Walking -- Strenuous/Demanding Exercise?

newbies
(Anthony Mariapain) #1

In this podcast, the 2KDs stated (in the MAIL section) that walking was a strenuous exercise. I need a little science help with this or some clarification.

#2

I don’t think it’s that simple, there’s no black & white strenuous/non-strenuous “truth” about walking.

First, and most generally, it will be more or less strenuous depending on your state of health, particularly knees and ankles, and how fit or overweight you are.

Second, it also depends greatly on what sort of “walking” you’re talking about and/or practising. Some general daily walking round and about in your neighbourhood, or even to and from work etc, on mainly flat terrain shan’t be that strenuous (in fact it’s one of the least strenuous physical activities you can engage in) ; some sports or “speed” walking in similar circumstances might be a bit more ; if you’re walking in hills, or especially mountains, it will be quite a bit more ; then more if you’re regularly doing 25K to 40K hikes ; then up too if you go on some shorter hiking trips ; then even more on full-on long-distance hiking where you try and reach your daily limits every day for several weeks or months on end.

So you can see that there’s no simple and easy answer to your query.

(Nathan Toben) #3

The Maximum Aerobic Threshold (MAF) Test is a very good way of figuring out how to pace yourself appropriately to illicit beneficial health gains without inhibiting fat-burning and spiking cortisol:

What Is The MAF Test?

(Anthony Mariapain) #4

I guess I didn’t ask my question correctly.

In a podcast, during the Mail section, when the guys were discussing how a newbie jumped into the keto diet too quickly with fasting and exercise which resulted in no weight or fat loss, they both implied that walking (for 30 min if I remember correctly) was a strenuous, muscle building exercise…like all walking.

I know walking can be next to nothing for you or drive you to some heavy cardiovascular work.

I’m just trying to understand what they were driving at with that comment.

(Nathan Toben) #5

Coupling the dramatic nutritional transition of SAD —> Keto with an increase in other lifestyle components that are seemingly productive for weight loss, such as exercise, work productivity, increased responsibility or expectation, can have a neutral or negative effect because it may be too much of a break from your body’s (and mind’s) former equilibrium.

I think that this is what they mean by the word “strenuous”.

It is not that walking is bad (however, depending on our individual starting points, it can be strenuous), it is that, on top of starting keto and other changes all at once, sprinkling in more walking or exercise than you were doing prior to keto may not have the effect you expect due to increased stresses.

No matter our starting points, the MAF Method allows an individual to dial in the pace that best suits their fat-burning journey.

(Nathan Toben) #6

I definitely don;t think the message to take home from it is to avoid walking or exercise though but to consider your first priority becoming adapted and second priority, augmenting your lifestyle to befit your health and fitness goals.

(Anthony Mariapain) #7

Thanks Nathan! I appreciate and understand the clarification. I do wish there’s a “fitness” themed podcast in the future. Minus our Aussie brother and Ms. Zorn, fitness seems to be lost subject with respect to the podcasts.

#8

I agree. First focus is to become keto or fat adapted, then exercise to tone what’s left.

#9

Well it’s definitely possible that for the first week or so of any diet regiment that you’ll see no outward change at all, as your body both adapts and might use the new foods and the old fats in different ways, but again there’s no one-size fits all answer.

Some people might quickly start developing muscle from exercise, which is heavier than fat, to no net gain loss from the dieting.

If people increase their water intake, well that adds extra weight too, at least in the short term.

OTOH at the opposite end of the scale, when I was much younger, eating once every 4 days, drinking lots of water plus the odd glass of red wine with some fairly intensive daily hiking provided a loss of 1 Kg/day at the beginning. (I ate more frequently after about 12 days to 2 weeks of that, and the rate of weight loss diminished after the first 10 days)

(Anthony Mariapain) #10

Correction: muscle is more dense than fat

(Terence Dean) #11

Anthony,
I started Keto nearly 17 weeks ago at 135kg and now I’m down to 111kg,during that time I’ve walked 20 mins twice a day at a moderate pace 3.7km/hr, so approx 1.42 km. That pace is not strenuous and it doesn’t need to in order to be beneficial. I was struggling to mow my lawns which take 2 hours to do before Keto but within 5 weeks it was a breeze after doing those walks. No need to kill yourself walking like a maniac, unless you like that sort of thing.

#12

How does that mean that muscle is not heavier than fat ?

Not all of us live in the ISS

#13

LOL, yes. A cubic inch of muscle is heavier than a cubic inch of fat.

(Roy D Rushing Jr ) #14

I don’t think I heard that episode, but my guess is that their response makes sense only in the context of that particular person. If they were coming from obesity combined with a sedentary lifestyle, then I have little doubt that walking for 30 minutes is extremely strenuous for them. In fact it’s probably a grueling gauntlet that leaves them completely spent at the end. For a person of average weight and cardiovascular health it shouldn’t be a problem. For example, I averaged something like 11,000 steps every single day last year. That’s surely several times what the person in question was engaging in, and I didn’t even count any of that as exercise. It was just the amount of moving around I had to do to complete my various daily tasks. I still had to spend some time on the treadmill afterwards at a pace I thought actually was strenuous to feel like I had exercised. So it has to be considered in the context it was presented in to make sense.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #15

In any case, just to spell it out, the point is not that heavy exercise is bad on a ketogenic diet, merely that it’s better not to overstress the body during the initial fat-adaptation stage. Once fat-adapted, people quite often enjoy strenuous exercise (shudder!), and some people find that their performance has been enhanced.

Note, however, that while keto is great for endurance, explosive performance still requires glucose; keto won’t help you win the 100-yard dash.

(charlie3) #16

I believe the government’s definition of moderate is 50-60% of age adjusted max heart rate. It may also be that, for walking, moderate is 100+ steps per minute. I Iisten to books while walking (Gutenberg project, + @voice app + Android text to speech). Playing on top of that is a metronome app ticking at 30 beats per minute. I get a tick every 4 steps which keeps me at 120 steps per minute. When I’m using a heart rate monitor that pace keeps me in the 50-60% range. Exercising at 70-80% of max heart rate has the same benefits in half the time but it’s hard to do that by walking.

#17

“Strenuous” is relative to the person. For instance, my resting heart rate is much lower than others because I’m an athlete. Walking would do nothing for me.

So first we have to mathematically calculate the threshold. It will not be the same for all.

(Anthony Mariapain) #18

Got it. Thanks.

(KCKO, KCFO) #19

If you are walking at high altitudes and going up and down hills it can get very streneous. I live in the foothills of the Rockies, so when I go even higher with a day pack, a walk can really get my heart rate up into that level, fairly easy. It does depend on your age, how much effort you put into walking and the altitude.