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 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.
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QUESTION: Thank you for the very good answer I just have one more question I do often do 8 miles in a couple of hours but sometimes I go at 3 or 3.5 mph on occasions and I do go slower up hills is this still sufficient especially if I do it for a couple of hours and if I did a walk for a few hours at this 3 mph pace does a lengthy but slower walk equal a shorter brisker walk, I don't think I always reach my target heart zone usually more when I am going up hills is it that important, if I am swinging my arms will that work some of my upper body and I have heard that swimming can add a layer of fat do you know if that is true?
thanks
Jodie
Answer Most people slow down on uphill segments, and depending on their steepness, you may want to keep your pace up to push your heart rate for that training effect. There is really no way of knowing how much time you are in your target zone without wearing a heart rate monitor. But you really only need that kind of training if you intend to tackle high-intensity activities such as racing.
Again, there are some people who would have you believe you are wasting your time by doing low intensity, long duration walking. These people are only concerned with the time efficiency of exercise -- doing the minimum exercise needed in the least time possible. You and I see value in spending some time with our exercise.
There is no exact equivalence between longer, less intense workouts and shorter, intense workouts. They work different energy systems in the muscles and cause different effects on the body. The principle of specificity tells us that we need to train for the type of activity we are planning to undertake.
When we are looking for health benefits, specificity does not apply. But vast numbers of studies show that moderate exercise produces immense benefits in blood parameters, feelings of well-being, weight control and chronic disease prevention.
Swinging your arms vigorously is a good way to burn extra calories, and you might consider carrying some light hand weights instead of the weight vest you mentioned.
Finally, the only way swimming could add a layer of fat is if you just float around and don't really work at it. Assuming you actually exercise by propelling your body through the water, it should be beneficial. Swimming is a non-weight-bearing exercise, so it will not benefit your bone density as much as walking or jogging.
