Over the last couple of years, we've all heard the benefits of exercise while dieting. Dieting will lose weight, and exercise will lose weight, but adding exercise to a diet will boost the loss potential.
I know the benefits of exercise. It used to be that in order to benefit from exercise, it had to be a specific length of time or a specific number of reps or sets of the exercise. Then I started hearing about the accumulated effects of exercise. Specifically the accumulated effects of walking.
Walking has been my chosen form of exercise. I don't have room in my condo for exercise equipment such as a treadmill, Bow-flex, or most of the other stuff you see advertised as must haves for weight loss. Because of the design of the building I work in, and the work I do, I can walk over a mile just in a normal day. I started wearing a pedometer to find out just how much I walk during the normal course of a day's work.
The current philosophy of walking is that the body doesn't care if walking is done over a day's time or not. Don't get me wrong, walking a measured mile or using a treadmill is great exercise. I am one of those who hates “exercise”. If I can find a way of exercise, that doesn't seem to be exercise, then I'm more likely to do it. Sure, I've chosen to walk the T in our building for exercise, but it doesn't really feel like exercise, so I'm more likely to do it. If I walk it in laps over the day, instead of all at once, what difference does it make? None to the body. If I walk more than I “normally” do, the body sees that as exercise. I also prefer to walk indoors since it can be way too hot during a Florida summer to walk outdoors.
My problem has mostly been in just what constitutes a mile. My “research” has been sort of haphazard. I've been using 2600 steps (found online) as an average. The best way, of course, is to actually measure out a quarter mile and walk it, counting the steps. I haven't done this, so I've used the average.
The building I work in is shaped in a T. A long hallway intersects with another long hallway. A number of employees use it for exercise. Monday I decided that I would would do the same. So, I left my office door, noted the number already on my pedometer and the time and started off. My office is a bit more than halfway down the first hallway, so I walked the T from my door back to my door. Seven hundred and forty two steps. Then, I walked to the elevator which is at the beginning of the T. Another two hundred forty three steps. One thousand, two hundred forty eight steps from door to door. Not quite half a mile (.47). So if I walk it five times (before and after my first and second breaks, and again after work), that's 6140 steps or 2.36 miles (based on the average of 2600 steps in a mile). I timed it at eight minutes, so that's 2.36 miles in 40 minutes. Not too bad.
I bought a new pedometer which arrived Monday. In the instructions, it gives instructions to measure your stride so that the pedometer will be able to give you an accurate reading. Cool. Now I'll know that I've walked an actual mile instead of a sort of mile. I will probably have to change how many times I walk the T, but it will be a more accurate mile than it has been so far.
Now there's been a monkey wrench thrown into the works. I was assigned on Tuesday to train a new employee. Since I had to show the new employee where everything is, I couldn't do my walk. I probably won't be able to do it while I'm training him, but that shouldn't be too long. Our jobs aren't really that difficult, but the training is intensive so that the new employee is on their own within a few days. I was on my own in three days. The last employee took longer, but I think it was because she was a contract employee pending employment. When her employment became permanent she was on her own. Chris is already employed so I don't see that he will be kept in training longer than necessary.
Hopefully, Chris will be on his own next week and I can get back into my new routine.
I know the benefits of exercise. It used to be that in order to benefit from exercise, it had to be a specific length of time or a specific number of reps or sets of the exercise. Then I started hearing about the accumulated effects of exercise. Specifically the accumulated effects of walking.
Walking has been my chosen form of exercise. I don't have room in my condo for exercise equipment such as a treadmill, Bow-flex, or most of the other stuff you see advertised as must haves for weight loss. Because of the design of the building I work in, and the work I do, I can walk over a mile just in a normal day. I started wearing a pedometer to find out just how much I walk during the normal course of a day's work.
The current philosophy of walking is that the body doesn't care if walking is done over a day's time or not. Don't get me wrong, walking a measured mile or using a treadmill is great exercise. I am one of those who hates “exercise”. If I can find a way of exercise, that doesn't seem to be exercise, then I'm more likely to do it. Sure, I've chosen to walk the T in our building for exercise, but it doesn't really feel like exercise, so I'm more likely to do it. If I walk it in laps over the day, instead of all at once, what difference does it make? None to the body. If I walk more than I “normally” do, the body sees that as exercise. I also prefer to walk indoors since it can be way too hot during a Florida summer to walk outdoors.
My problem has mostly been in just what constitutes a mile. My “research” has been sort of haphazard. I've been using 2600 steps (found online) as an average. The best way, of course, is to actually measure out a quarter mile and walk it, counting the steps. I haven't done this, so I've used the average.
The building I work in is shaped in a T. A long hallway intersects with another long hallway. A number of employees use it for exercise. Monday I decided that I would would do the same. So, I left my office door, noted the number already on my pedometer and the time and started off. My office is a bit more than halfway down the first hallway, so I walked the T from my door back to my door. Seven hundred and forty two steps. Then, I walked to the elevator which is at the beginning of the T. Another two hundred forty three steps. One thousand, two hundred forty eight steps from door to door. Not quite half a mile (.47). So if I walk it five times (before and after my first and second breaks, and again after work), that's 6140 steps or 2.36 miles (based on the average of 2600 steps in a mile). I timed it at eight minutes, so that's 2.36 miles in 40 minutes. Not too bad.
I bought a new pedometer which arrived Monday. In the instructions, it gives instructions to measure your stride so that the pedometer will be able to give you an accurate reading. Cool. Now I'll know that I've walked an actual mile instead of a sort of mile. I will probably have to change how many times I walk the T, but it will be a more accurate mile than it has been so far.
Now there's been a monkey wrench thrown into the works. I was assigned on Tuesday to train a new employee. Since I had to show the new employee where everything is, I couldn't do my walk. I probably won't be able to do it while I'm training him, but that shouldn't be too long. Our jobs aren't really that difficult, but the training is intensive so that the new employee is on their own within a few days. I was on my own in three days. The last employee took longer, but I think it was because she was a contract employee pending employment. When her employment became permanent she was on her own. Chris is already employed so I don't see that he will be kept in training longer than necessary.
Hopefully, Chris will be on his own next week and I can get back into my new routine.
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