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Mica_Stone
Registered Member

Date Joined Jan 2002
Total Posts : 2

Posted 1/6/2002 12:49 PM (GMT -4)

::Welcome to the forum, Mica. Nice to see you post rather than just lurking :-) ::

A common recommendation for exercise is brisk walking for half an hour, twice a day.

I have a 4 mile route that I normally walk daily, at a brisk pace.

::Does this mean you walk at 8 miles per hour? That is pretty fast even for brisk walking. Its about as fast as I can go in a sustained manner and when I do it I pass many people who are jogging.::

But what to do if I cannot walk at my usual brisk pace for a few weeks? For example, the walking surface is dangerously slippery with ice, it is raining really hard, path is crowded with people, cold, snowing, etc.?

::Skipping one or two days wont hurt much, and you can accomplish the same thing by climbing stairs, high-step walking in place, or doing other exercises indoors. Things like aerobic dancing or Ti-Bo are both excellent. Kitty suggests skipping rope if your ceilings are high enough. Get a walkman. Doing some of these things to music makes them much less boring. When the music is good on a local station we often dance in our apartment. In fact, our Monday exercise, when we do it, is all within our apartment. ::

Do I get as much, or almost as much benefit, by covering the same distance, but more slowly? I would be exerting less power, but doing the same amount of work.

::No. The benefit of the exercise is partly related to getting your heart rate up and your metabolism and circulation going faster.::

The frequency question is, do 6 brisk walks of 10 minutes per day, equal the benefits of 2 brisk walks of half an hour? It takes me 10 minutes to walk through all the corridors and side wing of my apartment building and up and down the stairs twice. While it solves the slippery surface problem, corridor walking is really boring so 10 minutes at a time is all I want to do.

::I dont think that would accomplish the same thing because you need the sustained workload. But if you omitted the corridors and just did stairs, then 10 or 15 minutes might be hard enough to accomplish most of what a half hour of brisk walking would do. I would not be exactly the same but it might be a healthy alternative. Afterall it is also not the best thing to do the same sort of exercise constantly.::

Finally, suppose I walk for half an hour, as fast as I can, with 20 lb wt. Obviously I cannot cover the same distance. However, do I get the same benefit as I would by walking briskly for half an hour without weights?

::Depending on your own weight and how much extra load 20 lbs is, this could well give the same aerobic benefit (just as a shorter time climbing stairs would). However, it would have different effects in other areas. For bone strength it would be better than not carrying the weight. For flexibility it might not be as good.

I should note that I am no exercise physiologist, so these answers are based on my general understanding of the bodys physiology and the benefits of exercise.::

Mica_Stone
Registered Member

Date Joined Jan 2002
Total Posts : 2

Posted 1/6/2002 5:40 PM (GMT -4)

>::Welcome to the forum, Mica. Nice to see you post rather
>than just lurking :-) ::
>
>A common recommendation for exercise is brisk walking for half an
>hour, twice a day.
>
>I have a 4 mile route that I normally walk daily,
>at a brisk pace.
>
>::Does this mean you walk at 8 miles per hour? That
>is pretty fast even for brisk walking. Its about as
>fast as I can go in a sustained manner and
>when I do it I pass many people who are
>jogging.::

I did not mean to confuse.

::No problem. I find that natural language is inherentlys confusing. No mattter how hard we try it is virtually impossible to see all the ways in which ones statements can be taken.::

I measured distances carefuly on a map and multiply by two. My favorite trip is to a new bridge on the river, a 3.8 miles round trip. I do that in one hour. Other walks to certain landmarks are 2.0 miles round trips, suitable for half hour walks.

::Understood. But I now see another problem. A one half hour walk at 4 miles per hour is really not brisk enough to stimulate aerobic conditioning. However, these are certainly of some benefit and likely for this rate of walking multiple short walks, as you described before, is likely to be of similar benefit.::

>But what to do if I cannot walk at my usual
>brisk pace for a few weeks? For example, the
>walking surface is dangerously slippery with ice, it is raining
>really hard, path is crowded with people, cold, snowing, etc.?
>
>
>::Skipping one or two days wont hurt much, and you can
>accomplish the same thing by climbing stairs, high-step walking in
>place, or doing other exercises indoors. Things like aerobic dancing
>or Ti-Bo are both excellent. Kitty suggests skipping rope if
>your ceilings are high enough. Get a walkman. Doing some
>of these things to music makes them much less boring.
>When the music is good on a local station we
>often dance in our apartment. In fact, our Monday exercise,
>when we do it, is all within our apartment. ::
>
>Do I get as much, or almost as much benefit, by
>covering the same distance, but more slowly? I would
>be exerting less power, but doing the same amount of
>work.
>
>::No. The benefit of the exercise is partly related to getting
>your heart rate up and your metabolism and circulation going
>faster.::
>
>The frequency question is, do 6 brisk walks of 10 minutes
>per day, equal the benefits of 2 brisk walks of
>half an hour? It takes me 10 minutes to
>walk through all the corridors and side wing of my
>apartment building and up and down the stairs twice.
>While it solves the slippery surface problem, corridor walking is
>really boring so 10 minutes at a time is all
>I want to do.
>
>::I dont think that would accomplish the same thing because you
>need the sustained workload. But if you omitted the corridors
>and just did stairs, then 10 or 15 minutes might
>be hard enough to accomplish most of what a half
>hour of brisk walking would do. I would not be
>exactly the same but it might be a healthy alternative.
>Afterall it is also not the best thing to do
>the same sort of exercise constantly.::
>
>Finally, suppose I walk for half an hour, as fast as
>I can, with 20 lb wt. Obviously I cannot
>cover the same distance. However, do I get the
>same benefit as I would by walking briskly for half
>an hour without weights?
>
>::Depending on your own weight and how much extra load 20
>lbs is, this could well give the same aerobic benefit
>(just as a shorter time climbing stairs would). However, it
>would have different effects in other areas. For bone strength
>it would be better than not carrying the weight. For
>flexibility it might not be as good.

I weigh 125 lb. I am thinking that if I could buy an old style flak jacket at a military surplus store, possibly add extra weight to that, and have a light windbreaker over everything, it would distribute the extra weight more evenly and make for easier walking.

::Sounds good. If you could continue to walk at 4 mph with extra weight added that might start to get aerobic. To be aerobic you need to get your heart rate up to 75%(220 - age). Here is another formula which is considered to be more accurate especially if your resting heart rate (RHR) is low: RHR 75%(220 - age - RHR). How fast you then recover to a heart rate below 120 is a sign of good aerobic conditioning.::

>I should note that I am no exercise physiologist, so these
>answers are based on my general understanding of the bodys
>physiology and the benefits of exercise.::

Thank you, Tom - your insight is very much appreciated. :-)

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