Walking

Does anyone walk just for main exercise?

For right now it's my main exercise with some minor strength training. I have a 16 month old Siberian Husky, so I don't need to really explain :p Dogs are a great workout companion I must say!
Walking is a great workout though, I enjoy it. It's helped me lose 6lbs these last 3 weeks and 19 inches off my body.

Eventually I want to starting running, but for now walking is my main exercise and love it!

Congratulations on your 27lbs lost! That's incredible and good luck with the rest of your journey!
holly
 
It's a fine starting point. Eventually you'll want to add in other forms of training assuming you want to optimize your physique. The various modes of training carry their own unique benefits so there's an opportunity cost to using only one modality.

But again, that shouldn't discourage you from using walking as your sole mode right now. This is a continual process of refinement. You can't expect to do everything perfectly from day one.
 
I walk everyday 3 times a day for about 2 mile each time. I have been doing this for about 3 months although I started out small. Watch what I eat about 1000 calories and have lost 38 lbs as of today. I do think I will do some joging when the cooler weather gets here but for now its still in the 90's and it gets hard just to walk 2 miles when its noon and over 90, I go much slower. But without walking I would still be 220 lbs. I walk outside because I like seeing the different things all around. Kept walking its good for you.
 
I eat about 1500 calories a day myself and try to cut out as much fatty foods as possible..

Just don't overdo it on the fat reduction. Dietary fat doesn't make you fat - excess calories do. 25-30% of calories is a good ballpark target to shoot for in terms of fat intake.
 
I dont - cant get my heart rate up to the right percentage without jogging. My ideal heart rate is around the 150s - where as if i just walk it only reaches the 120s max even though i use ankle weights. That being said, when i started out that would have been a different story.
 
I am 65 and dont have much room for cutting calories. I not hungrey but sure wish there was low cal foods that I liked.
 
I do! Right now running is not an option 'cause I can feel it hurting my knees, plus I can't run for a long time and i realize most of the difficulty comes from my excess weight. So I walk, very fast, for 30 mins/1 hour (depending on my schedule) 5 times a week.
 
I have a hard time running. It hurts my chest too much and I can't breathe. Regardless of the speed. Walking fast is fine as long as I slow down at times and pace myself so I'm not too discouraged.
 
I have a hard time running. It hurts my chest too much and I can't breathe. Regardless of the speed. Walking fast is fine as long as I slow down at times and pace myself so I'm not too discouraged.

Sounds like you either have a medical problem (as in asthma) or you just need to train differently. Try 1 min running, 1 min walking and do this for 20 mins or so. As you do more of this, you will improve and be able to do 2 or 3 or more minutes at a time and keep the 1 mins of walking at 1 min.

But if you do have a medical issue, get this checked out. It could even be that running can help with the issue as it has been known to help with asthma for example.
 
Definitely get checked out for asthma before trying to run.

But walking right now is probably better for you anyway. Running is a high impact activity, it's fairly easy for someone heavy to damage their joints while running. I really damaged my knee by using the elliptical machine even though it is supposed to be lower impact than running.

It's possible to work up to walking at a very fast pace, eventually even race walking (which burns more calories than jogging once you pass a certain speed).
 
I started out slow and have now worked up to 6 miles a day so far, 6 days a week. Now I combine the walking with swimming. I tried jogging and the pain in my knees was incredible. So I decided to try the lower impact exercises until I dropped some of the pounds.
 
Summer123 is right. Short bursts works wonders. 1 min jog, 90 secs walk and so on and so forth. You will work up to running in no time. It'll amaze you when you realize you have to stop yourself from continuing the jog and you have to make yourself walk.
Good luck!
 
Wow amazing site. Nice post.. I have a hard time running. It hurts my chest too much and I can't breathe. Regardless of the speed. Walking fast is fine as long as I slow down at times and pace myself so I'm not too discouraged. Thanks for sharing..
 
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