WALKING!: It's great excercise NOT wussy excercise!

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  • kokaneesailor
    kokaneesailor Posts: 337 Member
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    I love walking, as a matter of fact it was the second exercise I learned growing up. I started with crawling but found it very hard on my knees as I gained weight. So I switched to walking and haven't looked back. Okay maybe once but that's because the doorbell rang.

    Yep walking is great, it gets me to the washroom, the grocery store and the post office. It even gets me home.

    Nope, walking is great, I love it, I do it almost everyday. :smile:
  • tinchick
    tinchick Posts: 59 Member
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    I love walking!! It's the only exercise that I do and I've lost 21 pounds so far.

    The best part about it is that it is so easy. You don't need equipment or machines. I can do it anywhere and at anytime.
    I usually walk a mile three times a week and I can already tell that I have more energy and endurance. I even walked a 12 minute mile without feeling like I was going to die afterwards. Quite an improvement for me.
  • litatura
    litatura Posts: 569 Member
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    Power walking on the treadmill is my main cardio and I've lost almost 60lbs since last summer (and I'm now only 15lbs to goal). The key to is to jack up the speed and incline - for all the doubters, you can get your heart rate up and the sweat flowing from power walking. I had switched to running for a while, but I burn more calories with power walking so I decided to go back to power walking. Once I hit goal, I'm going to switch back to running.
  • Natihilator
    Natihilator Posts: 1,778 Member
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    People that knock walking probably picture someone doing a leisurely stroll for an hour. Nope.

    I do strength training and other forms of cardio, but I still get great calorie burns on the treadmill, fooling around with the incline and speed settings, and I never do more than 30 minutes. I am not a runner, never was, never will be. I also burn crazy calories going on hikes, another form of walking.

    Like most things in life, you gotta put some effort into it to get the most out of it. If someone weighs 400lbs and can only walk at 2.0mph and no incline, they still might be putting a lot into it given their current fitness level.

    Haters can step off :laugh:
  • annabellio
    annabellio Posts: 127 Member
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    Because of my trick ankle i can only walk - it bugs me sometimes that I can't do other stuff ( though i do miss the gym and the elliptical - but can't afford it right now) HOWEVER , walking is GREAT exercise and I have 36 pounds lost to prove it !
  • emmiee921
    emmiee921 Posts: 224
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    all i do is walking, everyday but try to get a bit of running in.

    recently I've been walking around 1.5-2 hours a day
  • HerBravado
    HerBravado Posts: 392 Member
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    I lost my first 20 pounds from walking with Leslie Sansone. :D
    I think walking's a legit exercise.
    Whether it's outside, on a treadmill, or with a DVD.
  • firesoforion
    firesoforion Posts: 1,017 Member
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    I've since gained the weight back (that sounds worse than it is because really, I kept it off for years and just gained it in a particularly stressful school period), but I once lost pretty much all the weight I wanted to in a six month period of doing what I later found out is intermittent fasting, and walking a lot. I love walking. The best thing is if you have a quick walk in which one part (three to four minutes, maybe longer when you start) is a solid, steep incline, and you take it all at once (actually what prompted the walking for four of the six months was the location of my parking lot at school, it was a 10 minute walk from any of my classes and 5/4/3 (it sped up) of that was that kind of hill). It just about killed me but I took two minutes off my time over the course of the semester (hah, I was always late so doing it as fast as I could), and I had a backpack with books on as I did it. Seriously, best exercise ever. I should start doing that again. It was way more effective than whatever I've been doing recently.
  • blondejillie
    blondejillie Posts: 305 Member
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    Most of my exercise is walking. My feet, ankles, and knees don't like running. Neither does my brain. I am trying to add some resistance training to help with upper body muscle mass, but I haven't seen any need for anything else as of yet.

    In my area, Kaiser Permanante plays this ad for greater physical activity in general and walking in particular:

    http://xnet.kp.org/newscenter/pressreleases/nat/2011/091411thriveads.html
    “Find Your Thing” is a television ad that expresses the different interests and passions that exist toward healthy activities. The woman in the ad is shown running, returning workout equipment and biking, none of which she enjoys. At the end of the 30-second spot, she is shown walking, with a smile on her face. The ad examines several types of activities and concludes that whatever your favorite healthy activity is, if you like doing it, chances are you will stick with it and take charge of improving your health.

    Walking is a key theme in the “Find Your Thing” advertisement. Kaiser Permanente also promotes walking through its EveryBody Walk! campaign, a public awareness project aimed at starting a national conversation about the health benefits of walking. It’s designed to help Americans integrate walking into their daily routine by walking 30 minutes a day, five days a week. For more information visit: www.everybodywalk.org.

    “Physical activity is a cornerstone of good health and walking is an excellent form of exercise. It can help prevent and treat conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma and heart disease,” said Bob Sallis, MD, a family physician in Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California Permanente Medical Group. “I prescribe walking to my patients as a form of medicine because it’s an easy, cost-effective way to exercise and the health benefits are invaluable.”

    This bears repeating: "whatever your favorite healthy activity is, if you like doing it, chances are you will stick with it and take charge of improving your health."


    Ditto on all this. I started with MFP in January, and began walking in February. First a block or so, and now 3-5 miles daily. I am over 50, so I count this as great exercise for my joints and heart health. I am down 15 pounds, and my dogs are getting the benefit also.

    PupsPixBefore-1.jpg
  • NotGoddess
    NotGoddess Posts: 1,198 Member
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    Bump for later.
  • littlelily613
    littlelily613 Posts: 769 Member
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    Walking is pretty much all I do for exercise right now. I want to gradually turn that into jogging on occasion as well, but right now it is walking. I burn lots that way as well, and it helps me lose weight much more quickly. The only downside is that it doesn't tighten the areas I need tightened.
  • Lorlei25
    Lorlei25 Posts: 36 Member
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    Walking with my pooch is more than just exercise, it is therapy! I love the fresh air, rain or shine it just feels good! I was in a car accident and for a while it was all I could do and it saved me! Literally!
  • D446
    D446 Posts: 266 Member
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    maybe its just me but i dont think walking burns too many calories. but i agree everyone needs to start some where.

    It depends on how must effort you're putting into it. If you're just going for a casual stroll for 30 minutes you won't burn as many calories as you would if you were power walking at 4.5+mph pumping your arms wearing 1lb wrist weights.

    I burn more calories, according to my HRM, power walking than I do running at 6.5mph. It's all about where your heart rate falls.

    Oh, and I started out doing only walking the first 8 months of getting back into shape and lost 63 pounds. Then I started gradually running and now run several times a week.

    maybe you're right, i just feel like if you are healthy enough you should be investing your work out time more wisely by doing exercises that really challenge you. i dont feel that walking is a challenge.

    Maybe you aren't pushing yourself hard enough when walking? I walk very quickly, and always feel like I have done a good workout after an hour. I cannot run as my knees are terribly bad, plus I actually enjoy walking!
  • saintspoon
    saintspoon Posts: 242 Member
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    What awesome replies :) thanks everybody for sharing !!
  • LoserCruiser
    LoserCruiser Posts: 184
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    Walking is something the whole family can do and it can always be adventurous!
  • HowardRose
    HowardRose Posts: 138 Member
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    Walking is my primary excerise. I works well both physically and mentally.
  • angie_sample
    angie_sample Posts: 190
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    i mostly walk.. i have tendinitis is in my hips and running really makes it flare up. i will raise the incline if im on the treadmill to burn extra calories.
  • fitnesspirateninja
    fitnesspirateninja Posts: 667 Member
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    Walking is my favorite and primary form of exercise. I'm having a lot of success with it now and in the past I have been able to lose weight by walking. I think it helps to mix it up a bit, but if you like to walk, I think you should walk.
  • ruthmarie1
    ruthmarie1 Posts: 7
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    I had an alcohol issue, and I was always VERY slim before that. I gained 80 lbs over the course of 4 years drinking heavily every night & its been 2 1/2 months since I quit drinking and I've lost 30 lbs without even trying really as far as the diet goes. I HAD to start with walking, because when you gain that much weight, you just can't run or do the things you used to be able to do. I have recently started alternating walking with running again & weight lifting. But thats just recent, those 30 lbs came off while I was only walking. I honestly think that running is better as far as stripping the weight from you faster...but of course you have to build up to that.
  • TexanThom
    TexanThom Posts: 778
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    How many miles do you think a person that weighs 350-400lbs can run? I promise you learned to walk before you learned to run.

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