Several shorter walks vs. one longer walk

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momcindy
momcindy Posts: 194 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Is it true that doing 3 10-minute walks in a day on the treadmill is as effective as doing one 30-minute session? (Likewise, doing 6 shorter walks vs. one hour walk, etc.)

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  • LButterfly201
    LButterfly201 Posts: 164
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    bump :)
  • cjstrong
    cjstrong Posts: 54
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    I would say... no

    reason is, id say its going to be harder to get your heartrate up in the short walk. Also, your calories burned wont be as intense since your whole body isnt in overdrive trying to walk for 30 minutes.

    If you cant do the 30 min walk split it into two.

    Your heart is a muscle too and by keeping your heartrate up for 30 minutes, you are exercising it.
  • Broken_
    Broken_ Posts: 172 Member
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    The one issue I see with that logic is...

    Your metabolism and heartrate slow when you don't exercise.

    When you start each of the shorter walks your body takes time to "get up to speed."

    So it seems to me, as though one longer walk would be more effective.
  • melizerd
    melizerd Posts: 870 Member
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    Early on I did do that because I couldn't physically DO 30 min of hard walking, etc. So I split it up and I did count it as 30 min of walking (like I did it in one session).

    A year later, I would definitely not count it that way, because by the time you get your heart rate up, and the amount of time it stays up is so much different in one solid 30 min session vs 3 short 10 min sessions.

    When I started I had 80+lbs to lose though so I'm sure my body didn't care it was just shocked I was doing something. So if it works early then it works, if it stops working for you, you know that you've become more fit :D

    5 days from now I'll be at 1 year (logged in every day too!) and 71lbs lost as of now!!!
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
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    No. I don't think it is the same. But, I do know for a lot of people they simply can't handle a longer walk physically. So, three 10 min walks are better than no walking at all. However, as you get stronger and leaner - try going for a longer amount of time. The longer your heart rate is up - the better. :)
  • momcindy
    momcindy Posts: 194 Member
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    http://www.livestrong.com/article/445237-one-workout-vs-several-short-workouts/

    This article seems to say it is effective, but I suppose regardless of opinion, doing something is better than doing nothing.
  • Sonchie
    Sonchie Posts: 259 Member
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    ditto to most of the other thoughts. I believe its more beneficial to get your heart rate up and keep it up for a more extended period of time.

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