To think walking is a good exercise

[Generallyok]

Recently met up with some old friends and they are all into running. Some run marathons and very keen to get me involved. I said that I didn't really like running but do alot of walking. They laughed and said but you don't even have a dog! I live in a beautiful rural area and alot of my walks are up steep hills which do get me breathless and get the heart pumping. I'm 5ft 1 and 7 stone so don t have any weight problems. I'm asthmatic and running really hurts my chest. Aibu that this is the only exercise I get?

Your ‘friends’ are smug twats.

I walk really slowly due to an injury and love seeing everything around me. Tiny leaves and flowers, raindrops hanging off grass and all sorts of wildlife. Your friends will be charging past all of this unaware.

YANBU but I suspect you know that fine well.

I'm a runner but still make a point of having a walk everyday. There's nothing like it IMO for mental and physical wellbeing.

The only "problem" with it is that it doens't burn many calories, you need to walk all day to burn off a mars bar, so I do have to bite my tongue when people tell me they're going to lose weight by walking a couple of miles a day.

Also, for some strange reason it is much more socially acceptable to go for a run on your own than to go for a walk. If you see a man walking in the woods on his own, without a dog, people feel wary, whereas a runner is inconspicuous.

When i was 22 i was 13.5 stone at 5'7 so just hit an obese BMI. I started walking an hour a day (got a dog so had to but then started to enjoy it.) and in the next 18 months I lost 5.5 stone through good eating and walking. I am now 33 and have had 2 children since then but still stay steady at 8stone for all that time.

Now i do heavy weight lifting as well but the only cardio I enjoy is walking. It is incredibly underated but i think it is a truly fantastic and gentle exercise which also is veratile, as in you can change your pace, tempo and add in bursts of running too.

Running bores are almost as bad as cycling bores...

**All day is an exaggeration but you'd have to do in the region of 8/9 miles, which could take most people around 3 hours.

Walking is great exercise but I guess it depends what level you’re starting at and what your goals are.

If your goal is running a marathon then walking isn’t probably that great.

I think walking is better too, less wear and tear on the joints. I do loads of walking but have no dog
Enjoy all your lovely walks in the countryside.

I love walking. I don’t run because of giant norks and a dodgy knee (bad fall while pregnant and twisted it to protect bump). I walk a lot (8-10 miles a day) and use the gym’s cross trainer a few times a week and I’ve lost two stone without changing my diet. My FIL is an avid runner and seems to get the same mental health benefits from it as I do from walking, but he has totally knackered feet and knees. I’m hoping walking will help keep my body healthy for longer.

walkers, what do you do, just go out the front door and walk around the neighbourhood. Now my DC are older I don't need to accompany them anywhere and use the car more. I am becoming unfit. I cannot work up any enthusiasm for just walking around the suburrban neighbourhood but is that what it boils down to? please tell me how you motivate yourselves to do this.

According to my Fitbit walking is very good exercise! My 30 Min each way walk into town burnt the best part of 500 calories

I'm sorry but there's no way a 60 min walk burns 500 calories. Unless you're very very overweight, it will be much closer to 200.

Flossie. Yes generally I walk around my neighbourhood which is as Trump would call it, a shithole. Busy ring road, depressing vista. But I have stopped thinking about enjoyment and treat it like brushing my teeth, something to be done. I
Will never find motivation because I’m lazy. There is no form of exercise on earth that I would enjoy. Walking is the cheapest, least painful and most effective exercise for me so I try not think about it and just do it. When I stop though it is very hard to make myself get out there again. I have to make myself and tell myself it’ll be nice to get back in the warmth again and have a hot drink. If like me you hate exercise then I think trying to find motivation can actually prevent you getting on with it.

I love walking too. It's so good for mental health as well as physical. I find it hard to drag myself out in January though but once I'm out I can literally feel the energy coming back to me.

I run. I walk. I cycle. (I also horseride). All are great forms of exercise that get my heartrate up, keep me fit, allow me to get out in the fresh air and get some mental exercise. I am not a running/cycling/walking bore. I am an outdoors bore. Any time spent somewhere green and quiet and doing some exercise is soul soothing.

Flossie - sounds weird but I actually drive to a local park where I know there's a 5k route and a 10k route. I listen to music and play Pokemon go and the walk takes me through a park, next to a river and then back via the town centre so it's more interesting

I used to be a smug runner, but now have ME/ chronic fatigue and cannot run as it makes me ill. I try to walk dog every day for 1 hour or more and i find its excellent exercise, it keeps me fit and well and helps me to manage my CF symptoms. Its easier on my joints than runing.
I come from a running family, my brother and sister both did ultra marathons last year, and i think they scoff at me a bit too when I say I keep fit by walking. But I've learned to let it go, it's not so important what they think.

Walking is fantastic as you can keep it up throughout your whole life, even today purple cab walk to keep for and improve joint strength and muscle tone gently

Please tell me how you motivate yourselves to do this?

I force myself to walk the 40mins to work 3 times a week and run home. It's so much easier to walk if you have somewhere to be if that makes sense!
Obviously that won't be practical for everyone but even just picking a landmark or something and aiming to walk there and back keeps me more motivated than walking aimlessly.

I think once you have a route or two and get into a routine of doing it, it does just become easier and you actually miss the days you don't do it. Not only for the exercise but for how it lifts your mood.

Ppl are always telling me to run as well OP and I'm not really interested (do a little bit on the treadmill sometimes but that's it). I think they just love it so much they want other ppl to feel that too.

I walk everywhere as I don't have a car and it has enabled me to see all different parts of my city and also quite a few places outside as I often take a bus or train somewhere at the wknd to do a specific route.I just googled and found a site that lists walks in my area. It also tells you historical facts as so on and landmarks to look out for which I like.

Of course walking is good for you! My husband runs and he has had several nasty injuries - dislocated shoulder and two very bad ankle sprains - I just don't think running is a very safe form of exercise

Having said that, you mentioned that your chest hurts when you run because of your asthma. That suggests that it could be better controlled - worth mentioning at your next asthma review IMO. I thought that a hurty chest when exercising was part and parcel of being asthmatic. After having my medication tweaked a few years ago it turns out that it's not!

I am like glintysea and hate exercise of any kind. Currently on the sofa in my dressing gown.

I will start walking again. Soon. Honest.

I lost 4 stone walking when I lived in London; four miles to work in the morning and four back in the evening. Didn't even need to change my diet much, other than having smaller, quicker teas when I got in as it was late-ish. Lost two or three lines a week this way. Then piled it all back when I came back up north. I now cycle as it's too far to walk to work but it doesn't drop off as easy - my bike commute is only 7 miles. Even when I did a crazy 350 mile week on the bike with RideLondon and then straight to a week cycling through the very hill French Alps, I only lost two! Gutted!

I walk my dogs every day although never get to walk very fast as one dog likes to stop and sniff every blade of grass!

I had to go for a bone scan last year and the person doing it asked what exercise I do as they said my bones the scan was better than would normally be expected in someone of my age. When I replied that I walk every day they said that is one of the best exercises there is and far better for your joints than running or jogging

Walking is the best!

"All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking."

by Friedrich Nietzsche

And tell your pals that Darcy was first aroused by Elizabeth's rosy cheeks after her muddy walk. Better than sweaty and knackered

Listen to podcast while you are walking - great way to catch up with news

I'm sorry but there's no way a 60 min walk burns 500 calories. Unless you're very very overweight, it will be much closer to 200.

Really....

www.runnersworld.com/peak-performance/running-v-walking-how-many-calories-will-you-burn

"To use the above, simply multiply your weight (in pounds) by the number shown. For example, if you weigh 188 lbs, you will burn about 107 calories (188 .57) when you walk a mile, and about 135 calories (188 .72) when you run a mile."

I weigh 178 and did 4 miles in an hour, ergo using this basic calculation I should have burnt 101 calories per mile. Multiplied by the 4 miles I did makes 404 calories - add to that the additional calories burnt walking round the shops. This appears to correlate to the 492 calories calculated by my Fitbit