Walking

RachaelBaldwin15
RachaelBaldwin15 Posts: 8 Member
in Fitness and Exercise

This morning I went to a local park instead of walking around my neighborhood & I walked 2 extra miles without even realizing it! Do y’all ever change your scenery when doing a workout you do daily?

Replies

  • rsccore
    rsccore Posts: 34 Member

    So, when I was younger, till my late 20s, I was always lean, only knew one size of pants, everything, and to be honest, obesity was uncommon (60s, 70s, into the 80s). Then the deskjob, happy hours, the internet, and gaining about 100 lbs over 25 years. Then finally fixing it, took two tries, but on that second try, restricting and a lot of treadmill, walking, weights to not lose too much muscle. And it got fixed, and I kept up my high inclined walking on the treadmill, rowing, biking.

    But being in much better shape, I found myself wanting to walk more than wanting to sit, which was the exact opposite of what I had become. I don't park further away from entrances by forcing myself, I prefer it. I want to drive, but I don't like driving right to the door. Which is a problem now when I am with friends or even my wife. Times have really changed.

    Anyways, I was quite rigorous with my treadmill and rowing, but found that I liked walking so much more again, and walked to the park, or to the store a mile away (and a mile back), and things like disney world, and all kinds of opportunites, that I didn't really need a lot of "exercise".

    But yeah, I don't have much of my structured exercise and walks left in my routine. I still use my home gym 3 times a week, I like the rush of sweat and out of breath, and the fitness. But when I was younger before we became so sedentary, the majority of the activity calories was just walking.

    Also, when I walk to the store, which is 2 miles round trip, and takes 35 minutes, I don't look at it like wasting 35 minutes. Even if I did it in the car, it would take 15 to 20 minutes. And if I am in an outdoor mall and from one end to the other is 1/2 mile, I can walk that in almost the same amount of time it takes to go back to the car, navigate to the other side (there are several stop signs), find a parking spot, and then walk to the door.

    Not only did I start trying different walks, at some point, it isn't a workout or exercise, it's just your day, like it used to be when I was younger. But it can be very unlike what we have grown used to. I'm past that now, walking feels better to me than sitting. Some people can't do desk jobs because of that, but I unfortunately fell right into it.:)

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 38,557 Community Helper

    Walking can be great that way, though I've had periods where I walked the same route several times a week and enjoyed seeing how it changed with the seasons and even time of day.

    My main and very-favorite exercise, the one I'm doing 5 days a week now in season, isn't very compatible with changing routes: I'm an on-water rower, and the boathouse where the boats live is on a river. The river only goes where it goes, and I'm only going to row so far at any one time. The changes from weather, wildlife, seasons keep it interesting, in addition to the fun of the activity. (I usually row with friends, besides.)

    I can theoretically put my rowing single on my car, but it's around 10 feet longer than my car (26'), so the amount the skinny boat hangs off front and back makes me nervous, even with flags on it. It's more convenient by far to row from the boathouse. The multiperson boats can't generally be moved without a trailer, though a few people do put doubles (around 34' long) on a car or truck.

    I also cycle some. The outdoor version of that, I pretty much follow the same route for the first mile and a half to get to the trails, then there are a couple of choices of direction, and different branches later on the trails for some variety. I do take advantage of that for variety.

  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,839 Member

    Generally, no! I swim, ride, run, and walk the same few routes over and over. I actually like the repetition and I never get lost!

  • amerman5kim
    amerman5kim Posts: 5 Member

    This picture is gorgeous. I agree with you, outside walking is so much better 😊 Kim

  • rms62003
    rms62003 Posts: 287 Member

    Love walking outside, and can't wait until we have cooler weather and I can do it! It's cooled off enough to do some morning hikes in my area - fantastic for mental health and physical.

    I can't wait until it's cool enough to walk at lunch outside (my treadmill and Youtube travel videos aren't the same.) Just can't go back to work all sweaty 😌

  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,864 Member

    I prefer switching up my routes, but don't much like to drive so I don't do it as often as I'd like. I always loved it when we would be traveling and I could explore new places on foot. One of the things I liked about marathon training was that I ran routes that I didn't usually run because they were farther from home. You can cover a lot of ground in 20 miles.

  • amfood16
    amfood16 Posts: 47 Member

    When I change my running/walking routine not only do I see different scenery but people, too. I try to say hi and wave to all of the early morning dog walkers.

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