Do you feel walking is enough?

[Wonton]

Hi there.

My preferred form of exercise has always been walking. No wonder I bought a fancy pedometer, eh?

Anyways, I was wondering if anyone ever feels....like it's kind of wimpy...? I mean, when I hear people say "I go to the gym!" or "I'm a runner!" I always feel so silly saying "I try to walk 15,000 steps a day". It almost feels like such a firm disconnect that I doubt they even think I'm exercising.

I dunno. Maybe they're right. Hell, maybe it's all just in my head.

Let me know your thoughts!

[Christat]

I agree about the "wimpy" walking image but it can still be of great personal benefit and after all are we not doing this for ourselves rather than what others think. Also even with just walking there are ways to up ones game and improve fitness or weight loss. Just see how much more it takes out of you when trying to knock even a minute off your pace per mile or walking an extra mile more than your usual.

Like many others have suggested it is time that often limits our fitness regime so trying to do more in that time seems the obvious answer and if it keeps the fitness levels up or the waistline inches/cms down then so much the better.

That said I still feel just a little on the wimpy side but I can live with it !

[NY2TX]

---

@Christat wrote:

I agree about the "wimpy" walking image but it can still be of great personal benefit and after all are we not doing this for ourselves rather than what others think. Also even with just walking there are ways to up ones game and improve fitness or weight loss. Just see how much more it takes out of you when trying to knock even a minute off your pace per mile or walking an extra mile more than your usual.

Like many others have suggested it is time that often limits our fitness regime so trying to do more in that time seems the obvious answer and if it keeps the fitness levels up or the waistline inches/cms down then so much the better.

That said I still feel just a little on the wimpy side but I can live with it !

---

Walking has a "wimpy" image? You cannot be serious! Since May 23, 2014, I have walked almost 1500 miles outdoors. I have gone from a stroll of 2.5 miles at 17:00/mile to 8-10 miles at under 13:00/mile. I walked in the Rock & Roll Half Marathon last December in under 3 hours. I recently have gotten to a 12:40 or less pace per mile for 5-8 mile workouts.

Walking is not "wimpy." Far from it.  Wimpy is an mind set and an attitude. I walk faster than many people jog or run.  And BTW, I will be 66 this weekend and have lost 80 pounds doing the "wimpy" thing.

What I think is "wimpy" are the people who get their mega-step counts from a trampoline or from walking around their house or around a shopping mall (JMO).  At least if you're on a treadmill, you're doing pseudo running/walking.

[joella]

---

@NY2TX wrote:

---

@Christat wrote:

I agree about the "wimpy" walking image but it can still be of great personal benefit and after all are we not doing this for ourselves rather than what others think. Also even with just walking there are ways to up ones game and improve fitness or weight loss. Just see how much more it takes out of you when trying to knock even a minute off your pace per mile or walking an extra mile more than your usual.

Like many others have suggested it is time that often limits our fitness regime so trying to do more in that time seems the obvious answer and if it keeps the fitness levels up or the waistline inches/cms down then so much the better.

That said I still feel just a little on the wimpy side but I can live with it !

---

Walking has a "wimpy" image? You cannot be serious! Since May 23, 2014, I have walked almost 1500 miles outdoors. I have gone from a stroll of 2.5 miles at 17:00/mile to 8-10 miles at under 13:00/mile. I walked in the Rock & Roll Half Marathon last December in under 3 hours. I recently have gotten to a 12:40 or less pace per mile for 5-8 mile workouts.

Walking is not "wimpy." Far from it.  Wimpy is an mind set and an attitude. I walk faster than many people jog or run.  And BTW, I will be 66 this weekend and have lost 80 pounds doing the "wimpy" thing.

What I think is "wimpy" are the people who get their mega-step counts from a trampoline or from walking around their house or around a shopping mall (JMO).  At least if you're on a treadmill, you're doing pseudo running/walking.

---

---

---

Love this post!

I recently got a fitbit and this is the best post I have seen on the boards here. You are a great example for anyone in their 60's + trying to get the weight off and keep it off.

[NY2TX]

---

@joella wrote:

---

@NY2TX wrote:

---

@Christat wrote:

I agree about the "wimpy" walking image but it can still be of great personal benefit and after all are we not doing this for ourselves rather than what others think. Also even with just walking there are ways to up ones game and improve fitness or weight loss. Just see how much more it takes out of you when trying to knock even a minute off your pace per mile or walking an extra mile more than your usual.

Like many others have suggested it is time that often limits our fitness regime so trying to do more in that time seems the obvious answer and if it keeps the fitness levels up or the waistline inches/cms down then so much the better.

That said I still feel just a little on the wimpy side but I can live with it !

---

Walking has a "wimpy" image? You cannot be serious! Since May 23, 2014, I have walked almost 1500 miles outdoors. I have gone from a stroll of 2.5 miles at 17:00/mile to 8-10 miles at under 13:00/mile. I walked in the Rock & Roll Half Marathon last December in under 3 hours. I recently have gotten to a 12:40 or less pace per mile for 5-8 mile workouts.

Walking is not "wimpy." Far from it.  Wimpy is an mind set and an attitude. I walk faster than many people jog or run.  And BTW, I will be 66 this weekend and have lost 80 pounds doing the "wimpy" thing.

What I think is "wimpy" are the people who get their mega-step counts from a trampoline or from walking around their house or around a shopping mall (JMO).  At least if you're on a treadmill, you're doing pseudo running/walking.

---

---

---

Love this post!

I recently got a fitbit and this is the best post I have seen on the boards here. You are a great example for anyone in their 60's + trying to get the weight off and keep it off.

---

Walking is only wimpy if you approach it as wimpy. "Wimpy is as wimpy does." I object strongly to any insinuation that my walking 5-7 miles a day during the week and 7-13 miles on weekends is wimpy, or anything but athletic. I'd be happy to walk against some of the "joggers/runners" in my age group or younger. Yes, a challenge. Can you run/jog under 13:00/mile?

All of the mega-steppers who get 50,000 steps in a day are not athletes. JMO of course.  They are people with a lot of time on their hands and who tamploine their way to a lot of steps. Ask this, have they improved the cardio conditioning? Have the lost weight, or simply gotten one of those silly FitBit badges?

Over and out.

[ccibif]

Walking is VERY good....keep your heart rate up.  If you can the vary the intensity of your walk.  Heart rate moving up and down can improve recovery and overall heart rate active or resting as well as blood pressure.  Walking is NOT wimpy.  If one wishes to add to the walk, do push & sit ups.  Try or add cycling; with cycling you're not beating up your joints and cycling is a calorie burner.

[iwarrior]

Walking is a VERY important part of my fitness routine. Not only do I walk everywhere ( I don't drive) but I use the treadmill in the gym 3-4 times a week, along with other cardio machines, and happily power-walk for an hour at 6.5kph on maximium incline. I have osteo-arthritis in my knees (kneecaps) and have had surgeries on them in the past so high impact training is no-go.

It helps with the mobility and burns a lot of calories, I've seen the treadmill output of people running next to me and their calorie burn per minute is lower than mine! Don't let anything put you off, everyone has their own needs and restraints so carry on walking 🙂

[Paradise555]

For me, walking is a good way to destress, to think, to be in my own thoughts for a little while. Plus walking for me is a good way to take a break. Doesnt need to be a long walk, like 5-10 minutes of intense walking every 90-120 minutes. Hey, to me walking isnt exercising, going to the gym is exercising. Walking is what we all do, it comes natural.

[NY2TX]

...

[Battleship12]

Thank you.

[iwarrior]

Agreed. Walking IS exercise, I think some people feel they don't exert themselves enough while walking to count it towards their daily exercise total.

I cannot run either; my knees are arthritic and I have had surgeries on them in the past. I walk a lot to keep my joints active and to keep my weight steady, and it works. I will easily do nearly 900 calories (ish) in an hour on the treadmill in the gym, and if you see how I sweat you will realise that walking, for me, is very much, exercise 🙂

also, NY2TX, I get you with the 'not jogging as fast as that' statement. I walk on the treadmill at 6.5kph on maximum incline. I've seen people jog, or try to jog, on lower speeds than that. Then they look at me all uppity when I have this massive calorie burn readout compared to theirs. Ha! I burn more calories walking than some others do jogging 😉 high five to you with your weight loss and marathon times 🙂

[NY2TX]

...

[Heybales]

Should probably put some of that emotion in to helping people MAKE walking exercise - not in to trying to convince everyone that walking is automatically exercise.

Because I'm sorry, I'm sure we can all agree that the vast majority of people we see walking (outside you and the group you likely keep of like-minded folks) are NOT walking in a way to make it exercise.

After their first few weeks or a month of increasing their walking time in general, and hefting around that extra mass, I do not see them increasing pace enough to compensate for the lost weight that is being caused by the diet. By diet, I mean eating less than you burn daily, no matter what the activity is.

If you don't increase the intensity, but you are carrying around less mass - you have just make it easier - therefore it's not even the workout it used to be when you weighed more.

You have some great stats for your walking speed. I'm sure you are in a circle of friends attempting or doing the same thing.

And how much of that applies to the real world where you see ladies talking and walking about 2 mph, or walking dog that slow, or pushing stroller that slow.

Nothing against going out there and using that available time for something that burns some extra calories.

But for the vast majority I see, walking being a workout to their body in any sense of the term of exercise - was left long ago.

And my opinion is based on long bike rides where I get to see many people walking, and riding the trails with my son on Co-pilot seeing the walkers there. I get to see a lot of walkers. Today's 3 hr ride, despite appearing like a storm was coming at any time, I saw over 20 people that appeared to be out for purposeful walk, not the teenagers, or someone carrying bags from one business to another, ect. And of those 20 just today - it was probably a workout for 3 of them because of extra mass being carried. And they looked purposeful and serious. So they are the ones likely to keep making it a workout well down the road.

If they can be encouraged to do so.

I think your useful passion would be best for those that need to know HOW to make walking continue to be a workout like you do it - not just telling them it is when likely it has not been for a long time by the way they do it.

[Colinm39]

@HeybalesYour post triggered an excellent article I read the other day. It mirrors your posting, and stated that "too many people out walking, were exercising their jaws talking and barely getting any overall benefit from the walking effort".

There is not much posted in the Fitbit forums on RPE, the Rate of Perceived Effort..

Here is a link from the Center for Disease Prevention and Control... (CDC) about RPE

Let's keep it in the family..

The interesting thing about this link Borg, gives a factor.... The RPE x 10 = Heart rate which is qualified "as an approximation".  These scales are very close to my efforts and HR.

[NY2TX]

...

[Heybales]

---

@Colinm39 wrote:

@HeybalesYour post triggered an excellent article I read the other day. It mirrors your posting, and stated that "too many people out walking, were exercising their jaws talking and barely getting any overall benefit from the walking effort".

There is not much posted in the Fitbit forums on RPE, the Rate of Perceived Effort..

Here is a link from the Center for Disease Prevention and Control... (CDC) about RPE

Let's keep it in the family..

The interesting thing about this link Borg, gives a factor.... The RPE x 10 = Heart rate which is qualified "as an approximation".  These scales are very close to my efforts and HR.

---

That's always been one of those good scales I never felt like I was being accurate on.

But I'd never caught that perhaps approximate relationship to HR being mentioned with it.

Now the walking for me is probably higher RPE than related HR, but probably because I don't have the right form to get the speed up past 15 min/mile very well. So not as efficient feeling as it could be.

But the ride today was probably pretty decently close, avg 158 HR, and I'd rate it a 16 I guess.

I think I lose ability to be objective as it gets longer and there is more variation, and as the event fades in the past if rating it after the fact.

Probably the same reason I enjoy winter camping - I keep forgetting the negatives as the year comes around to that season again.

And anything related to the Borg has got to be interesting. Well, unless assimilated.

I think the comment above about the incline, for those on treadmills, is excellent reminder. If your pace is maxing out walking flat, that incline better be going up as time goes on.

[betpchem]

My gracious, this is clearly a sore subject for some people. 

Perhaps some of those people "only exercising their jaws" are simply out to enjoy nature and companionship with a friend. Not everyone is out walking to burn a lot of calories. And that's fine. It's still exercise and better than sitting on the couch. If you are out walking, working hard and burning a lot of calories, good for you. More power to you. I'm impressed. But if I don't work that hard when I walk, that's not insulting to you. 

[camrrt]

thank you!!! I walk because I enjoy it- I see some people walking that look like they have arthritis's,  knee issues, back issues and old people with canes- they ROCK because they do it.  So what if it takes me an hour to do what some other fast walkers would do in a shorter period of time. I feel that just getting up , going outside and moving the body is better than just sitting there watching tv or reading. Some people (like me) have a nice park to walk around- its free time to think of nothing and enjoy nature. Of course  I walk with music that I enjoy and  even sing along. Beside I noticed and really think that the more your walk, you get better at it and you do go a little longer and a little faster.;  Just my two cents....  

[Jabrat]

Everyone is different - I lost 50 pounds walking - that is - power walking - meaning I get full VAM in an hour's time and log 5 miles - that's what walking is to me !  I sweat !  In fact, I burn more calories power walking than when I run and jog !  I do like to enjoy nice walks though too.  Time to reflect - time to think - but most of my walking is power walking - that's my exercise - just new to lifting weights too - for me - it is not a big calorie burn because I only lift 12 pounds - I am doing it for toning and seeing great results - I am also seeing benefits in my core - I also bike for my legs - I also rebound for my general health - many benefits to it !  I have a big buddy system and we mix it up and log with our Fitbits !  Enjoy ! 

[debb21]

I walk 3 miles almost every day and it takes me an hour.  I started walking 2 miles in Feb. and got to 3 in March.  I have lost 27 lbs by watching what I eat and only walking.  I haven't been able to do anything else because I had rotator cuff surgery.  I try to walk faster, but I can't make my legs go any faster!

[NY2TX]

---

@debb21 wrote:

I walk 3 miles almost every day and it takes me an hour.  I started walking 2 miles in Feb. and got to 3 in March.  I have lost 27 lbs by watching what I eat and only walking.  I haven't been able to do anything else because I had rotator cuff surgery.  I try to walk faster, but I can't make my legs go any faster!

---

Debb, I deleted all of my objectionable comments from this thread. People seem to get awfully defensive 😞 but as far as I am concerned, when you minimize the positive impact that speed walking can have on your conditioning and weigt loss you are ignoring facts.

http://www.stethnews.com/2439/running-vs-walking-which-is-better-for-weight-loss/

So, minimize what I've accomplished all you want (not you Debb), but as a fast/speed/race walker I'm in really good condition. To reduce walking to "just what everyone does" is what I'd expect.