h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

"But you're still talking about fast walking. I'm talking about walking 'briskly'." We're getting into semantics here; the words 'fast' & 'brisk' are synonymous, aren't they?

"...I'm not talking about any sort of training effect at all. I just want people to raise their heartbeat a little, most people walking briskly for 30 mins a day won't even lose weight, let alone get any 'training' out of it."
You must have some special meaning reserved for the word 'brisk'. If you walk briskly for 20-30 minutes, your heartbeat *will* rise and you *will* achieve a training effect - that's what raising the heart rate does. However, I agree that simply strolling for 30 minutes, although it might get you off the sofa and into the fresh air, will do very little for your cardiovascular system.

Perhaps you should retitle the Entry 'Pootling about with a pedometer'.

Perhaps you should write a few entries of your own before you insist on picking on other people's in this ridiculous way?

What, and have some sob (like me), who knows nothing at all about the subject, brandish links to a fistful of disreputable websites, and tell ME I don't know what I'm talking about? Get away with you!

Personally, I think anything that gets couch potatoes out in the open air taking more exercise that they are used to has to be a good thing. By a strict interpretation, brisk walking might not produce a 'training effect', but neither does it do any harm and this latter point is the overall message of this entry. If previously sedentary people want to progress to more vigorous aerobic exercise then they will have to go through this stage. The criticisms I have read in this thread remind of the old joke of the yokel giving directions: 'Well, wherever you're going, I wouldn't start from here'.

The old and the unfit are the most likely to injure themselves through inadequate care - injuries that can be easily caused and that may last a lifetime.

This is irresponsible: "You will be using muscles you use every day, so no need to worry about straining muscles that haven't done very much..."

If you warm up before or cool down after a run, it's a good idea to stretch. But to be perfectly honest, this 'streching' business wasn't around when I first started going to the gym twenty-odd years ago and has only made a recent appearance (around where I am, anyway). People stretched their muscles by exercising them, period. *I* was told, anyway, that the main point of stretching was to avoid cramping after a vigorous run and *that* was caused by metabolic changes in the the muscles, namely lactic acid build-up. If you're not going to exercise to the point that you start to respire anaerobically then I can't see why it shoudl be such a big issue. There's an awful lot of crap talked about exercise.

Perhaps, if you read the links and note where the advice is coming from...

I could do, or I could just fall back on my common sense and assume that a moderate walk is unlikely to do me any lasting injury if I fail to stretch my muscles at the end of it. If somebody has a history of cramping after such walking then by all means they should do it. Otherwise, its a measure of the same level of usefulness as the stupid Swedish law that decrees all drivers should turn their headlights on even in broad sunny daylight.

If there were half a dozen people in this thread saying the same as you I would have added something to the entry. However, most of the reviewers who have commented on this issue are saying similar to me. We walk from the moment we get out of bed, so the muscles are warming up all the time. When we stop our brisk walking we may sit down and have a cup of tea. So making the tea involves slowing down, and even if that's not happening, taking a coat and shoes off involves some bending and stretching. Even if that doesn't happen, we still don't need to make a special effort to stretch. I've recommended that overweight or ill people visit a doctor first, and I'm confident that I've done enough to save injury.

You may flaunt your links at us all you like, but as I've said, I've spoken to experts myself and am happy with their advice which has all been included.

Hi Eco,

I've been given your fine entry to subedit, and the result is at A20460584. If you spot anything that needs attention, please drop me a note.

SchrEck Inc.

I trust you.