Walking
AGGUK73
Posts: 91 Member
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
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Walking is excellent exercise, as you've found. Do what you enjoy.0
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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.0
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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.. /:0 -
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!0 -
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 day0
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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.0
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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.0
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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.
Angela0 -
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.0 -
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!0
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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:0 -
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.0
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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.0 -
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 doing0
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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 wins0 -
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.0
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I have to walk more again.0
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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 walking0
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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.0
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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.0 -
i love to walk and it is my exercise of choice too...i walk very fast naturally....looking at me from a distance it looks like i am a soldier marching real fast so i guess i look really funny...but if it helps...i remember having a rocking body in my 20s and all i did was walk everywhere....
enjoy your walks...0 -
Walking is a great way to exercise, and I'm sure your pooch loves the extra attention ....... that's all I did at first ..... walking helped me lose the first 40 lbs .....
Enjoy :drinker:0 -
I LOVE this post! I always feel so lazy...like I am not doing nearly enough. I love to walk...it is my favorite way to exercise and I take advantage of the nice weather for as long as we have it. All of my success in years past was from walking.0
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I should also explain....I feel so lazy when I read a lot of other posts. People doing all the videos...zumba...lifting...classes...etc. It makes me feel like walking is lazy....I was so happy to see this thread. I can't do any of the others.....I have horrible arthritis in my knees and anything more than walking and elliptical hurts....I am only 38 too.0
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I should also explain....I feel so lazy when I read a lot of other posts. People doing all the videos...zumba...lifting...classes...etc. It makes me feel like walking is lazy....I was so happy to see this thread. I can't do any of the others.....I have horrible arthritis in my knees and anything more than walking and elliptical hurts....I am only 38 too.
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I think that this is a very common feeling, and it's a shame. There are so many people who claim that so-called High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is the only real way to lose fat and preserve muscle. These people then go on to define HIIT in a way that has no application to overweight people -- and obese people in particular. The truth is that walking at between 2.5 and 3.0 mph is HIIT to someone who is obese, rendering the acronym meaningless.0 -
Spartan: thank you for your comment! I am so happy to know I am not alone! :-)0
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Spartan: thank you for your comment! I am so happy to know I am not alone! :-)
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You're welcome. Please keep at it. When I first started, I couldn't do a single jumping jack because the pain in my lumbar region was too extreme to bear. In fact, I struggled to get out of bed most mornings. After seven months of slowly building my strength back up by walking between 2.5 to 3.5 mph and strength training, I can presently run a 40-yard dash in 4.9 seconds even with my body fat still at 19%. There is fat to lose to get that time way down. Parenthetically, I can now do 15 sets of 60 jumping jacks very easily. It just takes some time: the body can be so resilient. Best of luck to you!0 -
I love walking. I hate all the other activity workouts...unless I am actually doing it with someone, because I get bored easy and give up real easy as well. Walking is getting the heart bumping, but I mean......if i try to go for a run .....I'm like dying lol ......haha so why don't you do the walking till you loose as much weight as you want, and then when you loose the weight...... try to then run and it might be even easier on your ankles and yourself, and wont be as hard to keep up with the run, then if you where to do it now with having more weight on you. Like me at 160 I would die running lol, but I want to loose some more weight and then hopefully it will be a lot easier for me to try and start running because I will have built strength and momentum. If you want a little more to help make you feel better ...that you are doing more then just walk, you can add weights to your walk. Like 3lb weights and that actually helps out a lot in your arms and with how you walk. You can pick up the pace a bit to and you will see a tremendous difference. Good luck doll. I take my own advice lol and try to keep up with it. lol0
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Weights and resistance training very important especially as you age...muscle mass decreases naturally...if you want your BMR to stay up you better build muscle.0
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Thanks everyone for your input, it's made me feel better about my choice of excercise. Would love to say walking in the British countryside is a wonderful experience, BUT it clearly isn't! British summertime = hardly any sunshine, cold, windy & very wet! A raincoat & wellies is what I need to aid me in my walking! Off to don the north face jacket n wellies0
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