Is walking a waste of time?

chellebublz
chellebublz Posts: 568 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
My fiance told me tonight before he went to work he is ready to do something. He was doing Nike Kinect, but then somehow quit. He keeps saying he doesn't have time for it, but it's really just that he doesn't make time for it. But that's not the point lol. He feels like he needs to work up to it, I'll admit it can be tough. I do it every night when he leaves before my Jillian session. He's thinking he wants to walk every morning when he gets home. My concern is, is he really going to gain any endurance to do harder things by walking for 30 minutes? I use to walk a few times a week but didnt start getting stronger until I did 30 Day Shred. I'm not saying he needs to do that, but maybe something a little more of a challenge.

Looking for outside opinions on this in case I'm being bias. He's 5'9, 290 and we have a bet that if he can lose 40 pounds by September when GTA5 comes out, that will be his reward for himself. My bet is to lose 30 by July, so his goal is way more attainable than mine lol. He feels like he needs to work up to things, but really he just needs the mindset that he's strong enough already..
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Replies

  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    Anything is better than nothing, and chances are that if you support him in walking, then he's going to be willing to do more.
  • Miss_Ever55
    Miss_Ever55 Posts: 14 Member
    I lost 130 pounds by walking, Though I did do more than 30 min a day. At my peak I did 90 min a day walking min, combined with Wii fit. It is a good place to start building up ones stamina.
  • Deanna149
    Deanna149 Posts: 147 Member
    as someone who started out walking 20 minutes every other day, i say yes, it will build up, he will start feeling better and develope that habit. anything he is willing to do is a positive and can lead to a better lifestyle.
  • sgtdub555
    sgtdub555 Posts: 692
    I am no expert at all and have not idea what the actual benefit are if you compare the two things. But the object is to get healthier right? Walking for 30 minutes is healthy. It may not be the best he can do but is better then doing nothing at all. Why not encourage it even join him and support him on it in hopes it will kick start him into doing something else. There was a lady that walked by my house everyday she was heavy. A year later she was still walking but she was thinner and smiles now instead of the frown before. A year from that she runs by my house and looks great and waves with a huge smile. Who knows right?
  • Cr01502
    Cr01502 Posts: 3,614 Member
    You can lose weight by simply eating at a calorie deficit.

    30 minutes of walking will certainly help to create that deficit.

    At some point soon though he'll have to step up his game.

    I agree. I think your fiance is probably capable of more vigorous exercise.
  • SunKissed1989
    SunKissed1989 Posts: 1,314 Member
    Walking is never a waste of time in my books. Before I started going to my uni gym, I would do a lot of walking. I walked 10k for charity last year and I'm doing it again this year. Mainly because when I run outside it aggravates my asthma. I'm good on the treadmill, just not outside :tongue:

    Let him go at his own pace, when he's ready to crank it up a notch, cheer him on and push him further, but he seems to have a plan in mind with regards to walking and good on him :smile:
  • mrbossman
    mrbossman Posts: 22 Member
    Walking is not a waste of time. I walking at a pace of 3.8 on a treadmill daily about 2 -3 miles. It usually burns about 600-700 calories. I started working out Feburary 7th 2013. and I have lost about 10Lb. I walk about 30-35 mins then I ride a Recumbent Bike for 20-25 mins. When I do both I burn over 1000 calories usually, I try to keep my heart rate between 142-157.

    This is working for me I hope this helps. Walking is good.
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
    If walking 30 minutes is difficult at first it will quickly become easy. Then you have two choices: walk longer or walk faster to build endurance. To keep improving you need to keep pushing. If baby steps is what it takes then thats what he should do.

    BUT...weight loss is all about calorie deficit. Walking is healthy but it provide very little in caloric burn. Walk all you want but if you are still eating at or more than you burn it wont do anything for weight loss.
  • jakeVScalories
    jakeVScalories Posts: 107 Member
    If walking 30 minutes is a big issue then he definitly does not want to get in shape
  • chellebublz
    chellebublz Posts: 568 Member
    I will support whatever he decides obviously :) If it's walking, he is on his own, it's too cold in Wisconsin right now to take our 13month old out in haha. And once it warms up, I"m starting C25K. I told him he is more than welcome to join me for that and I'll just wear our son in a wrap or a mei tai! I told him that I don't think walking 30 min a day will get his stamina up to where he wants it (because he is ultimately trying to work up to Insanity) an hour a day at a fast pace would be good though.

    I agree with everyone though, some activity is better than none. And the reason I'm encouraging him to lose weight is not for looks, it's because I'm afraid for his health. He has heart disease in his family, so any risk factors we can improve is a win IMO. He was doing great before we got our tax return in. He was down to 274, then we were always on the go over the last month, he quit watching what he was eating and how much and now he's at 290 again. I didn't gain any of mine back, so he sees what food choices and exercising can do, thankfully :)
  • JJordon
    JJordon Posts: 857 Member
    I walk 7 miles a day, 5 days a week. It helps.
  • CherokeeBabe
    CherokeeBabe Posts: 1,704 Member
    My only significant and steady cardio is walking, usually 90-120 minutes/3 days a week. I walk to the grocery store, pharmacy, gas station (for small things), etc, and don't bother with a vehicle. Most of the shops I need are within 2 miles of me, and I carry everything back in my backpack and in bags, so I get some extra burn from all the weight on the way home. The rest of the time I do free weights. 12lbs lost in 2 months, no crazy life changes, just walking, eating right and at-home weightlifting. :)
  • Yogi_Carl
    Yogi_Carl Posts: 1,906 Member
    "I told him that I don't think walking 30 min a day will get his stamina up to where he wants it (because he is ultimately trying to work up to Insanity) "

    You're not very encouraging are you? Can't be bothered to go out walking with him, but he is welcome to go running with you.

    I suggest wrapping your baby up warm and getting your *kitten* out there with him.

    With love.
  • twelfty
    twelfty Posts: 576 Member
    it's very good for toning legs, i do 2 hours every sunday, started at 3 mph a couple of months ago i'm now at 4 and intending to go up to 5 by summer
  • WaimanaloMan
    WaimanaloMan Posts: 160 Member
    I walk loads and it helps, I have an HRM and it shows that it works. I burned 1365 calories just yesterday on a walk that was just over 170 minutes long. The important part for me is to keep a good momentum and speed up. It works well for me, but everyone is different!
  • ingeh
    ingeh Posts: 513 Member
    I hope its not a waste of time as I do the 5 mile walk from Leslie Sansone 5 days a week and thats 60mins long and gets a sweat going. My bottom half is finally toning up after nothing else helping so I guess its good for you.Also its great for your heart and lungs whichs is a great reason to walk
  • ashlinmarie
    ashlinmarie Posts: 1,263 Member
    I've been walking every day. I hate most workouts and have trouble breathing so it is all I feel comfortable with. I lost 4 pounds in February without doing any exercise so I'm hoping I can up it with exercise for March.
  • njgrundy
    njgrundy Posts: 3
    I can only go based on what I've done.

    My first 10kg was "eating right", ie using MFP to track my eating habits and eating better quality food.
    The next 10kg was from working to and from work, Every day I do a 7k round trip, which is broken into 4x 20min walks, with a train ride in the middle

    Over the 3 months or so of walking I noticed that I was no longer out of breath, and in general it didn't feel like I was doing exercise. I got sucked into a bootcamp a week for the next couple of months, and again after a couple of months felt healthier.

    I've recently started doing 2x bootcamp a week, and have just signed up to do a Tough Mudder event in September, and the 100km version of the Melbourne (Victoria, AU) Round the bay bike ride in October. Oh, and I just started using one of the C25K timing apps on my phone to jog to/from the train station of a night.

    I call what I'm doing "the lazy way" It's been around 18 months for me to lose 27kg, and I've just been stepping the exercise up when what I'm feels too easy. I've found the want to do more exercise compounds as you get healthier.

    So yes, you can loose weight from walking :)
  • lauren3101
    lauren3101 Posts: 1,853 Member
    I'm surprised that anyone could dismiss walking - any exercise is good.

    Also, I'm not sure of your partners body type, but at 290lb he is probably better off doing something like walking or swimming in the beginning.
  • traceytwink
    traceytwink Posts: 538 Member
    Walking is a great way to exercise, maybe once he's been doing it for a while he can add more into his daily routine or speed up to a quicker walking pace, when I'm on a training walk with my friend we walk and talk at 5 miles per hour which is faster than some people run so don't under estimate the power of walking, why not enter a walking marathon or half marathon together ????
  • chellebublz
    chellebublz Posts: 568 Member
    "I told him that I don't think walking 30 min a day will get his stamina up to where he wants it (because he is ultimately trying to work up to Insanity) "

    You're not very encouraging are you? Can't be bothered to go out walking with him, but he is welcome to go running with you.

    I suggest wrapping your baby up warm and getting your *kitten* out there with him.

    With love.

    LOL so you suggest, taking a baby outside in 16 degree weather when there is snow and ice on the ground? Yea, not putting my son in danger of getting hurt. I love my fiance, but our child comes first.

    Any other program, I will gladly do with him. I have the "You Are Your Own Gym" app, we have Nike Kinect, Dance Central 2 and 3, Biggest Loser for Kinect, Body Revolution, 30 Day Shred, Insanity, P90X, Leslie Sansone videos, Turbo Fire. Any of which we can easily do together while our son naps and stays warm.
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
    I started off by walking. 13 months later & I'm still doing it...only now I'll walk all day if I can....and I can. Why would walking be a waste of time? I owe my whole start to walking. I went from walking to running. Got to start somewhere. I now run 10km with no problems.

    Just because you don't feel it's good enough.
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    No physical activity is a waste of time. Some activities might be better than others depending on individual fitness/health goals, but walking isn't a waste. A waste of time would be your *kitten* sitting on the couch eating potato chips when you could be out walking...:flowerforyou:
  • Cait_Sidhe
    Cait_Sidhe Posts: 3,150 Member
    Yes walking is a complete waste of time. Where's my hoverround?
  • CassieReannan
    CassieReannan Posts: 1,479 Member
    My main exercise is walking, look at my damn ticker!
  • Shadowknight137
    Shadowknight137 Posts: 1,243 Member
    If walking is a waste of time, I think that quite frankly, MFP shouldn't exist.

    We should all just get obese and sit around all day. Makes perfect sense.
  • abheshek
    abheshek Posts: 525 Member
    Oh yeah?


    see the bar below......walking is the reason i lost so many pounds
  • Cr01502
    Cr01502 Posts: 3,614 Member
    Compared to driving? Yes
  • sigsby
    sigsby Posts: 220 Member
    Start from where you are. Not from where others think you should be.

    It sounds like that is a good starting point for him.A big part of exercise is mental. If that's what he thinks then that's where it's at for him.
  • lilbell13
    lilbell13 Posts: 18
    I used to walk and it didnt do a thing for me! However I slowly got faster and started running. You have to start somewhere!

    I think it actually depends on how big you are and what kind of lifestyle you lead. If your big and dont do much and then start to walk, I'm sure you see results!

    I'm of the opnion that if it doesnt challenge you, it won't change you and that weight loss starts in the kitchen. If you dont clean up your diet, no amount of excersize will make a difference!

    Just my opinion!

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