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books and fitness ramble
Jul. 4th, 2007 12:44 amI just finished "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson. My first non-fiction in close to two years, if memory serves.
WIth all the outdoor descriptions and tales of hiking and info on land management fiascos and destruction of species - all of which there are many and good ones at that, here is what struck me so much I had to go back and look it up:
"For 93 percent of all trips outside the home, for whatever distance or whatever purpose, Americans now get in a car. On average the total walking of an American these days - that's walking of all types: from car to office, from office to car, around the supermarket and shopping malls - adds up to 1.4 miles a week, barely 350 yards a day. That's ridiculous."
And it so is ridiculous. It's the way cities have been built and Americans' interest in living in isolated residential areas that are seperate from commercial activity.
He riffs further on about people driving to a gym to walk on a treadmill instead of just going on a walk - which I get is not taking into account all factors that people may have for using gyms for walking, but it's a funny point.
Living in NYC I walk a lot on a daily basis. I would be hard pressed to walk less than half a mile each workday. Now with mac, I rarely have a weekend where we stay home, so I easily get in 3.5 miles a week without doing more than the baseline of activities. Mac just got a bike and he has been riding it around our block for the last two nights, with me walking beside him. We do 2 laps and that's about .75 of a mile. That doesn't seem a lot to add to the mix, but I am noticing it just after 2 nights.
I find exercise facinating: what gets results, what causes fatigue, what you feel later. I am pretty out of shape in that I have virtually no aerobic stamina. I am strong for my frame though and have thick muscles that tend toward bulk. Of course I want long lean strong muscles and continually think I can find the right exercise that will shift my body type about. It is not rocket science to think that low-level longer period cardio work might be the ticket. Since my natural inclination is to do what comes easy, I usually find myself doing bursts of exercise (a couple of weeks then fall off) of higher impact stuff that comes easy to strong legs and backs. My abs, poor things, should be a focus, but they are so out of shape that it is hard and requires real effort and well, not right now in my life. Ok - point here is that these daily/nightly brisk but not at all sprinty walks might just be a gateway exercise for that low-level longer period cardio that so clearly I should be doing. Maybe I can focus on tightening my abs while I walk to lengthen my posture and get even more benefit.
rambles.
WIth all the outdoor descriptions and tales of hiking and info on land management fiascos and destruction of species - all of which there are many and good ones at that, here is what struck me so much I had to go back and look it up:
"For 93 percent of all trips outside the home, for whatever distance or whatever purpose, Americans now get in a car. On average the total walking of an American these days - that's walking of all types: from car to office, from office to car, around the supermarket and shopping malls - adds up to 1.4 miles a week, barely 350 yards a day. That's ridiculous."
And it so is ridiculous. It's the way cities have been built and Americans' interest in living in isolated residential areas that are seperate from commercial activity.
He riffs further on about people driving to a gym to walk on a treadmill instead of just going on a walk - which I get is not taking into account all factors that people may have for using gyms for walking, but it's a funny point.
Living in NYC I walk a lot on a daily basis. I would be hard pressed to walk less than half a mile each workday. Now with mac, I rarely have a weekend where we stay home, so I easily get in 3.5 miles a week without doing more than the baseline of activities. Mac just got a bike and he has been riding it around our block for the last two nights, with me walking beside him. We do 2 laps and that's about .75 of a mile. That doesn't seem a lot to add to the mix, but I am noticing it just after 2 nights.
I find exercise facinating: what gets results, what causes fatigue, what you feel later. I am pretty out of shape in that I have virtually no aerobic stamina. I am strong for my frame though and have thick muscles that tend toward bulk. Of course I want long lean strong muscles and continually think I can find the right exercise that will shift my body type about. It is not rocket science to think that low-level longer period cardio work might be the ticket. Since my natural inclination is to do what comes easy, I usually find myself doing bursts of exercise (a couple of weeks then fall off) of higher impact stuff that comes easy to strong legs and backs. My abs, poor things, should be a focus, but they are so out of shape that it is hard and requires real effort and well, not right now in my life. Ok - point here is that these daily/nightly brisk but not at all sprinty walks might just be a gateway exercise for that low-level longer period cardio that so clearly I should be doing. Maybe I can focus on tightening my abs while I walk to lengthen my posture and get even more benefit.
rambles.
