Why do people disregard walking?

I am all for walking;i go all the time on my lunch break and at my part time job. Like you said it is a great cardio workout and it's something that you've found works for you. The best exercise is one you will actually do and enjoy. So go ahead and walk that tooshie off!

Everybody walks every day. It's just that the other 7 billion of us don't call it "exercise."

I don't know you guys.....buy my support team somewhat sucks when I begin to talk about my cardiovascular choice......WALKING. I do Leslie Sansone EVERYDAY and have seen great results but I hate telling people I WALK....because they never have anything good to say about it......but Leslie is NO JOKE.....I usually have an average HR of 150 and reach highs of 166-168 (94%). So I'm sweating and my heart is getting a workout.

Leslie is the only workout I can truly do and STAY COMMITTED to. I can't commit to others....but I want to celebrate and be proud of my walking choice.....ughhhhh.....any walkers out there with great things to say about it? I really need to hear some good things right about now. I'm having one of those days.

Perhaps its time for some new friends to encourage you in the most basic form of exercise.

I agree with others ... the only way this works for any of us is to find what we enjoy doing and JUST DO IT!

I miss walking. I had knee surgery 3 weeks ago and can't wait to get back to my daily walks and my normal workout schedule.

You keep up your good work and focus on you! Walk, walk, walk away those pounds! :flowerforyou:

I love walking. When I first started my plan it was about all I could do and I was the stereotypical fat chick out of breath after walking half a block. I've since added a bunch more things (T25, Rockin Body, Yoga, etc.) but walking is what I love and the one I miss if I skip a day. It has helped my body and mind and I really enjoy it.

So screw anyone who thinks it isn't enough.

I expected rudeness.....you are the ignorance I speak of.....THANK YOU for proving my point.

Where was the rudeness? You asked a question and I gave you the answer from my perspective. Surely you did not think everyone would think that Walking DVDs are great?

As for ignorance, I think you are confused about what that means. I actually think walking (actual walking outside, not a treadmill or DVD) is a great way to get in some cardio, relax, and get to know your neighborhood.

When my colleague at work asked me what exercises I do I said mostly walking. He said his trainer told him that walking is for 90 year olds!

Whatever. I hate to exercise but I love walking so I do what I love. I'm much more likely to continue walking then I am anything else. And it's free! I up the burn a bit by skipping and doing sideways hops if I feeling spunky :laugh:

I enjoy walking! I walk around our neighborhood a lot. Need to get back to it, actually. It's great exercise and very calming.

I expected rudeness.....you are the ignorance I speak of.....THANK YOU for proving my point.

Where was the rudeness? You asked a question and I gave you the answer from my perspective. Surely you did not think everyone would think that Walking DVDs are great?

As for ignorance, I think you are confused about what that means. I actually think walking (actual walking outside, not a treadmill or DVD) is a great way to get in some cardio, relax, and get to know your neighborhood.

What difference does it make if you walk outdoors, on a treadmill, or in your living room with a DVD? Have you tried it? You might find you actually burn MORE calories and get a higher heart rate because you are not just leisurely walking along. A walk is a walk, is a walk!

I have lost 99 pounds thanks in large part to walking.

I do it on a treadmill for 30 minutes per day, 4.0 mph on a 10% incline. My heart rate stays in the 150 bpm range. It burns 75% of the calories that I would burn jogging at 7 mph flat, but the stress on my joints is much much less. I do jog once a week just to change it up, but walking is more sustainable for the long term. My biggest fear is an injury that forces me to discontinue exercising, and the risk of that happening is much greater with jogging.

Of course I also do about an hour of other types of cario every day, cybex arc trainer and recumbent bike mostly. The Cybex Arc Trainer is what I start off with and is a real fat burner, 30 minutes on that burns 600 calories according to the machine - even if I'm really only getting 450 or so that's still pretty good. My heart rate easily gets into the 160s and 170s on it by the 20 minute mark.

In summary walking is really the cardio exercise of choice, especially for overweight people and especially if you do it on a significant incline. It will burn a good number of calories. I average about 800 calories per hour as a 6'0 190 pound, 30 year old male.

I don't underestimate the power of steps. I have a FitBit and walking is a great exercise, especially when you used to park close to stores and go thru drive thrus. Now when I get my coffee I park. As far as I can. I walk to get it. Same goes for shopping. I park far, I do an extra couple laps around the store, walk my dog on the trans canada trail that is at my doorstep, literally... silly things that don't seem like much really add up! I get my 10K steps in and I only recently started more structured exercise. I've had no issue losing nearly 50lbs

Maybe it's because it's something we all do naturally so it seems like it's a cop-out to say we're doing it for exercise. I was thinking about it the other day, how people give good encouraging comments on my walking but it seems like I'm cheating because it's not something I don't normally do, I just do it further than some. I've lost all my weight walking, and just got into running some a few weeks ago so it definitely works and shouldn't be dismissed as good a weightloss exercise!

I expected rudeness.....you are the ignorance I speak of.....THANK YOU for proving my point.

Where was the rudeness? You asked a question and I gave you the answer from my perspective. Surely you did not think everyone would think that Walking DVDs are great?

As for ignorance, I think you are confused about what that means. I actually think walking (actual walking outside, not a treadmill or DVD) is a great way to get in some cardio, relax, and get to know your neighborhood.

Sorry if you already covered this but there are too many pages to go back and read. Why do you think that walking on a treadmill or to a DVD is not a great way to get in some cardio?

It is not that you cannot get in cardio in those ways, but rather that you are paying money for something so basic and natural to human function. I can understand specific instances why these two methods would be preferred to actual walking, but outside of those reasons it is a bit of a head scratcher.

I don't know you guys.....buy my support team somewhat sucks when I begin to talk about my cardiovascular choice......WALKING. I do Leslie Sansone EVERYDAY and have seen great results but I hate telling people I WALK....because they never have anything good to say about it......but Leslie is NO JOKE.....I usually have an average HR of 150 and reach highs of 166-168 (94%). So I'm sweating and my heart is getting a workout.

Leslie is the only workout I can truly do and STAY COMMITTED to. I can't commit to others....but I want to celebrate and be proud of my walking choice.....ughhhhh.....any walkers out there with great things to say about it? I really need to hear some good things right about now. I'm having one of those days.

First off walking is AWESOME.... I love walking.
2nd Don't tell people about it...
3rd If you do tell people about it call it HIKING or POWER WALKING
4th What are those unsupportive people doing? If they are sitting on the couch you are certainly lapping them
5th If those people are exercising... Are there results as good as yours? Have they been consistent?
6th EVEN if those people ARE doing power workouts and getting AMAZING RESULTS WALKING is what you ENJOY doing, the more you enjoy it the more likely you will stick with it
7th MAYBE walking is just the first step... maybe you're building up and will at some point in the future move onto something even more challenging. or maybe you won't, it's still okay for you to do what you want to do without having to rationalize it to anyone else

Some people consider it a part of their TDEE
My ex-bf was unhappy with my weight and always told me I shouldn't count walking (Back then I average about 5 miles a day, walking to/from work... grocery shopping... and daily activities.).

He laughed at me when I started going out of my way to include more stairs in my routes and when I started keeping track of how many stairs I climbed a day. But keeping tack always inspired me to do more.

He always said "I play tennis... you gotta get your heart-rate up!*" (Fact was he played tennis maybe once every 2 weeks I was kinda afraid he was going to drop dead of a heart attack, from doing nothing then going full-tilt, we were in our 50s)
BUT, He lived in suburbia when I lived in NYC, when I pointed out that could never keep up with me when I was walking around town doing errands, he would say that didn't count.

But anyway walking with my pedometer and tracking my stairsteps led me to want to do more and I'm down 30 lbs. I'm fit and getting fitter...

I backslide some times, but I get moving again you have to find what you can do right now.

*turns out I got a pedometer with a HR in it... and my heart rate was exactly where it should be"

I walk. It keeps me active, it's good for my mood to go outside, and I enjoy it more than other types of cardio (I have asthma so I avoid running... for now). It's not much, but it makes the difference between a TDEE of 1700 and a TDEE of 2200 when I walk longer, so I'll take it.

"It is not that you cannot get in cardio in those ways, but rather that you are paying money for something so basic and natural to human function. I can understand specific instances why these two methods would be preferred to actual walking, but outside of those reasons it is a bit of a head scratcher."


Um, I live in a semi-unsafe neighborhood. Loose dogs EVERYWHERE, shady people, no sidewalks, cars that drive fifty miles an hour down the road. I'm really uncomfortable walking in my neighborhood. Our city has one nice walking park....all the way across town from me. I cannot drive there everyday, it would waste a fortune in gas. Of course, I love to go to the walking park when I can, but it's not practical for everyday.