Walking isn't an exercise?

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  • iamfranniefierce
    iamfranniefierce Posts: 305 Member
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    One of the oldest and greatest exercise known to man.
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,229 Member
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    No offense.

    Your husband is an idiot! The ONLY cardio that I do anymore is walking. I also lift free weights regularly. You do what works for you. Don't ask him for his opinion anymore.
  • Di3012
    Di3012 Posts: 2,250 Member
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    Walking is my favorite exercise, and I can stick with it more than anything, but my husband says that "walking" isn't an exercise. He says in order to lose any weight I have to get my heart rate up and really burn those calories. Is this true? I mean I am sure more strenuous exercise will burn more calories but if I have something that works and can stick too it is that a bad thing? I have Fibromyalgia and Neuropathy on one side due to some previous traumas so I can't do P90X (although I did try),
    and I really do not try to use these conditions as an excuse to not exercise. Does anyone have an opinion on what he says? Thanks for any advice.

    As long as you consume less calories than you use up during exercise, you will lose weight. It is not actually necessary to really burn anything. It is calories in versus calories out.

    Walking is an excellent form of exercise, but make it a good walk, not just a 100m stroll to the corner shop logged as 250 calories :D
  • tistal
    tistal Posts: 869 Member
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    Walk! Throw on some ankle weights and walk it off!
  • auntiebabs
    auntiebabs Posts: 1,754 Member
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    Two things to remember:
    1) Anything you are going to stick with is better than something you throw yourself into and then give up
    2) You have to start somewhere. For me tracking every little thing and seeing my progress was very motivating and encouraged me to do more... measurable results

    Do some research, not that you should have to "PROVE YOURSELF" to your hubby, (but sometimes you do)

    My ex-BF used to say the same thing. He played doubles tennis once every other week but in his mind he was "getting his heart rate up" and that was more virtuous than my walking 5 miles/6 days a week and climbing 17 flights of stairs 5 days a week.

    He lived in suburbia and drove everywhere. I was scared he'd keel over from a heart attack from his sudden intense workouts with nothing in between.

    I lived in NYC, in a 5 floor walk-up. Walking was just transportation, it was necessary.

    Any how all this happened before I found MFP, before I started looking into target heart rates and I found out that your heart isn't necessarily pounding out of your chest when you are at your target heart rate.
    And I found out that your target varies with your goals and your age.
  • Di3012
    Di3012 Posts: 2,250 Member
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    Walk! Throw on some ankle weights and walk it off!

    No, be very cautious and careful regarding ankle weights, they place unnecessary strain on bones, tendons and ligaments.
  • saintspoon
    saintspoon Posts: 242 Member
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    Hi Darling!

    Walking is very much exercise :) To prove how many fit & beautiful people got that way with walking I started a topic last week & you should see the wonderful replies I got :) Walking is my main activity & even though I'm nearly 220lbs when I had my health assesment at work in November by blood pressure, choloestoral & blood sugars were all at very healthy levels... i was shocked but it's because I'm active... it keeps my heart healthy :)

    check it out:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/548535-walking-it-s-great-excercise-not-wussy-excercise
  • iuew
    iuew Posts: 624 Member
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    Walking is my favorite exercise, and I can stick with it more than anything, but my husband says that "walking" isn't an exercise. He says in order to lose any weight I have to get my heart rate up and really burn those calories. Is this true? I mean I am sure more strenuous exercise will burn more calories but if I have something that works and can stick too it is that a bad thing? I have Fibromyalgia and Neuropathy on one side due to some previous traumas so I can't do P90X (although I did try),
    and I really do not try to use these conditions as an excuse to not exercise. Does anyone have an opinion on what he says? Thanks for any advice.

    i lost a big chunk of my weight without any exercise. it was a mistake, because i lost muscle.

    when i finished the weight loss, walking was my main exercise. in my years of maintenance, walking has been my go-to exercise, because i enjoy it and the exercise bike the most.

    it's certainly exercise. if that's what works for you, stick with it.
  • CShepherd91
    CShepherd91 Posts: 44
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    I walk every single day. 30-40 minutes minimum. I always get a good pace going, jog intermittently. I'm going to start the C25K plan on Monday.

    Walking is most definitely exercise.

    When I was 16-17, I walked everywhere - 8-10 miles a day to and from college, town, work etc. I ate like a horse - over 2,500 calories a day, and maintained my weight at 140lbs. As soon as I got serious with my partner, and started getting lifts in the car everywhere, and went to university and spent more time sat on my bottom reading, than doing anything else... My weight creeped up to 178lbs.

    Coincidence? I think not.

    Keep walking! :D
  • FatDad2FitDad
    FatDad2FitDad Posts: 2 Member
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    Wallking not only is a great exercise, but your caloric burn rate increases depending on how long you walk, not just how fast.

    Here are some great facts on walking from Livestrong: http://www.livestrong.com/article/432017-are-more-calories-burned-by-walking-fast-or-for-a-long-distance/
  • ElementalEscapee
    ElementalEscapee Posts: 552 Member
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    A bro of mine used to be chubby, but then he started walking to work...he is now skinnier than me lol.
  • Meaganandcheese
    Meaganandcheese Posts: 525 Member
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    My mother lost 115 pounds wearing a pedometer and walking 10,000 steps a day. It works.
  • nuttyfamily
    nuttyfamily Posts: 3,394 Member
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    That was my only form of exercise when I lost 50 pounds and kept it off.

    I only recently started running.

    But, yes, walking is exercise.
  • kealambert
    kealambert Posts: 961 Member
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    Walking is my favorite exercise, and I can stick with it more than anything, but my husband says that "walking" isn't an exercise. He says in order to lose any weight I have to get my heart rate up and really burn those calories. Is this true? I mean I am sure more strenuous exercise will burn more calories but if I have something that works and can stick too it is that a bad thing? I have Fibromyalgia and Neuropathy on one side due to some previous traumas so I can't do P90X (although I did try),
    and I really do not try to use these conditions as an excuse to not exercise. Does anyone have an opinion on what he says? Thanks for any advice.

    ask him how he thinks that jared guy from subway lost the bulk of his weight
  • love2cycle
    love2cycle Posts: 448 Member
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    I used to think walking wasn't exercise until I started doing it on a regular basis. I started when I had to take my daughter to a 1 hour class, and while waiting I started walking! It is DEFINITELY exercise! Now I walk about 10-12 miles a week.
  • secristl
    secristl Posts: 1
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    Heres the deal its easier on your joints, burns calories, more likely to stick with it and increases your endurance. His point again??
  • BlueInkDot
    BlueInkDot Posts: 702 Member
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    My brother lost 50 lbs because his car broke down and he started walking to work instead of driving, and also started watching what he ate. He looks great now. Also my mom walks really regularly and is like... 56 years old, 5'3" and like 130 lbs or something. She's really in shape. :P

    I think the deal here is that if you weigh more, that's more weight that you have to move in order to walk. Thus the bigger you are, the more effective of a calorie burn walking will be.

    However once you get closer to your target weight, walking won't be AS effective of a calorie burn for two reasons:

    1. You don't have to carry around the extra weight, and
    2. Your cardiovascular health is better, so your heart rate has to get higher in order to burn the same amount of calories.

    Of course, even when you get close to your target weight, walking will still certainly burn calories! Just not as much as jogging/running, which is what I think your husband is TRYING to say? I dunno. Anyways walking is perfectly fine and a great no-impact exercise. If it works for you keep doing it. :)

    Oh also you should email a link to this forum to your husband. ;)
  • warmachinejt
    warmachinejt Posts: 2,167 Member
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    to me walking isn't an exercise lol it's more like daily activity. Exercise has to be something intense that kills me.
  • itreycee
    itreycee Posts: 22
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    I am going to get me a heart rate monitor!! The masses have spoken! Thanks again for so much support!!
  • IHeartNewMe
    IHeartNewMe Posts: 150 Member
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    I lost 100 lbs. in 2011 JUST walking. Looking back over my biggest weeks that I lost the most, I was consistently walking. I would call walking exercise. When you google "exercise" I always see walking listed. There are people all over the world that would call walking a form of exercise. I've even read that it may be one of the best exercises you can do, makes you sweat, burns fat and calories, tones, builds muscles, increases your heart rate, helps you lose weight, improves mobility and mood. All sounds like exercise to me. If you get a pedometer it will tell you how many regular steps you take vs. how many aerobic steps (steps that increase your breathing and heart rate) that you take. So, if you want to exercise in the form of walking, I say go for it and don't listen to discouraging words.

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