- from oprah.com -
—Walking Advice for Busy People
Q: I leave for work too early in the morning and get home too late at night to walk for fitness. Are workout videos as effective as walking?
A: Having your feet hit the ground for 30 minutes every day is as important as making sure your car has tires. So, sure, videos that get you on your feet for 30 minutes are as good as walking. But don't wait until you get a video. Walking around your dining room table or chasing your spouse around the bedroom is effective too!
Q: In your books and columns, you are firm about getting 30 minutes of walking every day, which works out to 210 minutes a week. When I'm super busy, can I stagger days or cut back to 10 minutes, as long as I average 210 minutes a week?
A: Walking turns on genes that apparently require daily activity to stay on. Normally, we hate to give you absolutes when the data aren't perfectly clear—but this case is an exception. We believe that 30 minutes a day is necessary. However, when you're super busy (or just in the mood for quick, short walks), you can break up the time and walk in intervals as small as 10 minutes. Why a total of 30 minutes and intervals no smaller than 10 minutes are the magic numbers is as clear as a window during a snowstorm. We just don't know why, but those times appear to be what it takes to change the way certain genes function.
Q: In terms of burning calories, is 11 minutes of stair climbing equal to 36 minutes of walking?
A: Usually, 36 minutes of walking will burn about 200 calories, whereas 11 minutes of stairs will burn around 100. We say "usually" because the burn rate depends on how fast you walk or do stairs. If you have access to a gym, there's an easy way to find out: Mimic your pace on a treadmill and a stair-climbing machine, and see how many calories you burn in those time periods. While the calorie counters on machines aren't perfect, they'll give you a reasonably accurate idea that's better than guessing.
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