Is walking a legitimate exercise?

geebusuk

So, if there is a form of exercise that is "better" than another form that disqualifies it as being exercise at all?

Indeed; right back at you!

So; eating is exercise?

BinaryPulsar

So, if there is a form of exercise that is "better" than another form that disqualifies it as being exercise at all?

Indeed; right back at you!

So; eating is exercise?

I don't think it is. Do you?

acstansell

Yes, walking counts. It's how I lost my weight and continue to maintain.

If you're just starting it's one of the better things for you as it's not as hard on your joints has running.

If your build up a nice pace and mileage, then you'll be fine, when coupled with watching your calorie count.

I walked almost 2.5 miles today and gained back about 300 calories.

cheryl3660

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.

THIS IS SO TRUE!

Even if walking is not strenuous for you, it is still exercise. I've read a lot of reports lately that state even the littlest bit of extra walking is beneficial. Will you get a ripped 6 pack and chiseled arms from walking? Probably not. But that doesn't disqualify it as a legitimate form of exercise. There are all forms and variety of exercise and health benefits from them. Walking is one of the best and most underrated of them all!

BigVeggieDream

I sure hope the 98 miles I walked last month was an exercise, or I sure wasted a lot of time!

geebusuk

I don't think it is. Do you?

I think I've stated I consider the whole concept of this thread a bit silly because I don't think it's an appropriate topic to have a line drawn for.

You believe the line should be drawn somewhere between 'eating' and 'waling' it would seem.

Is anything less strenuous than walking excluded?

What about if it's a serious eating attempt?

My best so far is 3.7lb of pizza in 40 minutes. Bet a good few calories were burnt for that.
Infact, it's possible it wasn't TOO far off the 1000 calories that the user above burnt walking 11 miles

BinaryPulsar

I don't think it is. Do you?

I think I've stated I consider the whole concept of this thread a bit silly because I don't think it's an appropriate topic to have a line drawn for.

You believe the line should be drawn somewhere between 'eating' and 'waling' it would seem.

Is anything less strenuous than walking excluded?

What about if it's a serious eating attempt?

My best so far is 3.7lb of pizza in 40 minutes. Bet a good few calories were burnt for that.
Infact, it's possible it wasn't TOO far off the 1000 calories that the user above burnt walking 11 miles

Maybe for your goals (along with your other activities), that contributed to your physical fitness.

SunofaBeach14

I'm sick and tired of people saying "walking won't get you in shape", and "that's not exercise". What's your view on this subject? I walked two miles today. Was that exercise?

Did you push yourself? For some people walking two miles is work. For others it's not. I don't call it exercise for me. For you it may be. It depends.

^ I'm quoting myself because the current debate seems silly to me. The answer is "it depends." Push yourself. If pushing yourself means walking from your car to the front door then do it. If pushing yourself means running marathons then do that. Just don't make excuses and make sure you push yourself.

SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish

Who cares what some say, ignore them. Someone somewhere will always not like some part of almost anything and everything you do. Someone will always be mis-informed and quote misinformation too, doesn't matter that their mouth is moving or their fingers are typing. The important part is: 150 minutes/week of any moderate exercise, including walking, gardening, etc. decreases your chances for a whole host of diseases including diabetes and heart disease. That's all you really need to know to do it right? Also, anything you can do to tip the caloric balance to negative helps you lose right? I lost 50lbs doing lifting, hiking and walking, but if you look closer at what happens, I tend to eat back most if not all my lifting and hiking calories because they also elevate my appetite, but its walking that essentially tips the balance to caloric deficit and weight loss. Does someone want to "not count" my walking? Why would I care? They could call it anything they'd like, it makes no difference to me, or to anyone else, but themselves.

There is, however, a line somewhere below walking, somewhere below walking at a speed to increase your heart rate significantly for 15 or so minutes at a time that does qualify it for exercise to reduce disease, as long as you do 150mins of it/wk. Whenever geebusuks or others say that it doesn't count, it really doesn't matter except to them, only matters to you if you let it. Go for a walk, I am

janer4jc

I sure hope the 98 miles I walked last month was an exercise, or I sure wasted a lot of time!

Funny. Nope, you didn't waste any time. However, having to explain how walking could be exercise may be a waste of time.
And kudos on 98 miles - wow.

brdnw

i was fat in 8th grade and that summer i ate reasonably and became a golf caddie (so i'd walk 5 miles a day, 7 days a week) and i went from 185 at like 5'6 to 153 at 5'8 just over 2-3 months

BinaryPulsar

I sure hope the 98 miles I walked last month was an exercise, or I sure wasted a lot of time!

Funny. Nope, you didn't waste any time. However, having to explain how walking could be exercise may be a waste of time.
And kudos on 98 miles - wow.

Yes

MelissaVoci

I sure hope so, I did 2 hours at a brisk pace on the treadmill this morning!

manicautumn

I don't consider it to be on the same level as running for my body and I don't independently log it. However, I aim to get ~10,000 steps a day with my FitBit which inputs some of this back into MFP as exercise.

I have Fibromyalgia and running is really hard on my body on certain days. Walking is an alternative to sitting around watching Netflix because I feel too ****ty to do much else.

verptwerp

I wish I could run marathons in the mud & get chased by zombies, but my knees won't let me.

Five years of eating better & walking helped me lose 40 pounds ...... after that I joined a gym for biking, elliptical, weights, yoga & Zumba ...... but walking is still my exercise of choice

VoodooSyxx

I don't consider it to be on the same level as running for my body and I don't independently log it. However, I aim to get ~10,000 steps a day with my FitBit which inputs some of this back into MFP as exercise.

I have Fibromyalgia and running is really hard on my body on certain days. Walking is an alternative to sitting around watching Netflix because I feel too ****ty to do much else.

I disagree with that part. I can't do much running right now. Doctor's orders because my knees have been replaced with a bunch of junkyard scrap metal. Initially I thought walking was stupid. I now walk 10-12 miles, uphill, 6 days a week. Even at my best there's no way I could run that. Does walking take longer? Yes. Given how long I can sustain either exercise, does walking burn more calories than running? You bet it does.

MoosyGoosy

Walking is great. So many people in my friend group just walk everywhere they need to go, and they're all fit and healthy (even though they eat a whole pizza for a single meal).

If you regularly walk 7 km to get to town and 7 km back, it doesnt even feel like exercise because you're going somewhere you need to go! Plus you're usually with a friend (and drunk).

Iwishyouwell

Race walking is an olympic event. There are thousands of people around the globe who are in great shape, and use walking as their primary form of exercise. You can walk for a stroll, but if you want to you can REALLY push walking into a conditioning exercise that will challenge the hell out of you. Speed or race walking works your body in a completely different way than running or jogging. Two of my best friends are runners, both are lighter than me, yet they can not keep up with me when I'm walking at a fast pace (and that's slower than my full on exercise pace). Other speed walkers have similar stories.

For those interested in walking as a form of serious, challenging exercise, check this site out:
http://www.racewalk.com/howto/introduction.asp

But you do not have to take it to the point of speed walking in order to get many of the benefits of walking. It's a great form of exercise, period.

I have met far too many old people (I mean, like... *really* old people) who credit loads of walking with their continued abilities to do things like live independently and, ya know... continue being actually alive, to think that walking isn't good enough as exercise. If all you do is walk, you're still way better off than you would be if all you do is hang out watching TV.

My grandmother, who is 88 this month, has had walking as her sole form of exercise for several decades. I was told she actually use to be heavier but, along with her older sister, went on a diet back in the 70s and slimmed down. Walking is the only exercise she does.

She's in better shape, and is more active and agile, than the majority of her 10 children.

SusieCuteYay

i had an injured foot with other health problems that affected my ability to walk,, and i gained 3 lbs,, never the less i did what i could,, and to move is better than not moving,, you know. So ya walking is defiantly exercise!! Congrats on them 2 miles!

sandmama

That's how I lost 30 pounds along with a diet deficit. It wasn't even super fast. I put both kids on their bikes, the Chihuahua on a leash and we would walk 2 miles around the neighborhood every evening.

heybales

Not at this point anymore for me.
Walking level 4mph is barely hitting 90 bpm HR, the line usually for splitting non-exercise and exercise.

If I wear a 20 lb backpack, now up to 120. Add hills, 130-140.
Now that's getting me to the top of my Recovery HR zone.

So at any of those points it a good exercise for recovery from day prior and it's workout.

But it's not a workout that will cause any improvement on it's own for me. Burns a few more calories, but not much more for the time involved.

gpoliver

I think it's a great place to start. I push myself on my walks, and at some point pushing myself is going to get me into jogging and then into running.

Thats what did it for me! walking.... but I would get impatient and started jogging. NOW I walk for pleasure and jog and run to push myself. Walking is a GREAT form of exercise, as long as it is raising your heart rate. To tone or sculpt you need other exercises but walking is a great cardio work out.

ECA67

Walking fast is actually better than running if you have joint problems.

32sami

I'm sick and tired of people saying "walking won't get you in shape", and "that's not exercise". What's your view on this subject? I walked two miles today. Was that exercise?

Did you push yourself? For some people walking two miles is work. For others it's not. I don't call it exercise for me. For you it may be. It depends.

What I was gonna say.

Goldenwoof

I took off a decent amount of weight several years back with nothing but eating right and walking. I was dealing with some kind of injury (forget what), and put on some weight. I wasn't able to run for a while, but walking regularly helped big time. So, yes, it IS exercise.

TheWorstHorse

I walked my first twenty pounds off after surgery; it was all i was allowed to do. starting with five minutes a day and working my way up to an hour and gradually increasing the pace. I have lost thirty pounds so far and while I doing more intense cardio now, I still walk everyday. Some days, like today, it is the only exercise I get.

Yes, it is exercise. Yes, it improves your cardiac and general fitness. And yes, you can lose weight through a combination of calorie intake management and walking, without any other exercise.

toadg53

Boy I sure hope so, because if it doesn't then the 70+ pounds I've lost walking and eating right are a lie.

Exactly what I was going to say, except I've lost a little bit more.

PJPrimrose

Yep! It's how I stayed in shape while preggers with both boys. I didn't want to kick box or overheat myself with a traditional workout. BTW, that was a personal choice every woman needs to make her own.

Iwishyouwell

Walking is great. So many people in my friend group just walk everywhere they need to go, and they're all fit and healthy (even though they eat a whole pizza for a single meal).

If you regularly walk 7 km to get to town and 7 km back, it doesnt even feel like exercise because you're going somewhere you need to go! Plus you're usually with a friend (and drunk).

That's one of the million things I love about living in NYC. One of the reasons we collectively stay thinner, despite living in one of the food capitals of the world, is all the walking.

RHachicho

I walk 6 hours a week minimum. It probably despite 3 gym sessions a week the walking probably burns the majority of my calories. The faster the pace you go the more you will burn to be sure. But you will still burn as long as your not pc plodding along.