Is This A Good Power Walk For A 58 Year Old Dude?

[bcalvanese]

1 year ago I couldn't even walk 1 mile at a slow pace without having to lay down for an hour...:(

[SebringDon]

@bcalvanese

Unfortunately, that page is private for your view only. You'll need to do a screenshot if you want to show it off.

[bcalvanese]

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@SebringDon wrote:

@bcalvanese

Unfortunately, that page is private for your view only. You'll need to do a screenshot if you want to show it off.

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Thanks. I inserted screen shots.

[JohnRi]

Impressive!

6 months ago when I started walking, the first day a 1/4 of a mile...  Today I can walk 6 miles.  I'm going to do that this afternoon.

I was looking at your stats, great pace there.  And all I noticed how few calories you burned.  Yep, I'm seeing the same thing.  I used to walk 2.5 miles and burn over 1100 calories.   Now I have to walk 5 miles to get 1000... 

But to answer your question, that's a pretty **ahem** good power walk!

[SebringDon]

Nice job, @bcalvanese!

[USAF-Larry]

Yes, that is a very good walk.  I am a little older than you, by a little over 12 years, and if I do the same power walk mine would show I burn an average of 7 calories/min with a average bpm of 109.  It is all a matter of the fitness level of your body.

[WendyB]

Nice job!

[Tave]

Great work.  Keep it up!

[Dominique]

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@bcalvanese wrote:

1 year ago I couldn't even walk 1 mile at a slow pace without having to lay down for an hour...:( 

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Yes, I think you mentioned you were obese when you started with Fitbit. I mentioned in another post what it’s like for me to walk wearing a 10 kg weighted vest: this simulates being 75 kg, ie. BMI 24.9 (upper limit of normal weight range). I would need to wear a 26 kg (56 lbs) vest in order to simulate being 91 kg, ie. BMI 30. No way I could do 20k steps wearing that, so kudos to you!

[TandemWalker]

Excllent work @bcalvanese. You know, that's really funny. When I first saw your map, I had to take a second look, as the path perimeter is almost identical to one of my favorite trails in my neck of the woods. Have you tried incorporating an interval scheme in your walk yet? Like two-minute walk alternating with a two-minute slow jog? It could be just a brisk two-minute walk, followed by a two-minute briskier walk. It's a good approach for keeping your metabolism challenged, especially if you're still on a weight loss mission. Keep it up! Congrats!

TW

[bcalvanese]

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@JohnRi wrote:

Impressive!

6 months ago when I started walking, the first day a 1/4 of a mile...  Today I can walk 6 miles.  I'm going to do that this afternoon.

I was looking at your stats, great pace there.  And all I noticed how few calories you burned.  Yep, I'm seeing the same thing.  I used to walk 2.5 miles and burn over 1100 calories.   Now I have to walk 5 miles to get 1000... 

But to answer your question, that's a pretty **ahem** good power walk!

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Thank you, and sounds like you are doing very good as well. Keep it going.

[bcalvanese]

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@SebringDon wrote:

Nice job, @bcalvanese!

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Thank you.

[bcalvanese]

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@USAF-Larry wrote:

Yes, that is a very good walk.  I am a little older than you, by a little over 12 years, and if I do the same power walk mine would show I burn an average of 7 calories/min with a average bpm of 109.  It is all a matter of the fitness level of your body.

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Wow, your in great shape.

Thanks,

[bcalvanese]

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@WendyB wrote:

Nice job!

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Thanks.

[bcalvanese]

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@Tave wrote:

Great work.  Keep it up!

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Thanks.

[bcalvanese]

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@Dominique wrote:

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@bcalvanese wrote:

1 year ago I couldn't even walk 1 mile at a slow pace without having to lay down for an hour...:( 

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Yes, I think you mentioned you were obese when you started with Fitbit. I mentioned in another post what it’s like for me to walk wearing a 10 kg weighted vest: this simulates being 75 kg, ie. BMI 24.9 (upper limit of normal weight range). I would need to wear a 26 kg (56 lbs) vest in order to simulate being 91 kg, ie. BMI 30. No way I could do 20k steps wearing that, so kudos to you!

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Thanks.

When I first started 5k steps was a challenge, but as the weight came off and my fitness level increase, the steps grew. my goal is 10k, but I have been stepping my game up lately and doing 2 power walks a day, so that accounts for a lot of the steps.

I have been thinking of getting a back pack and throwing some weight in it. Then going on some hilly hikes at a slow pace to work on strenght a little, and you are inspiring me to think about it more now.

Thanks,

[bcalvanese]

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@TandemWalker wrote:

Excllent work @bcalvanese. You know, that's really funny. When I first saw your map, I had to take a second look, as the path perimeter is almost identical to one of my favorite trails in my neck of the woods. Have you tried incorporating an interval scheme in your walk yet? Like two-minute walk alternating with a two-minute slow jog? It could be just a brisk two-minute walk, followed by a two-minute briskier walk. It's a good approach for keeping your metabolism challenged, especially if you're still on a weight loss mission. Keep it up! Congrats!

TW

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Thank you.

I did try mixing running with walking a bunch of times, but I keep hurting my knee, and last time I pulled both groin muscles and had a hell of a time doing my walks while it was healing. I told my doctor and he said it's too much impact. I try to run with a smooth style, but I guess I'm just getting too old for that type of impact, or maybe trying to progress too fast in running.

That route I take is like an interval as it is quite hilly. If you look at the elevation it's about 500 feet (about a 50 story building), and my heart rate goes up and down with the hills. My cardio zone starts at 113 because of my age, so as long as I stay in the cardio zone for the full time I am getting a training effect.

Its funny, but when I first started and couldn't even walk a mile at a slow pace, my heart rate was probably in the peak zone for that time. Then I would have to lay down for an hour to recover (or die whichever came first)...:)

[SebringDon]

@bcalvanese

If you're thinking about some strength training, take a look at FitStar. Fitbit has a special on the membership going now, but the free version gives you two free personalized workouts a week and as many "freestyle" sessions as you want.

It's all body-weight strength training; all you need is an exercise mat. It does a great job of giving you a fitness test at the beginning, then tailors each of the individualised workouts based on your initial fitness and your feedback after each individual exercise. You tell it how long you kept up or how many reps you did, and whether it was easy, brutal, or OK. Then it adjusts the next set of exercises based on how you scored the previous session. It's almost eerie how well it manages to keep you working just hard enough to start cussing but not hard enough to quit. 😄

Hope this helps!

[TandemWalker]

Yes, I did see the elevation annotations; and you're absolutely right, that would give you the peaks and throughs that you're looking for, indeed.

I am 67 years of age and never joogged, except for a couple of years in my early 30s. I started with intervals two years ago. But you know, my jogging segments are slow jogs. Runners pass me all the time, and that's fine. The idea of transitioning to a jog is not to run per se but to use my leg muscles and joints differently than for walking and increase my heart rate a bit at the same time. When you tried, perhaps you rushed into it too quickly or tried ran too fast. To give you an idea, my average walking pace is between 3.7 to 4 mph. My jogging pace is 4.2 to 4.5 mph. So it's a sloooow smooth jog. Again, because we use our leg muscles and joints differently for walking and jogging, the transitioning back and forth eases the fatigue somehow.

But hey, jogging/running is not for everyone; and if had an injury like you did, I would certainly not chance it again. The main thing is to stay active; and on that front, you're doing GREAT!

TW

[SunsetRunner]

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@bcalvanese wrote:

1 year ago I couldn't even walk 1 mile at a slow pace without having to lay down for an hour...:(

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Yes, that is very good, Bcalvenes!.   It take me 2 hours to walk the same distance without power walking. One thing I've noticed in the difference between our walks is my fat burning minutes are much higher and cardio is lower.  Yours is the opposite.  I  wonder why is that.