moderate or not?

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azlady7
azlady7 Posts: 471 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Ok so I have a question. When I go for walks I am not sure whether to put slow, moderate or very brisk. I am about 130 lbs over weight so i know for me moderate might be slow for someone else. Should I go for how I feel? Like if I feel physically that I am walking briskly, should I put that in? Or should I put moderate because that is what thinner people would feel they are doing. I dont own an HRM so that wont help me at all.

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  • fitterpam
    fitterpam Posts: 3,086 Member
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    YOur best bet is to chart out a route and drive it. That will tell you how far it is. Walk it once and then figure out what the speed is. For me, fighting with my dogs is definitely a 3.0 mph walk - they pull the whole way so I walk faster than I do on my own. If I don't walk my dogs, I mark it as a 2.0.

    You shouldn't mark it as brisk just because you are heavier, you'll already take that into account when it estimates your calories burned (bigger people burn more calories for the same exercise). If you do, you'll just be kidding yourself and might see a slower rate of weight loss because you are eating more than the tool allots you for your deficit. When in doubt, choose the lighter intensity.
  • azlady7
    azlady7 Posts: 471 Member
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    Well luckily I have been wrong, but in a good way...I was actually burning more than I thought lol. Thanks for the advice! You helped me figure it out mathematically!
  • BusyBee453
    BusyBee453 Posts: 2
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    ya. if you are walking 2.0 miles per hour its slow, 2.5 to 3.5 would be moderate. any faster would be brisk.
  • AnnaPixie
    AnnaPixie Posts: 7,439 Member
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    yeah, that's what I did, drive the route and clock the mileage. Then divide by how many minutes it takes.

    I always walk briskly if its exercise. Gain maximum benefit (if you can?), is what I say :flowerforyou:
  • StacySkinny
    StacySkinny Posts: 984 Member
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    Invest in a good pedometer sweetness! :D It's helped ME so much to get one! :)
  • kwill23
    kwill23 Posts: 122
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    You could also try this web site, mapmyrun.com you put in your address and it pulls up a map, then you just click your route and it tells you how far it is.
  • music1201
    music1201 Posts: 1 Member
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    The way to tell whether it's a slow walk or a brisk walk for yourself is whether or not you can talk. If you can walk and talk really easily then it's slow. If you can talk but a little more difficult then moderate. If you can't talk at all then it's brisk.

    I had trouble figuring this out because my legs are short so if I'm walking with someone else they think they are doing a moderate walk but I'm running and having a hard time keeping up and I can't talk so for me it's a BRISK walk. Anyway someone once told me this way and it works for everyone...So how well can you talk.
  • prokomds
    prokomds Posts: 318 Member
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    Websites like MapMyRun are great for charting out your run/walk and finding how far it is. MFP measures walking calories by your speed, so if you find out how far you walked and how long it took, you can figure out the speed and estimate calories that way. Good luck!

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