AboutScott Demaree Expertise I can answer questions about training, physiology, nutrition, technique, equipment and injury prevention. My background is not medical, so I will not be able to answer detailed questions about injury treatment. However, during 30 years of endurance exercise I have had a few injuries so I feel qualified to talk about things that have worked for me and others.
Experience I have been a long distance runner since 1978 and took up racewalking in 1982. More recently, I have worked as a certified personal trainer helping people with a wide range of exercise needs. Last year, I coached several people to successfully finish the Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk in Dallas (60 miles in three days).
Organizations American College of Sports Medicine, American Council on Exercise, National Science Teachers Association
Publications Journal articles associated with my graduate work with me as the primary author were published in the Journal of Nutrition, Acta Physiologica Scandanavica. Additionally, I co-authored the chapter on exercise metabolism in ACSM's Resource Manual for Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, 4th Edition. Finally. I co-authored a book for beginning marathon runners (Marathoning 101).
Education/Credentials I have recent Master's degrees in Exercise Science from Wichita State University and Nutrition from Texas A&M University.
Awards and Honors I won national championships in the 1986 100-Kilometer Racewalk and the 1989 24-Hour Run.
Expert: Scott Demaree Date: 1/6/2008 Subject: walking
Question Hi I am currently walking a couple of hours every day and three hours at a time at the weekend. I do not need to lose weight I want to maintain it and I do this exercise to keep fit and maintain the weight. I enjoy walking and do it quite briskly and sometimes wear a weighted vest for the strength training and I take my dog with me. Is walking sufficient as an exercise for life for optimum health I have read on some sites that vigourous exercise is sometimes needed,but on other sites moderate seems to be enough but as I do this for quite a good duration each day and it does include hills on occasions I thought this might be good enough, is it do with getting in my target heart zone? Also is this much walking going to be too much? I am currently also swimming for 45 mins 4 to 5 times a week in a morning but will have to give this up when I go back to work so would like to walk in 2x 1 hour sessions I will not be able to go jogging as I will have to take my dog with me and he will not be able to keep up. So is walking sufficient exercise for optimum health and fitness if I do it briskly and for this duration, is it possibly too much? Does the duration make a difference?
Thanks
Jodie
Answer These are all very good questions. You are obviously quite fit and are right to be concerned with these issues.
When you say you are walking briskly, I have to assume you are covering about 8 miles in two hours and 12 in three hours. This amounts to 60 miles per week in addition to the swimming exercise. This is an enormous amount of training and has a very strong effect to produce great physical conditioning. Most marathoners and even ultramarathoners don't train this many miles!
It comes back to what your goals are. You get 90% of the health benefits of running by "merely" walking. And walking briskly, on hills and sometimes with a weight vest will accelerate your heart rate to near jogging levels. The only other advantage of jogging is that you can finish your workout faster, but the cost is an increased risk of injury.
If your goal is to be fit, your work load not only provides fitness training, but proves you ARE fit! In truth, you could maintain good fitness on less than you are now doing. I'm not saying you should do less, especially if you enjoy it.
The duration of your activity does have a major effect on its ability to condition your body. If you rule out small amounts of jogging (along with checking your heart rate to see that you are in your training zone), you will need to keep an hour or more of brisk walking to maintain fitness. The continued occasional use of the weight vest would be fine, but just be aware that carrying extra weight too often will increase wear and tear on your joints.
If your goal is to walk or even run in distance races, then by all means, keep up the good work. Shifting a few of your walking miles to jogging would help you compete in such races.
I'm glad to hear that you are maintaining a good body weight. Your current activity levels are outstanding and will pay health dividends for as long as you continue them. You must be eating healthy as well, to keep up such good energy levels.
I certainly don't see much to criticize. Don't get caught up in all the hype about intense training and hitting target heart rates. Such considerations are not necessary unless you substantially reduce your exercise duration.
