Re: and Carolyn / walking

[Guest guest]

Sorry to disagree but I think walking is great way for everyone and anyone to improve their health/fitness. People of all ages can walk (including 90 year olds!,) it's low impact, low-cost equipment ie shoes required and you can incorporate a lot of variety in your walks. You can do intervals, hills, use walking in conjunction with a gym circuit or exercise video. It's weight-bearing ie a type of strength training. No you won't get huge leg muscles but that isn't what walking is for. It's a great exercise that combines weight-bearing, cardio and will lift your emotions/mood especially if you walk outside. Even if you are a runner, you can get benefits from walking. It uses different muscles (or uses them differently) than running or jogging. I LOVE walking! JenPink

wrote: I totally agree with you re: all the benefits you listed for walking, but for someone who's already in pretty good shape like Carolyn and I, I think you need to do more than that to improve fitness. It's better than nothing, for sure, but to really build some muscle and get the heart rate up I don't think regular walking is the answer. I think it's a SUPER enhancement though to an already vigorous rotation though! I walk mostly for my piece of mind. I really

need to get away from the office and be outside sometimes, out in the fresh air as opposed to recycled air. I feel more in touch with my community when I walk. Carolyn, I feel your frustration. I need to get back on the bandwagon too. As you once told me, 'The hard work needs to be done!' Here's to pumpin' it and burnin' it!

[Guest guest]

from Michigan wrote:

> Sorry to disagree but I think walking is great way for everyone and

> anyone to improve their health/fitness.

hi jen,

back to what pink was saying (she had said that she and i need to

do more than just daily walking in order to improve our fitness

level)... i just wanted to say that i agree with both of you.

i think that walking is fabulous... i love it! but, really, i

do it for my head.... i can truly walk away from everything,

listen to some tunes, enjoy the weather and fresh air, play with

my dog, etc. etc.

sure, i get a 300 calorie burn when i do a walk, and im pretty

sure that my lower body is getting some benefit. but my heart

rate doesnt really get very high (in comparison, im happy if it

gets over 140 bpm during walking -- aerobic workout videos can

get me up to 150 bpm ,while cardio coach on the elliptical can

produce 155-160bpm even) and my upper body gets no workout at

all. so additional cardio, strength training, including abs,

plus flexibility training must still be added onto the walking.

im all up for that, but am having a really hard time doing it all !

:*carolyn.

[Guest guest]

Hi Carolyn, I have one of those powerbelts that walker's world sold a few years ago. You wear it around your waist and then grab hold of weighted pulley's (anywhere from 1 to 4lbs) and pull them as you walk. That way you get a workout for your upper body as well as your lower body. Right now I think Austin is selling them at 's World but when I got it Kathy advertised them. I bought 2 walking videos using the powerbelt, one boxing video using it and one straight aerobic video using it. It's a lot of fun! I know of other people who use walking poles to get more of an upper body workout. Ok I will get

off my walking soap box! I just know that I lost A LOT of weight walking twice a day (morning & night) for 30 minutes each time. JenFestival City Concrete/ & Carolyn Visser wrote: from Michigan wrote: > Sorry to disagree but I think walking is great way for everyone and >

anyone to improve their health/fitness. hi jen, back to what pink was saying (she had said that she and i need to do more than just daily walking in order to improve our fitness level)... i just wanted to say that i agree with both of you. i think that walking is fabulous... i love it! but, really, i do it for my head.... i can truly walk away from everything, listen to some tunes, enjoy the weather and fresh air, play with my dog, etc. etc. sure, i get a 300 calorie burn when i do a walk, and im pretty sure that my lower body is getting some benefit. but my heart rate doesnt really get very high (in comparison, im happy if it gets over 140 bpm during walking -- aerobic workout videos can get me up to 150 bpm ,while cardio coach on the elliptical can produce 155-160bpm even) and my upper body gets no workout at all. so additional cardio, strength training, including abs, plus

flexibility training must still be added onto the walking. im all up for that, but am having a really hard time doing it all ! :*carolyn.