Is walking not exercise?

Sclosages

I went to register with a GP practice yesterday. A lady with the title 'Health Assistant' asked me whether I exercised. I said that yes, I did - I walk a lot.
She told me that walking is not exercise. Exercise is going to the gym.
Is walking not exercise?

To put it in context, she had 4 questions for me.
1. Do you cycle?
2. Do you exercise?
3. Do you do gardening?
4. Do you walk?

Am I deluding myself that my hours of pavement pounding is exercise?

If it's a long brisk walk getting the heart rate up and all then yeah I'd count it as exercise certainly

AdFundum

She is talking nonsense. Walking is excercise. Movement is excercise. Moving unecessarily is even better excercise. I guess, if you are strolling around and not exerting yourself in anway, maybe they don't count that - but brisk walking that gets the heart beating is certainly excercise. I cover about 6.5 miles daily on my walk to and from university so if that doesn't count as excercise, then I'm a couch potato.

jam_mac_jam

Yes, its exercise. She just hasn't got a clue. If your heart rate is up and you are moving then its exercise.

Sclosages

jam_mac_jam wrote: »

Yes, its exercise. She just hasn't got a clue. If your heart rate is up and you are moving then its exercise.

I suspect it was lost in translation. She had her separate question about walking and that was that. Funny where I'm living. A lot gets lost in translation!

An open-ended question such as 'What exercise do you take?' might be more logical.

my3cents

Physical activity guidelines for adults

First Up

You will burn almost the same number of calories per kilometer, whether you run or walk. Running obviously burns them faster and has additional cardio vascular benefits but walking is good for you and is unquestionably exercise.

Sclosages

First Up wrote: »

You will burn almost the same number of calories per kilometer, whether you run or walk. Running obviously burns them faster and has additional cardio vascular benefits but walking is good for you and is unquestionably exercise.

Tell that to the NHS!

Sclosages

I wonder what box she'd tick if I told her that I jog too!

syklops

Sclosages wrote: »

Tell that to the NHS!

You said it was probably lost in translation. I assumed you were off somewhere foreign.

tommy100

yes you are correct, bluewolf ..etc are correct. an hours brisk walk is good, a few days a week. she doesn't seem to know much

Sclosages

Off topic (it's my thread though so feck it), but today I had to experience more bureaucracy. I share a house with 6 other people. I had to write in the following for each of them:

1. When did you start living with this person?
2. How long do you expect to live with this person?
3. Why do you think that?

Seriously like. Lol.

Answers were as follows:

1. When I moved in.
2. Until one of us moves out or dies.
3. It's obvious.

Sclosages

syklops wrote: »

You said it was probably lost in translation. I assumed you were off somewhere foreign.

I don't think English was this lady's first language.

First Up

Sclosages wrote: »

Tell that to the NHS!

No need. The link to their website posted above covers walking quite comprehensively.

PaulDBKelly

This 'health assistant' is wrong.. But maybe she meant 'training' instead of exercise? I work in my local gym and read a lot of different types of training and nutritional articles! Anyone can learn these kind of things really!

Walking is obviously an exercise, but it's not just about how far you walk, it's more about how brisk you walk or how tough your walk is! Obviously strolling is better than being a couch potato, but power walking is better than a stroll!

There's also the thing called High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) which is all about doing some kind of cardio (or weight training) in intervals. You challenge yourself for 30 seconds to a minute of a high intensity exercise (Sprinting for example) and then calm it down for twice as long (Jog for 1-2 minutes)! This can be used everywhere and is extremely effective because it gets the blood pumping and keeps your body at work even after you finish exercising! It continues to burn calories hours after you've exercised!

You should definitely try the HIIT technique the next time you're walking if you're looking at exercising! Just remember to pace yourself!

Sclosages

Should I tell her that walking is exercise then?

First Up

Sclosages wrote: »

Should I tell her that walking is exercise then?

Or suggest she look at the NHS website.

Nervous Wreck

It's fairly obvious from the context that the question was relating to the type of restistance training one might do in a gym, particularly given the fact that the health assistant had walking in a question of its own. This is strawman stuff.

Sclosages

Nervous Wreck wrote: »

It's fairly obvious from the context that the question was relating to the type of restistance training one might do in a gym, particularly given the fact that the health assistant had walking in a question of its own. This is strawman stuff.

I would agree with you if she had then ticked the walking box and not told me that walking was not exercise.

Sclosages

Imagine you go in and you think you're doing the divil and all walking 20 minutes 3 times a week and you're told that walking is not exercise. Would you be arsed walking anymore?

Greenmachine

Nervous Wreck wrote: »

It's fairly obvious from the context that the question was relating to the type of restistance training one might do in a gym, particularly given the fact that the health assistant had walking in a question of its own. This is strawman stuff.

A relative surely, if a teen was to walk 2km and take over an hour, they would barely burn a calorie*

* Not literally

First Up

Sclosages wrote: »

Imagine you go in and you think you're doing the divil and all walking 20 minutes 3 times a week and you're told that walking is not exercise. Would you be arsed walking anymore?

20 minutes of anything is too little.

Sclosages

First Up wrote: »

20 minutes of anything is too little.

Depends what you're talking about!

Sclosages

Sclosages wrote: »

I said that yes, I did - I walk a lot.

Sclosages wrote: »

walking 20 minutes 3 times a week

sorry what

Sclosages

bluewolf wrote: »

sorry what

Recommended in Ireland.

I walk about an hour a day minimum. More usually. Not exercise. I get it. Must get bus instead and stop wasting my time.

Noobascious

wtf fast walking or slow jogging is the best excercise an adult can get. Not too much strain on heart. My granddad walks and smokes and hes 80.

rubadub

Sclosages wrote: »

I would agree with you if she had then ticked the walking box and not told me that walking was not exercise.

So did she tick the walking box or not?

Sclosages wrote: »

An open-ended question such as 'What exercise do you take?' might be more logical.

Cycling and gardening could be considered exercise too. Seems to me she wanted to split things out to either determine how strenuous it was or what activities people do in that region possibly for research purposes, e.g. should they have government ads on tv about walking, or some other reason. The probably do not want to be wrigint out stuff for each individual.

I think you are reading too much into it.

It could have been
1. do you listen to audio books?
2. do you read books?
3. do you read e-books or use a kindle?

and getting pissed off since you answered "yes, I have a kindle" to "do you read books" and being told "that's not reading books".

Boskowski

Not much of an exercise I guess. It's what people used to do to get from a to b. Today it's called exercise cos we use our car for everything, even kids apparently can't walk half a mile to school anymore.
It's sure better than being on the couch but unless you're in your 70ies don't pride yourself too much over your walking.

seamus

Sclosages wrote: »

Recommended in Ireland.

The HSE recommends 30 minutes of moderate exercise, 5 days a week. Moderate exercise is elevated heart rate and sweating.

I walk about an hour a day minimum. More usually. Not exercise.

You see, it depends. "An hour" is not really a measurement of effort, it's meaningless without the intensity. You could walk an hour every day, but if that's because you shuffle along the 1km between your house and your destination, then you're not actually doing very much at all, even though it's taking you 30 minutes each way.

The Health Assistant probably said walking isn't exercise because everyone who she asks that question to claims to do plenty of walking, but when she digs into it they walk about 20 minutes a day in total without breaking a sweat.

kal7

I tend to promote swimming, cycling, running in my job.

But I always say to people that done correctly walking can give up to 60% of what running will give. It also has way less injury rates than running.

That said, doing what you have always done, won't give you a change in your fitness.

Sclosages

I'm not looking for a change in my fitness.

kal7

sorry didn't mean to suggest that you need a change in fitness.

You could be an ironman for all i know. Walking is definitely a form of exercise, use it myself with several other types.

Hunter gatherer

Walking is definitely exercise!

Spanish Eyes

The best night's sleep is found after an hours walk in daylight at a reasonable clip.

Works for me anyway, and feck the professionals.

Any walking is better than being a couch slouch.

Try it, sleep is great after.

Every night.

Happy New Year.

olivepeach

A long brisk walk is the best form of exercise . You should do whichever form of exercise suits you and your body type .

monkeysnapper

I live a mile away from where I work so when car was due to be taxed at end of Oct I decided to take it off road for 3 months and walk to work and home .

I've had 3 people tell me I look like I've lost weight that doesn't know I did this . so there must be something in it .

nice_guy80

nothing like a walk to cure stiffness from training/playing

Hunter gatherer

With the dark evenings people tend to be walking around in pairs or more (I have even noticed what seems to be a committed walking group) I'm cold initially but then I warm up and could nearly do with removing a layer. It is a nuisance wearing the raincoat when it doesn't rain but then not having it when you need it is worse. There are greater problems in the world I know.

In terms of exercise, anything is better than nothing. And you should only do what your body can handle. Do more each time. I know all of these nuggets of wisdom. Is walking beneficial enough on its own in terms of getting your heart rate up to a level that would rival, say, running?

Mathrew

Walking is exercise, I do a lot of walk and jog every other day, it's my way of exercising my body.

Hunter gatherer

Is walking enough though? I have heard conflicting advice. Some say the impact of running on the body does more harm than good and you are better off walking. Others say walking won't get your heart beat up high enough to receive the cardiac benefits. If you don't break a sweat it isn't 'real' exercise.

First Up

Hunter gatherer wrote: »

Is walking enough though? I have heard conflicting advice. Some say the impact of running on the body does more harm than good and you are better off walking. Others say walking won't get your heart beat up high enough to receive the cardiac benefits. If you don't break a sweat it isn't 'real' exercise.

There are other low impact options such as a cross trainer or swimming but unless you are willing to swim in Irish waters, they cost money.

I think "more harm than good" is a big over-statement. You do need to be careful if running - some surfaces can be tough on the joints and anyone with old injuries needs to be smart about it. However the c/v benefits and higher calorie burn of running are undeniable.

That said, a good hard walk- especially with a few hills built in - is decent exercise.

Hunter gatherer

Thanks! I know that running burns more calories. But is it also true that your body continues to burn calories at a higher rate after your run?

First Up

Hunter gatherer wrote: »

Thanks! I know that running burns more calories. But is it also true that your body continues to burn calories at a higher rate after your run?

To some extent yes, but I wouldn't over-state it. Most calorie burn is during the exercise and any post exercise elevation is temporary (and depends on how hard you exercised.)

Hunter gatherer

True. It is all about the effort you put in to exercising. No quick fixes. If there were, we'd have no obesity epidemic and everybody would just get by drinking green tea.

ShadowHearth

She sounds like a tool. I lost 6 stone and it was mainly from walking + diet and eventually running + diet.

Any movement will burn more calories then no movement. It's like 2+2=4.

silverharp

im pretty sure that studies have been done with professions like postmen in the past which showed they had better than average health outcomes. Anyone walking an hour a day is getting it basically right from a health perspective

Forest Fire

Walk a lot and uphill.
I do it 2 times a week and love it. 5-6 miles a go.
I also play 5aside 2 time a week and 1 x 3 mile jog.
Its beginning to work for me.
Eat less too!