Do I need to exercise on work days?

tanny684
tanny684 Posts: 196 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm a registered nurse and work 13 hour shifts. When I'm at work I average about 12,000 steps a day. I'm on my feet the whole day and sometimes run to pharmacy, or across the ward if there's an emergency or it's very busy. When I'm not moving I'm rolling patients and moving them up the bed, bending lifting etc. Do I need to exercise on days I work or is this activity enough to count as my exercise for the day? Thanks in advance for any replies x

Replies

  • Blackdawn_70631
    Blackdawn_70631 Posts: 283 Member
    Depends on what you eat. If you're an eater of everything and anything then yes, exercise. But if you're a grazer nibbling, taking in very few calories at a time, there's no need.
    However, even though you are walking it's not legit exercise. Exercise you have to get your heart rate up, breathing hard and sweating.
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    Blackdawn_70631 wrote: »
    Depends on what you eat. If you're an eater of everything and anything then yes, exercise. But if you're a grazer nibbling, taking in very few calories at a time, there's no need.
    However, even though you are walking it's not legit exercise. Exercise you have to get your heart rate up, breathing hard and sweating.

    Sweating has nothing to do with the level of exertion.
  • PennyVonDread
    PennyVonDread Posts: 432 Member
    Blackdawn_70631 wrote: »
    Depends on what you eat. If you're an eater of everything and anything then yes, exercise. But if you're a grazer nibbling, taking in very few calories at a time, there's no need.
    However, even though you are walking it's not legit exercise. Exercise you have to get your heart rate up, breathing hard and sweating.

    Working as nurse does that. Also, walking is legit exercise. You can lose a lot of weight walking. Lifting patients for transfers, squatting, constantly moving. I personally lost a lot of weight as a CNA and then again as a security guard, both involving just moderate effort lifting and a lot of walking.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
    edited October 2015
    You lose weight by eating in a calorie deficit. Exercise helps strengthen your heart and muscles, but it isn't necessary. If you feel you want to, do it. The only exercise I do is walking, and to say a 4+ mile walk isn't exercise is wrong.
  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
    Depends a lot on what the goal of exercise is for you. If you're just doing it for a calorie burn, sure, being active during the day burns calories.

    If you're doing it to build or preserve lean mass, improve your aerobic or anaerobic fitness, etc., then probably not.

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