Walking

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AGGUK73
AGGUK73 Posts: 91 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi all, I'm interested to hear what people think on my subject. Over the years I've done all types of regular excercise: aerobics (inc. step/water), weights/cardio at gym, road running, but the bottom line is that I HATE them all & find them hard to maintain long term. So my choice of exercise presently is dog walking at a moderate pace (as myfitpal terms it). I am walking the pooch 5/6 times a week for 60-90 mins. Sometimes up to 2 hours at weekends. I often have my evening meal before walking her. Question is though, is this a sufficient method of regular exercise? I rarely feel exhausted/out of breath/sweating from it. However I am losing a 1lb a week & as I only started with 12 to lose that's quite good (4 to go).
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Replies

  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
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    Walking is excellent exercise, as you've found. Do what you enjoy. :smile:
  • Moriarty_697
    Moriarty_697 Posts: 226 Member
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    Walking is indeed excellent exercise. If you're losing weight consistently then that may be all you need. That said, if you aren't feeling challenged, you may want to pick up the pace a bit to get the heart moving a little faster. Have fun.
  • Chelsiekayy04
    Chelsiekayy04 Posts: 3
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    I did that a few years ago, and drank water when I felt bored and didn't eat seconds and what not and just those tiny changes.. I lost 10 pounds every month. So after 3 months I lost 35 pounds! I did it just to get out of house and make my fat dog not fat anymore and it ended up helping me out WAY more then I expected.

    If you love it, I'd stick with it! I ended up walking the dog just to clear my head and some me time. It was awesome.
    Now I live in a place that gets up to 111-113 and is 100 at midnight so I don't go on much walks.. /:
  • TheVimFuego
    TheVimFuego Posts: 2,412 Member
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    Walking is excellent fat-burning exercise, it doesn't have to be too stressful. Too much strain will raise cortisol and be counter-productive. Collapsing in a heap at the end is not the way to go, IMO.

    Rather than increase the intensity of the walking I'd add some resistance training in there to help preserve muscle mass. Even if it's just some push-ups. Working for me anyway :)

    As others say, do what you enjoy and have fun!
  • LCunkle83
    LCunkle83 Posts: 179
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    walking is what made me lose 26 lbs! I walk 5-6 miles every other day... Ive lost my 26 lbs with walking and eating 1200 cals a day :)
  • SaffieM
    SaffieM Posts: 9
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    Walking is all the exercise I do right now, like yourself I tried others including getting a personal trainer however it took me going on a trip to Africa and doing a lot of walking daily that got me loosing weight. I now realize 2 years later and gaining all the weight and more, that walking did it for me. I am going to stick with walking and continue to watch my calories and I believe I should be okay. I will see how this works out after about a month.
  • tnrunningnurse
    tnrunningnurse Posts: 549 Member
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    Walking is an excellent form of excercise, but you should try to up the pace to at least feel a moderate effort to improve you cardio fitness. You should also think about adding weight/resistance training....muscle burns more cals than fat.
  • StudioMaid
    StudioMaid Posts: 84 Member
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    Walking is the way I am loosing weight. I am using a treadmill though. I am up to 4 miles a day and increasing every few days. I have bad knees and don't want to start running and end up having more knee surgery. Keep up the good work and don't give up.
    Angela
  • prairiewalker
    prairiewalker Posts: 184 Member
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    Very good for you and your lucky pup.

    I'm letting my dog have the first ten minutes to sniff and wander and do his business :flowerforyou: ...after that I hug him close to me and we keep a steady pace.
  • LetsTryThisAgain54
    LetsTryThisAgain54 Posts: 381 Member
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    Walking is a great way to lose weight. It doesn't have to be strenuous (sp) either. I just started walking too because I absolutely hate treadmills. I also started riding my bicycle once in a while in place of walking. I should take my dog walking too! :)
  • OSC_ESD
    OSC_ESD Posts: 752 Member
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    ~ Walking is just as much of a good choice as any other form of cardio exercise ... it's great for the heart and will help you maintain a healthy lifestyle ...

    If you love it ... your already winning ... if your losing 1 lb a week from doing what you love .... Jackpot !

    Cheers ! :drinker:
  • jenorozco79
    jenorozco79 Posts: 16
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    Honestly, I don't think anything works as good as walking as a method of losing weight and toning. You may want to speed it up every few minutes, or even jog so that you can keep your heart rate up and get a better workout.
  • emgawne
    emgawne Posts: 265 Member
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    i definitely agree that walking is a good form of exercise. in an effort to switch things up you may want to try increasing the intensity/speed of walking for short distances during your walk and i also agree that adding in resistance training (such as body weight exercises) would be helpful to help avoid muscle mass loss.
    other than that, walk away! and enjoy yourself. :)
  • MrsFolk
    MrsFolk Posts: 205
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    As everyone else has said, walking is an excellent form of exercise. If you're feeling up to it, challenge yourself a little more. If not, keep doing what you're doing :)
  • TheVimFuego
    TheVimFuego Posts: 2,412 Member
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    i definitely agree that walking is a good form of exercise. in an effort to switch things up you may want to try increasing the intensity/speed of walking for short distances during your walk and i also agree that adding in resistance training (such as body weight exercises) would be helpful to help avoid muscle mass loss.
    other than that, walk away! and enjoy yourself. :)

    I reckon the *occasional* all-out sprint can be very beneficial, I am trying that when the mood dictates ... Usually the dog wins ;)
  • kimmieyr1
    kimmieyr1 Posts: 189
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    I love walking and it is what I can stick with. I try to walk 4-5 miles a day 6-7 days a week. I can only do this because I enjoy it - that is outside walking. Put me on a treadmill and I think 5 minutes feel like an hour! I have lost 39 pounds since February walking and eating 1200-1500 calories a day. I am trying to find a way to build up muscle as I think that is the key to maintaining and being able to eat so much more.
  • alexbusnello
    alexbusnello Posts: 1,010 Member
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    I have to walk more again.
  • Oranda
    Oranda Posts: 121
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    This is pretty much what I do. I walk the dog 6-7 times per week 30 - 120 minutes per day. I like to change up where we go and what we do. Hiking with him is a nice change. It is so easy to do as regular exercise and it is fun. I am trying to throw the odd different activity in there but I'm not doing anything else on a regular basis. Keep walking :)
  • lwlock
    lwlock Posts: 33 Member
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    All I do is walk. I don't really want to run (unless I'm playing sports or being chased) so this is a great alternative for me. I'm a teacher, so during the summer I'm walking all at once. During the school year, however, I break it up into smaller bits. Even if it's just a lap or two around the school during a break. I use a Fitbit to count steps and that encourages me to pick up steps when I can.
  • Spartan_Maker
    Spartan_Maker Posts: 683 Member
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    For losing fat while preserving muscle, it's the best exercise in my view, mainly for the reason you stated -- it's easy and requires little motivation. Anecdotally, I lost 100 lbs. in six months by strength training and walking at just 3.0 mph, which is really little more than traipsing. Of that 100 lbs., 89 was fat and 11 was muscle -- I think that's a good trade from 308 to 209, considering I'm not carrying that enormous weight around any longer.

    I would go so far as to say that people shouldn't sprint or even run until their body fat % indicates fitness: 14-17% for men and 21-24% for women.

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