it's really easy to get into.
  • VoodooSyxx
    VoodooSyxx Posts: 297
    I can't believe nobody has mentioned Nordic walking, it's walking with poles. When you use them, they seem to encourage faster walking somehow.

    In the summer season you put rubber thingies on the end points for smooth contact with the ground, whereas the metal tips are good in winter conditions. They come in different heights so you should make sure to get the proper one.

    I definitely break a decent sweat when doing Nordic walking compared to normal walking and it involves the upper body in a fantastic way.

    Well living in Texas, I now want to go ski-walking down the road in 100 degree heat. If nothing else just for the sideways looks it'll get.
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    Yes, exercise, and I do it very consistently, but is not sufficient alone to reach *my* particular goals.
  • tracydr
    tracydr Posts: 528 Member
    Walking is exercise if you walk without stopping at a reasonable pace. If it's walking the dog or going to the mall and stopping every 2 minutes... no.

    :huh:

    What if I walk my dog without stopping at a reasonable pace?
    I walk my Doberman and papillon twice a day at 3 mph. It comes out to over 200 calories, according to MFP.
  • bethanycopley1980
    bethanycopley1980 Posts: 75 Member
    3 METS at walking 3mph says YES it is indeed an exercise. The better you are at it, the harder you push to get the same benefit.
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member

    Tell me that's not exercise.
    That's not exercise.

    There you go, what you wanted :).

    Not even THAT much walking and you get big rests between each one too!

    Horrendously unprepared (ie I had once run over 10 miles and then only 11 miles) I entered a 32mile trail ultramarathon with 4400ft of climbs as it turned out I was in the area longer than expected and it was a local route.
    That being the case, what's the big deal? :P

    To be fair my average speed actually came out at a fast walk (about 4.2/4.3mph I think), but that included some decent stops and so on - some more for the dog that me, honest!

    In reality - yes, it's exercise. But fairly light exercise that people who aren't too overweight should soon find they reach the point they can pretty much go on for ever. I'd suspect that fitness/health benefits would be a bit limited compared to more strenuous exercise.
    You can lose weight with 'just walking' of course, but you don't NEED walking.
  • Justtrytobreathe
    Justtrytobreathe Posts: 2
    Walking is exercise 100%. It's basic and doesn't require a bunch of classes or expensive videos. Plus, it's good for your heart and depending on where you are physically, talking a nice long walk (regardless of speed) is a great way to kill some time if you'd otherwise just be sitting on your butt the whole time.
  • verhunzt
    verhunzt Posts: 154 Member
    I know some people that log like 250 minutes of walking at 3mph as exercise every day because they walk in college from one class to another, and then they wonder why they aren't losing any weight because they "never go over their calorie goal". :sad:
  • VoodooSyxx
    VoodooSyxx Posts: 297
    Walking is NOT exercise, it is activity. There is a difference.

    OK, I'll be the one to bite the trollbait. What's the difference?
  • airangel59
    airangel59 Posts: 1,887 Member
    It is for me. I walk 3-5 miles a day, tracked with my Fitbit, HRM & RunKeeper.
    Works great to get rid of stress as well. :flowerforyou:
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    I've also had friends say walking isn't exercise. Yeah, at your present fitness level which is probably pretty good. One guy said "Hell, I could walk for days, its so effortless." Oh, yeah? Strap a 50lb bag of potatoes on your back and see if its still effortless.

    My brother and SIL hiked to Machu Picchu with some friends and their adult kids (elders are 60-ish, kids are mid-20's). The runners in the group who thought they were super fit because they ran had problems with the trails and elevation. The walkers in the group had little problem. Yes, this is anecdotal but nobody can convince me that walking is not good exercise (especially because I lost 100 lb by walking and eating healthy before I injured my hip in a fall while walking in the mountains of Nepal)
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
    On the 50lb sack of potatoes - when I was 50lb heavier with less muscle I could walk for days and it was effortless :P.
    Make it 100lb and it'd be pushing it a bit more.

    As for runners from the last post - not the ones where I lived until recently - a particularly hilly part of England and a running club that offered lots of options that went straight over the hills on trails :).

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