TheGoodDoctor’s BodyBlog

Afternoon everyone! (Well, it is here in australia at any rate )

Today i want to have a talk about cardio and fat loss, in particular, as it pertains to walking.

I’ll cut to the chase: personally, in terms of fat loss, I dont like walking as an activity at all. BUT, that is not to say under the correct circumstances it isn’t an acceptable activity for fat loss.

Currently, i am doing some walking as part of my cardio. In my opinion, it is a great WEIGHT MAINTENCE activity, but in terms of ripping up, i give it a wide berth. There are a couple of reasons for this:

i) Most people simply do not walk fast enough or long enough to burn a significant ammount of calories, nor reap any (or very little) cardiovascular benefit because their heart rate is insufficient. Fundamentally, when all is said and done, fat loss is essentially calories intake vs calorie expenditure. Let me ask you something, what do you think burns more calories, a 40 minute walk that leaves you fresh as a daisy at the end, or an all out interval training session that leaves you in a pool of sweating and breathing heavily? The answer is obvious. Now before someone goes and mentions that lower intensity cardio does burn more calories of fat, this is true. BUT, you would have do to a lot more of it to reap the same result. Ie, walking briskly for an hour, will burn similiar ammounts of calories to a hard 30 minute session on the elliptical trainer. Also, the cardiovascular benefits (ie, reduced resting heart rate, increased V02 max) and not nearly as great

ii) I like a challenge! Walking to me is NOT a physical challenge in comparision to high intensity cardio. To me that would be like going into the gym, finding a nice little pair of dumbells, doing a few easy sets then leaving the gym without breaking a sweat!

From a clinical perspective it is interesting too. 99% of patients that i see who are overweight or obese have this in common: when I ask if they are exercising, if they are, they will be walking. This is either: a) a remarkable, remarkable coincidence or b) in a day to day sense, a good illustration that walking is insufficient for fat loss. No boxing, no rowing, no cycling, or no running. Funny thing that. Why? comparitively its just too physically taxing. A lot of doctors prescribe walking for overweight patients because essentially they are working under the rule that walking is better then doing nothing, and it is. But as per was afforementioned, in terms of fat loss from day to day, I think there are better activities available.

Now i know that this point is sounds like i am bashing walking, but not true. I am just illustrating my own views and observations. As i said earlier, i am currently doing some walking for day to day in my cardio. Walking WILL work for fat loss, in fact there is a hell of a lot of bodybuilders who walk for their cardio, but the common denominator here is they ALL have super strict, pre contest diets and a calorie deficit to be able to achieve this. In conjunction with a strict diet, walking will be sufficient. But personally, I’d rather do high intensity cardio, save time, and reap great circulatory and cardiovascular benefits.

Pros of walking:

-Its easy, and you can do it anywhere

-It relaxing. I often walk to clear the mind

-In conjunction with a strictly monitored diet, it will work for fat loss

-Its low impact, and thus easier on the joints of the lower limb

Cons of walking

-It does not burn as many calories as higher intensity activities

-To burn equal ammount of calories, you will have to walk for far longer, thus taking up more time

-Unless you are really, all out speed walking, the cardiovascular benefits will not be as great 

-Personally, i dont find it nearly challenging enough

If you are going to walk for your cardio and fat loss regime, remember this:

-You have to walk fast, and hard! Exagerate the swing of your arms, pump those legs, and get your heart rate up to a decent level. You dont have to come back from your walk drenched in a pool of sweat, but you should be breathing a little hard and a least know that you have done a decent workout.

-Walk for a decent duration: 40-60 minutes in my opinion. But if you can get away with doing less, all the more power to you.

-You will get best results in conjunction with a strict diet with bears a decent calorie deficit rather then trying to create that deficit via walking.

Of course, opinions vary, and mine is certainly not the be all and end all! None the less, i would rather partake of higher intensity cardio to achieve fat loss , as opposed to lower intensity, but that is just me

Will talk to you all again soon

Your favorite chiropractor

The good doctor 

This entry was posted on Monday, October 6th, 2008 at 6:49 pm and is filed under Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.