Is walking a good enough exercise to be doing?

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  • shreddingit
    shreddingit Posts: 1,133 Member
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    no! you need resistance training also....eating back what you walked not such a good idea
  • traceyrbb
    traceyrbb Posts: 39 Member
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    i asked the same question a while back and got a lot of good responses about it. walking is the only cardio i do and have done since january and have lost inches and 18 pounds so far. i have kids and a job and don't have time to do much more than that. mostly my treadmill but now that it's starting to get warmer out i will be walking outside too! i did find that my treadmill was calculating a lot of calories burned but i got a pedometer and that calculates a lot less. not sure that either are correct but have claimed the pedometer from last week forward. may get an HRM but may be too much money for me. keep it up! walking is GREAT exercise! i started at 2.5 miles an hour but now that seems soooo slow to me! :smile:
  • Tree72
    Tree72 Posts: 942 Member
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    Walking is a great way to get back into exercising. That's how I started too.

    I think your numbers sound about right. I've heard several people say a good way to estimate is about 100 calories per mile. You'll burn it off faster running, but you still cover about the same distance. (In other words you burn about the same calories to run a 10 minute mile as to walk a 20 minute mile.) And at 7 miles in 2 hours, that's about 3.5mph, which is a somewhat brisk walk. So that should be good for getting your heart rate up a bit.

    Congratulations on a great start.
  • saldridge
    saldridge Posts: 125 Member
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    It's a great exercise if you put some time in - like you did. 2 hours is great and 7 miles is actually fairly fast for walking!!!

    I am a little suspicious when people are trying to add up walking to a from the car at the store or walking around the office.

    I believe it counts as exercise if the activity itself gets you to run up a good sweat. So tanning in the sun sweating, no. Casually wiping off the kitchen counter, no. Laying in bed under a down comforter sweating, no (don't laugh, someone here actually asked that -- he/she may have just been trying to be flippant, but that's just stoopid).
    I guess the bottom line as to what counts is "Use common sense". Did you feel exhausted afterwards? Did you run up a good sweat? Do your arms, legs, back feel like you put some work in?
  • johnwhitent
    johnwhitent Posts: 648 Member
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    Activity is good! My wife is exactly where you are in fitness. We are walking together to help get her started back with an exercise routine. Right now she can injure herself just walking uphill. But she will stick with it and when she can she will add cycling and swimming. After that she wants to join me in doing P90X, and the long range goal is doing a triathlon. Fourteen years ago she was an AT thru hiker, but years of office work and no exercise has taken a toll. I encourage you as I encourage her - stick with it! We all have the rest of our lives; no need to try to do it all in one day/week/month. Success is attained by those who stick with it, not those who start with a sprint but quit after a short time. Four years ago I was overweight, out of shape, had high blood pressure, etc. But over these last four years I have ploddingly attained the best fitness of my life. I adore trail running, cycling, P90X, and several other activities. My wife knows that she can do it because she watched me do it. So can you! Do what you can and increase as you can. Find activities that you enjoy, it well help keep you motivated. You can do it!
  • jsteras
    jsteras Posts: 344 Member
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    My main exercise is walking, I walk about 3.0 , I do increase to 3.5 to get the heart rate up there and when I do a walk for an hour or more I am hot , sweating and breathing hard. Not everyone can jog or run. I probably will never be a person that jogs, but I love walking. After a good walk I am sore the next day and I keep a watch on my heart rate to keep it up there so I know I am getting a good work out and burning calories. I have lost 12 pounds in the last three weeks. I started at only being able to walk a mile I am now up to 3.5 miles in about 70 minutes. Good for you on your walk you are ahead of the game if you can walk that far to start out. I would say increase speed and then you won't have to walk as long. I do also recommend the Jillian Michaels DVD Last chance workout. I have been doing that also ,she uses circuit training which is great.
  • andyj1984
    andyj1984 Posts: 76
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    no! you need resistance training also....eating back what you walked not such a good idea

    I don't understand this comment. Everyone else has said its okay, but this seems to be suggesting something different? There is so much jumbled up information about, I'm getting confused. Perhaps I should speak to a trainer? Or dietician or something?

    I was under the simple impression that to lose weight just stick to the net calories every day (eating healthy of course), plenty of exercise (including walking), which you then also have to eat back so you keep your natural metabolsim up?

    What is resistance training? Is this like weights or something?
  • hroush
    hroush Posts: 2,073 Member
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    no! you need resistance training also....eating back what you walked not such a good idea

    I don't understand this comment. Everyone else has said its okay, but this seems to be suggesting something different? There is so much jumbled up information about, I'm getting confused. Perhaps I should speak to a trainer? Or dietician or something?

    I was under the simple impression that to lose weight just stick to the net calories every day (eating healthy of course), plenty of exercise (including walking), which you then also have to eat back so you keep your natural metabolsim up?

    What is resistance training? Is this like weights or something?

    Everyone has their own ideas on how to lose weight. Are some better than others? Probably. Walking is a good way to start out, check out the c25k program I mentioned earlier. Would it benefit you to incorporate weight training? yes. Should you start working out 1+ hour a day 7 days a week? I say no since you are just starting it would be a very quick way to burn out. I say continue what you are doing and when you're ready for more, go for more.

    The equation for losing weight is simple: calories burned > calories in. How you do it is where it can get sticky.
  • andyj1984
    andyj1984 Posts: 76
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    Thankyou hroush, that is a very useful post! I'll stick to what I have been doing the last few days, and see what happens. I might give the C25k a go! It looks manageable! LOL
  • Michelleanon
    Michelleanon Posts: 40 Member
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    Hi there, I started off with walking 5 days a week for at least 45-60mins. Lost 24lbs between that and the change of lifestyle where it comes to eating. Now I have decided I need to up my game and have started the gym 3 times a week and walking twice a week.
    I won't give up the walking as It is great to get fresh air in your lungs and clear your mind. Keep going and you WILL get results :flowerforyou:
  • Marcus_E
    Marcus_E Posts: 124
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    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
    LuckySe7en Posts: 49
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    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
    alexbowser Posts: 322
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    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.

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