To think that moving more every day is just as beneficial as going mad at the gym?

[Sunrise6875]

Is it better to just make sure you are moving briskly every day, I.e as many steps as possible, than flogging yourself at the gym a few times a week?

I’ve gone through phases where I’ve been at the gym a few times a week, absolutely exhausting myself and then feeling achey for the next day or so, and repeat.

For the last month I’ve shaken up my routine and made sure that I am going on at least an hour of brisk walking every single day, even when it was awful weather this weekend.

I have to say, that routine, coupled with cutting out snacks but eating proper meals (no calorie counting) has done, I think, wonders for my mental and physical health.

AIBU to think that actually, it’s more important to do something active every single day, even if it’s not enough to get you really sweaty (but still raise heart rate)? Have we been conditioned to think that the only way to keep fit is to ill ourselves at the gym?

How much do you move in an average day?

Surely depends on your goals and aims.
I want to look strong so go to the gym, moving more wouldn't achieve that.

I've also been incredibly overweight and wanted to feel better so walking was the way forward for that.

No YANBU. Moving more in a way that raises your heart rate for 30 mins + is the key.

If it's something you enjoy or fit into a regular routine (brisk walk to work for example) then even better as you will stick with it.

I run daily and swim 4-5 X a week, for 30-45 mins in each case, because I love both those. I'm not a fan of getting sweaty in the gym tbh, tho I do see the appeal of the weights work. I do yoga for strength but it's not the same. Anyway keep at it op, you're doing great!

It's what we're designed to do.

A mix is good.

It's not ideal to be sedentary 23 hours a day and blast an hour in a gym.
Similarly while regular functional walking is a good thing, you have to make sure that it is actually brisk enough for a cardio benefit and it largely only uses the lower body. There are many regular walkers such as dog walkers who think they are getting exercise but in reality plod around slowly. Any movement is a good thing, but it is easy to overestimate the quality of your walking and should warm you up and get you out of breath.

I'm not a gym bunny. I like a couple of classes per week in a non-gym setting, some runs. Bursts of yoga videos or workouts. I do a lot of functional walking but do naturally walk around briskly.

During lockdown, it was telling that while I could get out and do a couple of hours of running, my fitness tracker was largely only showing a burst of quality exercise and the rest of the time was pale sedentary colours. Now the effect is far more stripy of bursts of getting out functionally. My waistline missed the functional walking and a hundred or a couple of hundred calories per day here and there quickly stacked up on my waist.

I always find it ironic at people who go by car to the gym.

@nosswith

I always find it ironic at people who go by car to the gym.

What if the gym is 10 miles away?

@CSIblonde

The only exercise I did & really enjoyed when younger was bike riding & walking. Bike as village buses were non existent. I was really slim & fit . I've nowhere to put a bike now so do a daily half hour walk & Lucy Wyndham's You Tube beginners work out to my fave 80's hits every day. Really feel the benefit.

@CSIblonde Does Lucy use the 80s music as a backtrack to her workout video or do you use your own music ? I like the sound of that .

@nosswith

I always find it ironic at people who go by car to the gym.

What if they're going to the gym on their way to or from work? What if the nearest gym is 10+ miles away? What if the only way to get there is by car because there's no pavements on the roads?

I always find it ironic at people who go by car to the gym.
What a ridiculous comment.
I go to the gym to lift weights, use the row machine go to different classes that I can't do at home and I either go on the way to work or on the way home but I'm an essential car user so it's not as if I can cycle My nearest gym is 5 miles away and the other one I go to is 7 miles away.
I'm not getting what you find ironic.

I agree with you. I had two aunts who were fit as a fiddle well into their eighties. They never went to the gym but liked being outdoors cycling, taking a long walk along the beach or gardening. Strong too. I don't think that much daily exercise can be replicated by going to a gym a few hours per week.

Have we been conditioned to think that the only way to keep fit is to kill ourselves at the gym?

I don't know anyone who thinks this.

Exercise built into your routine is most likely to stick, especially little and often as less likely to get injuries, muscle soreness etc which might cause you to fall off the wagon.

Eating better also helps.

Not rocket science.

Well done for making beneficial changes

Going to the gym makes me more likely to move around more on the other days, as the improvements in strength and stamina make it easier - and DOMS always eases sooner if I move more.

According to most research, weight training, even if light or bodyweight strengthens more than just your muscles by increasing overall stability and bone health later in life. Plus, the more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn walking. That said, if you hate going to the gym, do NOT do it. I workout with resistance bands at home while I watch Kardashians. I prefer to spend thirty minutes doing that than walking for hours.

Well I'm off to the gym tonight by car. It's 5 miles away. Guess I could bike it but I need to take my yoga mat and tennis racket and tennis balls. I'm doing 2 classes then playing tennis. It'll be 9pm and dark when I finish. Possibly raining.

I do sometimes cycle there at the weekend. Pre covid I sometimes used to cycle there from work before then cycling home (I cycle commute).

I always find it ironic at people who go by car to the gym.

Uh huh. Do you also find it ironic if people drive to the swimming pool, to their local Parkrun or to their tennis club?

Gyms are a relatively new phenomena. Certainly not abundant in the 60-70’s. Yet people were fit, there were more outdoor activities. I remember lawn bowling greens and horseshoe pitches lots of badminton and tennis. Small rowing clubs and even tiny ski hills.

@fallfallfall

Gyms are a relatively new phenomena. Certainly not abundant in the 60-70’s. Yet people were fit, there were more outdoor activities. I remember lawn bowling greens and horseshoe pitches lots of badminton and tennis. Small rowing clubs and even tiny ski hills.

Tiny ski hills? Where is this? I want one!

Skiing, tennis, lawn bowling and rowing clubs all sounds quite privileged and leisurely. I suppose this is one good thing about gyms and the way things are now in terms of people having more knowledge about fitness is that it’s not just the preserve of people who have the time and money to take up sporting hobbies

Yes, I remember there being artificial skiing places - not sure if they still exist?

I don't know what a horseshoe pitch is?

My first experience of a gym was in the early 90s and it was mostly cardio machines. Prior to that I think there were just weightlifting gyms, I don't know if women ever went to them. I also did aerobics classes in the 80s, at leisure centres.

Weight training for women, outside of specific sports training, is really quite a recent thing. Although a good one, given the benefits it offers.

Yes, I remember there being artificial skiing places - not sure if they still exist?
Of course they do. There's two with an easy drive of me. I'm not sure if they have reopened yet though.

Do what you enjoy. I like to run (more of a plod really) 4 times a week and go to the gym on other days. I’m very new to the gym though and a bit scared of machines and weights so I’m sure I could be getting more out of it than I do. I would like to get a PT to do a proper program for me, but can’t really afford it atm. Walking is great and exercise too and if I’m tired or sore then sometimes a good walk is exactly what I need.

@notacooldad

Yes, I remember there being artificial skiing places - not sure if they still exist? Of course they do. There's two with an easy drive of me. I'm not sure if they have reopened yet though.

The ones I knew off closed down years ago. I thought the fancy indoor ones had taken over now.

Sorry posted too soo.
My first experience of a gym was in the early 90s and it was mostly cardio machines. Prior to that I think there were just weightlifting gyms, I don't know if women ever went to them. I also did aerobics classes in the 80s, at leisure centres
Me and my friends were weightlifting in the gym in the early 80s. The female body builders of the day were Carla Dunlap, Rachel McLish were our idols. They ' encouraged ' us to lift weights and lift heavy. We of course, never looked like them, they were professionals but we looked strong, toned, health and in great shape.
These gyms were in the council leisure centres back in 1982.(probably earlier but that's when I started going) Plenty of women were in there.

@notacoooldad - whereabouts did you live? I was a bit young to be going to a gym in the early 80s, but my local leisure centres just had pools, sports halls and squash courts.