The phrase that y’all are looking for is non-exercise physical activity.
Right, there is a difference between play and exercise. You wouldn’t say partying is exercise, would you (even though you’re moving around a lot)? Of course not! That’s play.
Biking is exercise.
Running is exercise. I used to train for soccer.
Swimming is exercise (and I don’t mean just walking around in a pool). I used train for swim meets when I was a kid.
And now, I will say that recently, I’ve become less active, which means I haven’t been working out as much. Have I been partying? You betcha! How about walking? Yessir! I would never classify that as exercise.
Uh, yes? Why the hell wouldn’t it make sense? Every bit counts, especially if you have weight-loss or lifestyle challenges of various sorts. Some people have bad knees and would seriously cripple themselves if they tried to run or bike at high intensity. Why shouldn’t walking be their form of exercise?
Why were there all of those PSAs a while back encouraging people to take the stairs instead of the elevator? It all counts, and a lot of little efforts can really add up. If someone is super busy, such habits can make a critical difference.
So I’ve been exercising every time that I walk even if it’s to the bathroom? WTF? How in God’s name does that make sense?
Next time I’m at a party, I’ll tell people how much I’ve been working out. They will ask what does your workout routine look like. Then, I will say well part of it involves walking to the toilet.
Back in my clubbing days, I regularly used the dancing as a substitute for my run that day. I even still had fun.
Just sayin.
Yes. Why do you find that idea strange? Walking to the bathroom isn’t MUCH exercise (unless your bathroom is located at the top of a 20-flight staircase, or a mile away), but it is some.
So every time I walk down the stairs to the kitchen to stuff my face, I will tell people that was my work out with a serious face.
Modern Master, have you ever noticed an obese person endlessly circling a parking lot for a close space and thought “You’d probably benefit from the long walk from the space farthest from the door”? Walking is exercise. Ask your doctor.
I think people are ignoring your post, but I read it. This is what they mean except in their minds, it’s exercise.
You maintain a higher metabolism by getting up and moving frequently during the day, instead of sitting in your office chair for a solid 8 hours. A five minute move and stretch break once an hour has been recommended for a whole variety of reasons.
I guess I don’t understand why you think there needs to be some minimum threshold of… I don’t know what… for a physical activity to “count.” People have lost weight by doing nothing more than getting a pedometer and committing to 10,000 steps a day – which they do by parking farther away and walking, walking for five minutes around the office, and yes, walking to the bathroom.
People can and do lose weight by doing nothing more than that. If it doesn’t count, then how does it work? Exercise is exercise, regardless of whether you mentally designate it as “working out.” Your body sure doesn’t care if you’ve decided that this walk “counts” and that one doesn’t. Your body doesn’t give a fig about semantics.
Again, lots of little things do add up to one big thing, even if you’re not doing the big thing all at once. I never thought of my walking to class as “working out” either – it certainly wasn’t why I did it – but clearly it was exercise, given that I lost so much weight without even trying. The difference between completely sedentary, and getting up and moving throughout the day, is huge.
Ask him what exactly?
Hey doc, is it exercise if I walk to the bathroom or to my car?
No son, it’s non-physical activity (non-exercise).
{b}Modern Master**, you seem to have this bizarre idea that exercise is some special category of physical activity, somehow set apart from all other physical activity. It isn’t. ALL physical activity is exercise, and if you do enough if it, you’ll become physically fitter (and possibly lose weight).
I’ve been toying with the idea of thru-hiking the Colorado Trail some time in the next couple of years. I’m more than a bit nervous about my ability to do it, but now that I know walking isn’t exercise, I know I have no reason to be concerned. So what if it’s 500 miles of trail - it’s just walking, and that’s not exercise, so clearly anyone can do it!
Next time I decide to use the toilet, I will make sure it’s the toilet that’s the further away from me in order to tell people that I’m an exercise-machine.
Now that I know that walking is exercise, I will be able to brag to people when I walked to the toilet.
I will be sure to use the furthest one from me in order to tell people that I’ve burned lots of calories.
If he actually says that, get yourself a new doctor, because he’s clearly incompetent.
Walking is indeed a physical activity.
(I admit it, I LOLed.)
dnftt
I’ve been LOLing ever since people started saying walking is exercise.
The good thing about this is that I can tell people that I’ve been exercising when I haven’t.
You should figure out what those complicated words mean before you use them. Words like “physical” and “exercise” and “walk.”
I don’t know how disgustingly obese you are, but let’s say 250 lbs as a low estimate. If you haul your carcass around at a sedate 2mph walking pace for a mile, that burns almost 160 calories.
Sounds like exercise to me.
LMFAO!
Now people are thinking I’m obese. Good Lord!
Tell them you burned ten calories rather than five - I’m sure they will be impressed.
Walking is exercise. Do enough of it to actually burn a significant number of calories (say, 2 to 3 miles per day) and you’ll improve your cardiovascular fitness and possibly lose weight. Why are you so insistent on denying that fact?