Can Walking Be My Whole Workout?
As seen in , , assistant professor of exercise science, explains why step count should not be the sole focus of a walking-based exercise routine. 鈥淸Getting] ten thousand steps聽was never meant to be the defining task of your day,鈥� he says, noting that daily walking typically falls into the category of physical activity vs. exercise, which requires that activities challenge the body and force muscular and cardiovascular adaptations. Instead, he notes that it鈥檚 important to consider the聽intensity聽of your walks and the amount of time spent exercising.
If you don鈥檛 have a heart rate monitor to help gauge your walking intensity, Rothstein suggests taking note of how hard you鈥檙e working through the talk test. If you can carry on a conversation easily, your exercise is low intensity; if you鈥檙e getting out of breath and feel as if your effort level is a six or seven out of 10, you鈥檝e reached moderate-intensity exercise. Increased breathiness and an inability to speak more than a few words at a time signal high intensity. Making incremental adjustments 鈥渢o up the ante is probably the most important recommendation I can make with walking,鈥� he said.