What type of exercise do you add?

neeceypoo
neeceypoo Posts: 13 Member
edited November 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
Just wondering if you only add exercise done at the gym or a fitness class, or can I also add walking to the shop and university, etc...

Replies

  • Ameech846
    Ameech846 Posts: 10 Member
    I defintely add walks. I even add heavy cleaning if I broke a sweat :)
  • LivLovLrn
    LivLovLrn Posts: 580 Member
    any time your body warms up from exertion you are burning calories (heat = calorie burn, thus the term "burn")
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    neeceypoo wrote: »
    Just wondering if you only add exercise done at the gym or a fitness class, or can I also add walking to the shop and university, etc...

    With the way MFP works, you should only add deliberate exercise that is outside of your day to day. If you are routinely walking to shops and university and whatnot, that should be included in your activity level. Even an activity level of sedentary is going to account for up to about 5,000 steps per day as well as some other activity.

    Also, I don't tend to look at that kind of stuff as "exercise"...it is activity and doing things to increase general activity is good...but "exercise" is something that is done deliberately and is going to improve and/or maintain your fitness level...personally, walking around shops and whatnot does absolutely nothing for my overall physical fitness so I would just look at it as general activity.
  • ashliedelgado
    ashliedelgado Posts: 814 Member
    edited February 2016
    I only add my dog walks because they are 3-4 miles at a brisk pace. *Edit, aside from my workouts, that is.

    I use a garmin vivofit, which will adjust my calories based off of TDEE - if I am burning more than MFP thinks I should I get more cals, less if the other way around. But I only eat back the calories from deliberate exercise.
  • neeceypoo
    neeceypoo Posts: 13 Member
    Thank you for your replies :) I won't include just general walking, but do you think I should add when I've walked up and down 8 flights of stairs for a seminar class as this is more than just general walking, or should I just leave that off as well?

    Very sorry if this sounds like a stupid question, I'm just unsure of what to add and want to make the most of using MFP :)
  • ashliedelgado
    ashliedelgado Posts: 814 Member
    You can add it, it takes energy. It's totally up to you. When I first started I would add the four flights I climbed to get to work, and ended up finding it cumbersome, and the burn really not worth the time it took to log. Try logging it, see how you feel about it. Honestly, it's not that much burn.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited February 2016
    neeceypoo wrote: »
    Thank you for your replies :) I won't include just general walking, but do you think I should add when I've walked up and down 8 flights of stairs for a seminar class as this is more than just general walking, or should I just leave that off as well?

    Very sorry if this sounds like a stupid question, I'm just unsure of what to add and want to make the most of using MFP :)

    OP just general walking either down the street or up and down stairs does not count. But what does count is steady state cardio where you heart rate is elevated for a sustained period of time. I would say a dog walk down the street would constitute exercise as you are in a constant state of movement but your heart rate is elevated somewhat for a period of time.

    If you purposefully walk up and down stairs constantly for 10 minutes and elevate your heart rate again for a sustained period of time, this would count too.

    I am not sure why one would simply want to keep up with walking back and forth to class or up and down the stairs at work, this is in your general activity calories for the day, not added exercise calories
  • neeceypoo
    neeceypoo Posts: 13 Member
    gia07 wrote: »

    OP just general walking either down the street or up and down stairs does not count. But what does count is steady state cardio where you heart rate is elevated for a sustained period of time. I would say a dog walk down the street would constitute exercise as you are in a constant state of movement but your heart rate is elevated somewhat for a period of time.

    If you purposefully walk up and down stairs constantly for 10 minutes and elevate your heart rate again for a sustained period of time, this would count too.

    I am not sure why one would simply want to keep up with walking back and forth to class or up and down the stairs at work, this is in your general activity calories for the day, not added exercise calories

    Thanks for replying, but I don't understand why it wouldn't be counted as exercise if I was to walk myself but it is if I am walking with the dog?

    I also didn't know whether it should be included if I was to walk up and down the stairs several times a day
  • ElizabethOakes2
    ElizabethOakes2 Posts: 1,038 Member
    Anything outside of your regular daily activities. For example, if I go out for a 20 minute power walk, I count that, but walking from my car to the grocery store, even if I park at the back of the lot, I don't count that. :)
  • drachfit
    drachfit Posts: 217 Member
    daily activities... no. this is included in your TDEE calculation when you pick "sedentary" "lightly active" etc.

    exercise beyond what you considered in your activity factor... that I count.

    in the end it doesn't matter, if your weight isn't dropping then you logged something wrong, eat less or workout more and that will fix it.
  • blues4miles
    blues4miles Posts: 1,481 Member
    neeceypoo wrote: »
    Thank you for your replies :) I won't include just general walking, but do you think I should add when I've walked up and down 8 flights of stairs for a seminar class as this is more than just general walking, or should I just leave that off as well?

    Very sorry if this sounds like a stupid question, I'm just unsure of what to add and want to make the most of using MFP :)

    Well what would you log in terms of the stairs? Like 5 minutes of climbing stairs? That's why people are saying not to log it. First, if you're going to log any time you do a little walk or whatever, make sure your activity level is set to sedentary. Because lightly active just builds activity in and does not assume you are logging all of it.

    I log the 3 miles I walk at lunch. I don't log the half mile in and half mile back that I walk from the parking lot to my office every day. Just preference I guess.
  • shadowfax_c11
    shadowfax_c11 Posts: 1,942 Member
    Get a fitbit. Let it track your activity for you. Takes out the guess work. :)

  • lizwrites1313
    lizwrites1313 Posts: 160 Member
    I add walking if it's five minutes or more
  • neeceypoo
    neeceypoo Posts: 13 Member
    shadowfax_c11 wrote: »
    Get a fitbit. Let it track your activity for you. Takes out the guess work. :)

    I have a Fitbit, didn't know you could connect them but I found out you could earlier so have connected it now :)
  • neeceypoo
    neeceypoo Posts: 13 Member
    @blues4miles I don't usually add anything other than my taekwondo classes, but I didn't know what else I should be adding. When you're adding in walks, does it depend on how long you've walked for or how far you've walked before you log it?
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