Walk

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Do you also walk during the weekends?
Or take a break

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  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,613 Member
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    Sunday is my run day. Saturday is live step aerobics. So, no need to take a break on the weekend unless you want to.
  • COGypsy
    COGypsy Posts: 1,183 Member
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    I save longer walks for the weekends. It’s really nice to be out without watching the clock every minute to be sure I get back home in time for whatever is next in the agenda.
  • Mischante
    Mischante Posts: 36 Member
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    I walk every day and make sure to get a minimum of 10,000 steps in. I've been doing it since January and now it's just a habit.
  • PeachHibiscus
    PeachHibiscus Posts: 163 Member
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    My husband and I will often do nicer or more fun walks on the weekends, if that makes sense. Whereas during the week we'll usually just stick to a few set routes around the neighborhood like our 1, 2 or 3 mile loops. During the week, with work, there isn't always time for something more adventurous and it can get boring.

    But weekends we're more likely to go to a park or rail trail to walk. Or do something else active outside, like the botanical gardens, which entails walking all day.
  • Rockmama1111
    Rockmama1111 Posts: 262 Member
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    I walk for peace and relaxation AND steps. Every day for me.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,951 Member
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    I like to be active every day, but don't do the same things every day. I walk, garden, swim, practice yoga, go to the gym, etc. The only time I take a break is when I am sick. I have old injuries which are now considered conditions and find something to do that doesn't aggravate them.
  • Rockmama1111
    Rockmama1111 Posts: 262 Member
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    I like to be active every day, but don't do the same things every day. I walk, garden, swim, practice yoga, go to the gym, etc. The only time I take a break is when I am sick. I have old injuries which are now considered conditions and find something to do that doesn't aggravate them.

    I took out a very light bag of recycling yesterday and threw out my back for no reason whatsoever. Now I’m incapacitated and irritated! 😂
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,680 Member
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    I have a dog who loves his daily walks, so I walk 2-3 miles every single day, rain or shine. My runs are only 5 days a week, but I mix the rest or cross training days in so I do 2-3 days strenuous, one day light, then 2-3 more strenuous.
  • tulips_and_tea
    tulips_and_tea Posts: 5,711 Member
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    I like to be active every day, but don't do the same things every day. I walk, garden, swim, practice yoga, go to the gym, etc. The only time I take a break is when I am sick. I have old injuries which are now considered conditions and find something to do that doesn't aggravate them.

    I took out a very light bag of recycling yesterday and threw out my back for no reason whatsoever. Now I’m incapacitated and irritated! 😂

    Oh no! Those are the worst kind of injuries! Hope it heals quickly.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,427 Member
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    The weekend is a fab moment for a longer hike.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,382 Member
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    For those who find walking strenuous, rest days are definitely reasonable.

    I'd like to underscore this one.

    If walking is easy and not fatiguing, sure, it's fine to walk every day, 7 days.

    But if it's a new thing and you feel sore or fatigued (for more than a few minutes after the walk), then it makes sense to have day(s) without walking. In that scenario, there will be time to build up gradually (in distance, speed, or frequency) as you get fitter. That's actually better for both fitness and weight loss than walking to exhaustion/constant soreness. The sweet spot is a mild but manageable challenge to current capabilities.

    I agree that longer walks or hikes on the weekend can be good . . . but that advice is maybe more from/about people who've been active for a longer time. We don't know what your history is.

    The right "dose" of walking will be good for you!

  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,724 Member
    edited August 2023
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    We all need to build up to where we want to be. And we don't all start at the same level.

    Some of us may start from a position where movement that is even more gentle than walking is what is warranted to start (f.e. pool walking). Or we may have other challenges that make walking difficult instead of easy. If rest is warranted, it is warranted!

    I personally started from a position where movement and walking were possible; but not something I consistently engaged in. One of my first goals was to have "no single day below 5,000 steps for a month". And it took me a few months to get there.

    Having come to the realization that I was looking at long terms life changes, making the **ME** time that allows me to walk every day was a priority. Yes, I did choose to make gradual changes in my life and replace habits that are less conducive to movement with ones that are. Yes, that even extends to making changes on how and with whom I interact.

    These days I actively *miss* not going for a good walk on the days where circumstances don't permit me to. Thankfully this doesn't happen often.

    There was a time period where I had to "remind myself" that I had made a commitment to myself and I had to find a way to make the time to implement it. If one is in that position then I wouldn't call the rest day "warranted".

    But if one's physical condition requires rest or adjustment or slow down, especially to avoid injury? Absolutely.
  • crb426
    crb426 Posts: 657 Member
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    In terms of rest days, you want to listen to your body. If you're still feeling strong and good everyday, then a rest day could be as simple as doing a shorter, slower walk once or twice a week. But if your body is feeling extra sore or "heavy", like you are carrying sandbags on your arms and legs, then a full rest day or two are essential. Your body needs a chance to repair itself. This doesn't mean you have to be immobile all day, but save the more strenuous stuff for another day.
  • maggybd
    maggybd Posts: 48 Member
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    I try to walk every day. For me it is harder during the workweek because sometimes I just can't find the time. On weekends, I almost always get my steps in especially after I got a treadmill for hot days. If I take a rest day, it is usually during the workweek.
  • flower3326
    flower3326 Posts: 35 Member
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    I take walks every day. I pretty much know if I take a rest day, I probably just won't get back to it.

    Like I was walking every day back in May for over a week and then one day I didn't go because I "didn't feel like it" and it was a month and a half before I took another walk. So every day it is.

    Yes your right I've been stress eating eveynight. Today I have to destress myself get back on track
  • flower3326
    flower3326 Posts: 35 Member
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    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    For those who find walking strenuous, rest days are definitely reasonable.

    I'd like to underscore this one.

    If walking is easy and not fatiguing, sure, it's fine to walk every day, 7 days.

    But if it's a new thing and you feel sore or fatigued (for more than a few minutes after the walk), then it makes sense to have day(s) without walking. In that scenario, there will be time to build up gradually (in distance, speed, or frequency) as you get fitter. That's actually better for both fitness and weight loss than walking to exhaustion/constant soreness. The sweet spot is a mild but manageable challenge to current capabilities.

    I agree that longer walks or hikes on the weekend can be good . . . but that advice is maybe more from/about people who've been active for a longer time. We don't know what your history is.

    The right "dose" of walking will be good for you!

    Okay the weekdays I do 500 calores burn maybe weekends I can push myself to 600 calories burned
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,724 Member
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    Not sure how we went from taking a rest day to increasing one's burn by 20%
    And there is more to activity than just the burn.

    How many hours of deliberate walking are we talking about here and are you including the calories that MFP would already include for that time period?

    After doing the math every which way, I decided that it was simpler for me to just use a separate fitness tracker to automatically keep track of my activity.

    I then compared my expected deficit (the all day burn from tracker, aka tdee, vs my energy intake from my logs) to my actual weight trend over a sufficiently long time period. And came up with an approximate "error". This gave me the ability to adjust what I was doing to achieve my goals.

    I love walking and it is an excellent activity. It is, however, a RELATIVELY lower intensity / higher duration type of activity. This means that a large component of any burn is base BMR.

    MFP spreads the calories for our activity level to each of the 1440 minutes of the day. Because of this quirk MFP each minute of the day already includes more than BMR calories.

    So, in the literature you will see that an activity consumes 300 Cal an hour as an example for someone with a BMR of 100 Cal an hour. And you will go: "Woohoo! The net additional burn is 200 Cal an hour!"

    Not so with MFP.

    MFP assigns at least 125 Cal to each hour for this 100 Cal an hour BMR person! Actually, depending on how we list ourselves, MFP assigns 140, 160 or 180 Cal per hour depending on whether we choose lightly active, active, or very active.

    So for the 100 Cal an hour BMR person the corresponding net burn of the 300 Cal an hour activity would NOT be 200 Cal an hour. The extra burn would be anywhere from 175Cal an hour to as little as 120 Cal an hour.

    Now all this is far from a big deal for someone engaging in an hour's worth of activity while applying a 1000 Cal per day deficit. The deficit will overwhelm any inaccuracy.

    But it is of some appreciable significance to people such as myself who may be applying smaller deficits (say 150 to 250 Cal a day) while engaged in multiple hours of lower intensity activity such as walking.

    And everyone's' mileage will vary anywhere in between.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,014 Member
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    flower3326 wrote: »
    Do you also walk during the weekends?
    Or take a break

    I usually walk more on the weekends because I have more time since I am not at work all day.

    after work in winter I just do a short walk (more for dog's benifit than mine) - in daylights saving/summer when it is light and warm after work I do a longish walk after work and on weekend.