How much is too much walking?

russellvolk
russellvolk Posts: 102 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hello everyone. I really enjoy walking, not running, so I joined the gym and I'm now walking 6 days a week, 1 hour per day at the speed of 4 miles per hour. Today is Friday, which is the 5th workout of the week and I feel like today's workout was a bit tougher. Is there such thing as overdoing it? Just curious?

Replies

  • RetiredAndLovingIt
    RetiredAndLovingIt Posts: 1,395 Member
    I can't walk anywhere near 4mph either. I try to stay in the American Heart Assn pulse guidelines for my age. When I get on the treadmill & walk in the morning, I have to keep my speed pretty slow (about 1.6) to stay in the range, but if I do it in the afternoon, I can speed up some.
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
    4mph is a pretty fast walk. You can certainly get sore and tire yourself out doing that for an hour everyday, especially if your body isn't used to it. I am not sure your what your fitness level was before, but if you didn't have a high fitness level, you may either want to slow the speed of your walks, reduce the number of days, or both, until you work your way into it. At some point your body may be able to handle that 6 days a week, but it's not likely going to start there.
  • russellvolk
    russellvolk Posts: 102 Member
    Thank you all for your advice. I really appreciate it.
  • LyndaBSS
    LyndaBSS Posts: 6,964 Member
    Listen to your body. It will tell you when you've overdone it.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    People walk from Mexico to Canada. Just listen to your body, if it doesn't feel right one day, or if you feel weirdly unmotivated, take the day off. But if you enjoy it, awesome! 🙂
  • ElizabethKalmbach
    ElizabethKalmbach Posts: 1,415 Member
    I average about 7 miles a day, 5 days a week and sometimes double or half that on weekends, depending. In the spring, I do get sore from time to time, if I reduced my walks over the winter because it was too cold to take the dogs out for long.

    Make sure you have good, supportive shoes (I replace mine every 500 miles to avoid blisters and poor posture from uneven wear.), and listen to your body. Make sure you have enough fuel to do what you like, and do what you like. Just remember, that like everything else, some quantities of walking may require that you work up to them.
  • cbstewart88
    cbstewart88 Posts: 453 Member
    When I've gone too far to get back in time to poop. :#
  • OldAssDude
    OldAssDude Posts: 1,436 Member
    I walk 7 days a week and when I power walk i can get up to speeds of 4.5 mph. On days that I feel a little too beat up I just do a casual walk for recovery. I also run and do a lot of intervals.

    Just listen to your body and do recovery walks when you're feeling beat up.
  • riffraff2112
    riffraff2112 Posts: 1,756 Member
    You can overdo it! Everyone has a different threshold and usually your body will let you know when you have reached the limit. Walking is a great exercise, much less impact than most forms of cardio but taking upwards of 20k steps a day can have a cumulative effect.
  • aiya0404
    aiya0404 Posts: 1 Member
    ... there is no such thing as over walking. Hve you ever asked same question with eating or sleeping? As mammal we are born to move around but techology have reduced the amount of movements we perform per day. I can guarantee you are not walking to the threshold our bodies are designed for. This question is just ur brain making excuses. There are altheletes out there working out (intensly) for 8 hrs/day 7-6 days/ week. Ballerinas dances 8-10 hrs a day and they are fine. Stop making excuses and take control of your body.
  • Annie_01
    Annie_01 Posts: 3,096 Member
    aiya0404 wrote: »
    ... there is no such thing as over walking. Hve you ever asked same question with eating or sleeping? As mammal we are born to move around but techology have reduced the amount of movements we perform per day. I can guarantee you are not walking to the threshold our bodies are designed for. This question is just ur brain making excuses. There are altheletes out there working out (intensly) for 8 hrs/day 7-6 days/ week. Ballerinas dances 8-10 hrs a day and they are fine. Stop making excuses and take control of your body.

    Those athletes and ballerinas didn't start working out (intensely) for 8 hours when they first started. They worked their way up to their current level. I doubt if there are many people on MFP that could workout intensely for 8 hours 7 days a week.
    Do you workout intensely for 8 hours a day 6-7 days a week?

  • Hollis100
    Hollis100 Posts: 1,408 Member
    russellvolk wrote: »
    Hello everyone. I really enjoy walking, not running, so I joined the gym and I'm now walking 6 days a week, 1 hour per day at the speed of 4 miles per hour. Today is Friday, which is the 5th workout of the week and I feel like today's workout was a bit tougher. Is there such thing as overdoing it? Just curious?

    Yes, you can overdo it. The line depends on the person, and only you can say where that line falls.

    I normally walk 5.6 miles a way for exercise (mixed with slow jogging), plus walk a lot at my job. About 10 days I upped my jogging speed and injured my knee/leg (didn't tear anything, just severe inflammation and pain). So wear good shoes and listen to your body. Rest is important.
  • tuckerrj
    tuckerrj Posts: 1,453 Member
    cbstewart88 wrote: »
    When I've gone too far to get back in time to poop. :#

    Yup, I almost did that once. I was sprinting for the bathroom at the last.
  • naomi8888
    naomi8888 Posts: 519 Member
    If you don't have any health issues it doesn't seem excessive. It's just walking for an hour a day.
  • RealWorldStrengthLLC
    RealWorldStrengthLLC Posts: 552 Member
    The human body evolved to walk 40 miles a day and hunt saber tooth tigers. You're good.
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,130 Member
    youcantflexcardio wrote: »
    The human body evolved to walk 40 miles a day and hunt saber tooth tigers. You're good.

    Not many saber tooth tigers about these days and not many people around in the Western World that need to run around all day hunting for food. If someone is new to exercise (and potentially overweight/obese) even 4 miles per day can be too much, too soon.

  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,130 Member
    aiya0404 wrote: »
    ... there is no such thing as over walking. Hve you ever asked same question with eating or sleeping? As mammal we are born to move around but techology have reduced the amount of movements we perform per day. I can guarantee you are not walking to the threshold our bodies are designed for. This question is just ur brain making excuses. There are altheletes out there working out (intensly) for 8 hrs/day 7-6 days/ week. Ballerinas dances 8-10 hrs a day and they are fine. Stop making excuses and take control of your body.

    So you don't think there is a problem with over-eating or over-sleeping either?

    Very strong first post.

    You have no idea of OPs starting fitness level, health, weight, etc and it doesn't sound at all like they are making excuses. Pushing yourself too far too soon can lead to injury.
  • lauragreenbaum
    lauragreenbaum Posts: 1,017 Member
    edited October 2019
    I use the app on my phone to count my steps--but I don't always have my phone on me so it's always more, but it's a good guide. I only average around 3000 steps a day, but I do Pilates 1 hour every day also. When I'm traveling, and racing through airports, or on vacation and doing things like walking tours it is much higher. I start "feeling it" or feeling like I've walked almost too much when it gets around 10,000 steps.

    According to my calculations (which are not scientific, but got from my app) 4 miles would be between 10,000-12,000 steps, so it's a lot.

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