Hey guys, what do you think about walking as a way to lose weight? I went for an hour walk tonight, trying to keep the pace up. And I'm working on my core strength too while walking. I've been trying to get back into running, but my shins are killing me because of the shin splints. The physio says she thinks I'll need to go to a specialist to have custom innersoles made.
Comments for this blog entry.
mike on 9-Jun-10
Walking is a great and very healthy activity, especially if you have a sedentary lifestyle otherwise. And if your fitness goals are very modest, walking may be the only thing that you need. However if you are trying to get to much better than average shape (body fat below 15%) or build muscle mass, walking alone is very unlikely to get you there. Walking like every other form of steady cardio does not raise your metabolism in the long term (except if you are really in poor shape), which means it neither burns calories after the walk is over nor gives stimulus to your body to increase muscle mass. If you had to choose one activity that will help you lose fat -- heavy whole-body weight training or walking -- then you should definitely go with weight training.
Again, it doesn't mean that walking is unhealthy or bad for you -- it simply means it's not nearly as effective as heavy whole-body weight training in burning fat and building muscle. And of course in either case, you will want your diet to be as clean as possible.
AndreR on 9-Jun-10
I can't get to a gym or buy weight training equipment, because I'm moving and travelling a lot. For this reason I thought that I could do bodyweight exercises in addition to the walking?
mike on 10-Jun-10
Yes, in that case definitely focus on bodyweight exercises. There are many variations that can be done, some of which can approach weight training in its intensity (and therefore fat-burning/muscle-building potential).
Pullups/chinups are a great exercise if you can find a beam, branch or even a door to them. Pushups are fairly easy, but can be made much more intense by keeping hands close together or doing spiderman pushups. Bodyweight squats can be made very intense by doing them on one leg (you have to be in good shape already to attempt it). Superman, prone bridge, and side bridge are execellent core bodyweight exercises to compliment or replace crunches which are often too easy.
