Michael Medvig

How to Start an Exercise Program For Beginners Part 2: Walking

How to Start an Exercise Program For Beginners

Part 2: Walking

Welcome back! You wouldn’t believe that walking would be controversial, would you?

The issue isn’t walking itself, it has more to do with why you are doing it. And I think walking is a great topic for you to get a handle on so you don’t waste a lot of time and effort.

Depending on the condition of your health, most people can walk. When I am talking about walking, we first need to look at what is called the Perceived rate of Exertion. This is a handy numbering system from 1 to 10 that allows you to gauge how hard you are working.

So don’t worry about how fast you are going, gauge the effectiveness of the walk by your RPE.

An RPE of 2-3

Pros: You will burn some calories.

Cons: You will not have a major effect on changing your cardio or your muscle strength.

An RPE of 4-6

Pros: Great for building up your cardio and burning fat.

Cons: Very little resistance for strength or body-shaping. It also takes a long time.

An RPE of 7-8

Pros: Excellent way to maximize time. Great for building your wind and putting some beneficial stress on the muscles.

Cons: Mentally it is hard to maintain this pace.

So in the end, I am not against walking if it is used as part of an exercise program. In fact it is a great addition to do everyday to clear your head or as a lower intensity workout to do on days where you aren’t lifting.

People who just want to walk will be sadly disappointed because the benefit to time spent ratio just isn’t good.

And let’s be brutally honest, some people use walking as an excuse so they can say “Well at least I am doing something”. Well, if you are not challenging yourself, you are really just fooling yourself.