To think that just walking for exercise isn’t enough to keep fit?

[Notjustanymum]

Just that, really! I’m somewhere North of 45 years old, and started walking last year before the pandemic hit. I walk twice a day (with dog) for about an hour each time.
While I’ve noticed that I pick my feet up better when walking now, I still struggle with uphill and stairs and have lots of trouble with foot and shoulder pain. I didn’t go to the gym before (or not for over 10 years, anyway).
What do you do to keep fit/keep aches and pains away? Should I be doing something else?

I have found walking is enough as long as it's done at pace and some hills are included.
Over the last year I started steadily and gradually increased distance pace and difficulty (hills) and have noticed a huge difference to my fitness, and to my muscle tone as a bonus. I look and feel great now!

If you feel pain from walking it might be worth looking at how you walk. I was walking 'wrong' and it caused some back and hip pain until I corrected it.

Lots of advice online about walking for fitness and correct technique which is helpful.

I'm 52 by the way. I probably need to add some strength training in now for completeness but hard to motivate myself.

What about some yoga for flexibility? Tonnes of tutorials on YouTube.

Swimming? Hard obv right now.

What do you enjoy? I’d you like hiking (as opposed to walking in the park) then keep going. Or do you like yoga/pilates? Gardening? Tennis?

Do you walk fast enough to raise your heart rate? Mooching isn't enough, but a brisk walk of a few miles twice a day is good exercise

Have you got decent shoes?

Walking is recommended because for the majority of the population it will have a positive impact on many health complaints with little risk, and it's considered acheiveable. However on an individual level there's many more things you can do to improve your overall health.

As we get older we lose muscle mass. We need strong muscles to support our joints, and for power (to do things like walk up stairs) Resistance training - with weight or using bodyweight, eg things like squats, lunges and press ups - can make a big difference. Theres progressions for all of those depending on ability, though if you have specific pain it's worth seeing a physio before you start anything just to check that you're not going to make anything worse.

I guess it's fine if you walk fast enough, for a reasonable distance and incorporate slopes or steps.

A 10 minute slow amble to the park every day isn't going to do much.

Re: pains, maybe you need different shoes / insoles? Can you get an appt with a physio? I did this and they gave useful advice about exercises which have solved my problem really quickly and easily.

My mum is a super fit 74yo, and she:

• walks
• hikes
• does heavy gardening

Her doctor told her that she had the cv fitness of someone in their forties.

She can't drive. She started the day with a six mile brisk walk every day I was in school before settling down to work, and she'd bake, cook, chop logs, lift paving slabs etc - all good weight work for the bones.

Getting a dog has actually made my walks less of a workout because it's slower and stop/start too often. I used to walk at a much faster pace before.

It's still exercise at the weekends when we go over the hills. 30-45mns hit classes, 2 or 3 times a week, a run or fast cycle ride a week will definitely be a good addition.

Thanks for all the replies! I do walk fast but will check my posture now, as that could be part of the problem. I’ll cycle a bit when the weather gets better but will also take the advice to do weight-bearing and yoga exercises - I hadn’t though of using YouTube before, that’s a great suggestion. I love swimming but rarely do it (have had bad experiences at pools: they seem to encourage several activities at once, which inhibits lane swimming - at least at the times I can get there!)
You’ve all inspired me!

I have found weight lifting the best way to help my body get stronger - however, appreciate heavy weights are not everyone's cup of tea and obviously impossible right now unless you have a garage gym.

The thing I have found that helps with pains is flexibility and stretching. It doesn't necessarily have to be yoga. I have been doing a local dance instructor's flexibility online classes which are for all levels since the beginning of the month and doing it 3 times a weeks has already had a really positive impact on my movement and general posture. There are loads of free videos online but I think if you're starting out it'd be good to have a professional giving you tips on how to get the best out of it.

If you get yourself a fitness watch, you can see your pace for walks, distance, calories burned etc. which should give you more of a picture of how the walking is helping, and whether it's raising your heart rate!

It depends what you mean by fit and how hard you work at the walking.

Going for a stroll isn't going to turn you into an Olympic athlete but regular brisk walking is probably among the best exercise for being healthy fit.

It could be your shoes. When I need new trainers my hip aches. That usually goes away with new ones.

I agree with yoga (or Pilates) for improving strength and flexibility. Yoga with Adriene on YouTube is really good, or bodybalance on Les mills is not free but good.

If you’re walking a long way fast then that can definitely be enough to keep you fit. Good luck! I

I'm relatively fit but have found since hitting 50 that I have general aches and pains which I have attributed to age.

I love walking but it's hard to walk for fitness unless you can devote several hours a day to it as others have pointed out.

I personally find it very difficult to walk every day when I am working full time and the weather is shit and it's dark at 5pm. But that's me, others are clearly made of sterner stuff.

Am looking forward to summer when DH and the kids and I can do long, lovely walks. I used to have access to a pool at my old work place - how I miss my daily swim.

You need to do strength and resistance work. If your shoulders hurt it suggests your posture might not be great so I'd look at doing pilates and also look at what footwear you're using. If you have flat or low arches then the wrong shoes will make your feet and legs ache.

You could try Nordic walking, with poles, as you use your arms as well.

There are tons of flexibility and stretching videos on YouTube. I automatically avoid any with a buff/full make-up instructor with very little clothing in front of a beautiful landscape. I tend to go for ones with sensible looking people that address the issues that I'm having (hips and shoulders) and I avoid the ones that I would have to kneel or lie on the floor. If I'm in bad shape I go for ones aimed at seniors as I know I won't damage anything. My favourites are Quick Fit with Cassy on PBS Wisconsin, but there are loads out there.

@THisbackwithavengeance I am reluctantly going to have to agree with you about the aches and pains being an age thing! Lol!
I’m lucky to WFH with flexible hours, so I have been able to get out for a couple of hours a day in daylight, which I’m incredibly grateful for.
I’m going to try the stretching/flexibility/yoga ideas from some PP’ and see if that helps with the aching.

I spent many years just walking (a lot) but never felt fit - weak, painful joints and couldn't run for a bus! A few months ago I started running and yoga and I definitely feel fitter but I still have a long way to go. In particular my hip pain has got a lot better. I used to wake up almost every night in pain and my GP sent me for an x-ray (all clear). They rarely hurt so much now. (I'm late forties).

I work full time, and I've now taken to going out walking at lunch, sometimes incorporating the shopping. I make some food and eat as I work when I get back from the walk.

But does anyone have any recommendations for beginner pilates on YouTube? I can do that in the evenings.

Keep walking

I normally play tennis every day (1-2 hrs, and competitions at weekends) and feel sad about losing my basic fitness level (that has allowed me to play 20-somethings despite being 50 myself) and in the last 2 lockdowns, walking briskly for 2 hrs a day has kept my fitness level ok

Not perfect, but ok

I reckon it’s underrated, just keep at it 💪

I'm older than you, OP, and dog walk twice a day too. I find I feel loads better when I also do a tai chi warm-up (Youtube) as it relaxes my shoulder muscles and loosens up my arms, waist etc. I suppose because, although I'm walking I'm sitting around a lot of the rest of the time and getting creaky. I'm also going to start doing some press-ups or similar for strength because my arms feel pretty feeble.

Walking is more than enough just dont eat too much.

You've got lots of tips to keep the aches and pains away already, so I will add that I think you need to be raising your heart rate during some of your exercise.

2 hours of walking a day will keep you nicely toned and happy, but you should really be getting out of breath a few times a week. Walking quickly uphill will do that. Walking really fast and using your arms should also be fine.

Swimming is a great all rounder so I would def give that a shot when the pools open again.

I'm 50 and run a few times a week, cycle when I can (I'm happy to run in the dark but don't have good enough lights for cycling), and when the sports centre is open I swim and do classes.

I have a sedentary desk job and I love my sport so it's high on my list if priorities.

It depends what do you mean by "fit". It's good for oxygenation levels and sort of thing but for losing / keeping the weight off not so much.