Is walking a good enough exercise to be doing?

Marcus_E

Walking is the best place to start - seriously!! There is no point trying to do more initially for fear of injury or worse. 2hrs a day is a fantastic start as well - I'm taking it at a minimum of 30mins a day, so you're doing really well..

In terms of the comment about resistance training - you will find that any personal trainer etc etc, will advise to add this into your exercise program and normally they recommend to mix it up, If you want to lose weight, you need to focus on cardio, interval and strength exercises, but initially keep walking.

Also in relation to swimming - don't be afraid. Do what I did - I found a class where it was aimed at old age people initially and as the pool was normally empty around when they were there, I managed to get in and swim at my own pace. Admittedly I struggled to do a couple of laps without having a 5minute breather after each one, you forget how long 25m actually is in water - but as for a low impact cardio exercise - damn it's good.. And slowly you'll gain back the momentum in no time.. And a very important thing - for those slightly heavier - swimming is a far better exercise than running, as the joints don't get as much impact and you actually strengthen your lungs more as well.. (plus less pollution from cars when outside..)

For some resistance (strength) training - I would suggest to invest in two things to do at home: Swiss Ball & Resistance bands - a bit more fun that weights initially, but bands also help with stretching as well (a core component that many people forget to do and thus end up with injuries). If you get a set in a box, both the bands and the ball tend to have exercises in there that will help you as well (normally).. And you will get a lot of core strength developed using both (plus if you're like me, I find gyms boring and occasionally intimidating - so home stuff helps..)

Keep it up though - you're on the right track and doing nothing wrong, all positive!!!

LuckySe7en

Quite frankly at the moment I'm not fit enough to go for a jog, or swimming (would probably have a heart attack! LOL), so I'm focusing on daily walking and cycling exercises. According to the exercise log for yesterday, my 2 hour walk I went on (approx 7 miles) burned 675 calories. That seems rather a lot to me (I weigh approx 250lb).

Is that actually accurate? I ask, because I'm eating back those calories from the exercise, and want to make sure I'm doing it correctly. I would have thought walking wouldn't use all that much energy, compared to say swimming or jogging?

Is walking really that good for you? And as far as I understand, the less you weigh the longer you have to walk to burn the same calories?

I do plan on taking up jogging and swimming in a few months time, but only when I think my body can handle it! LOL

Sorry for the newbie question, I did search beforehand but didn't really get an answer.

Sometimes MFP overestimates how many calories you actually burned, so I would suggest getting a heart rate monitor just to be sure. But walking is great exercise!

alexbowser

Walking is, in my opinion, the best way too start. I've injured myself being overly ambitious in my exercising and quit several times. Now that I've been walking for a few weeks I'm going to integrate in a workout video for some strength training (as soon as my toe finishes up healing from some minor surgery). You just need to find a workout routine that works for you. It's important to push yourself to work hard, but also to go at your own pace.