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Walking is not exercise but it is better than not exercising.
To your question, I have a gym in my basement so instead of going to the gym I do my workouts at home. It's convenient but it's not better than going to the gym because my equipment is limited.
That said, you don't need gym equipment to exercise. There are many forms of equipment free exercises but walking in itself is not exercise. It's a mental break.
Walking is excellent exercise...for health. If it's done regularly, at a reasonably fast pace, and for long enough (just 20 mins a day is enough). It lowers blood pressure, cholesterol, improves circulation (it's been shown to decrease the odds of dementia in old age), lowers blood sugar, and other things. It won't build muscle like formal exercise intended for that purpose. It won't help lose fat (despite many swearing it does)...it is shown not to do that. So walking is an excellent exercise to incorporate in a whole-body healthy lifestyle.
It's also important to maintain or increase muscle, which is done through weight bearing/lifting exercises. This helps with muscles, weight control, and prevention of loss of bone density.
Cardio helps with circulatory system, lung capacity, and other things. I have a particular dislike of cardio, though, and find it very tiring and difficult. Maybe because I find it requires a lot of effort for the returns, as opposed to weight work and walking.
Hold on, Florida—Have you ever done farm work? Digging, hauling, throwing and carrying heavy objects, (in the gym, they don't call this the "farmer's carry" exercise for nothing) bending, stooping, reaching, long hours on your feet ... And on top of this he goes running? The gym isn't the only way to get and stay in shape!
Working on a farm daily for a few hours beats going to the gym for an hour a day by a long shot. Never realized this when I was a gym rat until I moved to farm country and met some of these guys. Couldn’t believe the shape they were in and their endurance well into their 70’s.
Look at athletes from various sports that grew up working on a farm. They have an advantage.
My mother never "worked out," but she "worked" constantly when I was young. Cooking three meals a day from scratch plus dessert, including baking a cake or pie about every other day; running up and down stairs to dust and vacuum, pick up and clean bathrooms, do laundry, sweep/mop floors. Then there was spring/fall deep cleaning, including washing the aluminum blinds and scrubbing windows and even walls! Add in large vegetable and flower gardens outdoors (Dad did mow the lawn, shovel the snow, trim the shrubs, and pay the bills.) Before kids, she also walked to work, etc.; six miles a day.
I think people these days - in the age of take-out/delivery food, weekly house-cleaners, and condo/apartment living - don't realize how much sheer physical labor was involved in just surviving as recently as a few short decades ago. Now we drive to the gym instead.
Walking is not exercise but it is better than not exercising.
To your question, I have a gym in my basement so instead of going to the gym I do my workouts at home. It's convenient but it's not better than going to the gym because my equipment is limited.
That said, you don't need gym equipment to exercise. There are many forms of equipment free exercises but walking in itself is not exercise. It's a mental break.
Where on earth did you hear that walking was not exercise?
“Walking is just as good as any other form of exercise,” says University Hospitals pediatric sports medicine specialist Laura Goldberg, MD."
“The guidelines are 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity a week. It doesn’t really matter how you get that. You can walk, you can swim, you can run.”
"Walking often gets a bad rap as being not intense enough to create real change or a cop-out from more effective forms of exercise. As the amazing transformations coming out of our Start TODAY walking group prove, this is entirely false!"
"Walking is a simple exercise that doesn’t require any equipment, gym membership or expensive workout clothes. But, is walking good exercise? Brenda Husemann, ARNP, UnityPoint Health, assures us walking is great exercise. She tells us the benefits of walking, recommendations to help you develop a walking routine and a few tips to ramp up your stroll for weight loss."
At almost 7 decades, walking is a great exercise and works, with the benefit of fresh air and some true Vitamin D from good old sunshine. 10,000 steps a day!
My mother never "worked out," but she "worked" constantly when I was young. Cooking three meals a day from scratch plus dessert, including baking a cake or pie about every other day; running up and down stairs to dust and vacuum, pick up and clean bathrooms, do laundry, sweep/mop floors. Then there was spring/fall deep cleaning, including washing the aluminum blinds and scrubbing windows and even walls! Add in large vegetable and flower gardens outdoors (Dad did mow the lawn, shovel the snow, trim the shrubs, and pay the bills.) Before kids, she also walked to work, etc.; six miles a day.
I think people these days - in the age of take-out/delivery food, weekly house-cleaners, and condo/apartment living - don't realize how much sheer physical labor was involved in just surviving as recently as a few short decades ago. Now we drive to the gym instead.
Because today people hire others to do their manual work
I use workout DVDS. I get a fantastic variety of exercise. YouTube also has free workouts. I like Jessica Smith and Margaret Richard a lot, but there are many more to choose from.
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