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My daily exercise routine is to walk for an hour (8000 - 10000 feet) in the evening and then do pushup and situps as much as I can. I am currently at 30 pushups

My daily exercise routine is to walk for an hour (8000 - 10000 feet) in the evening and then do pushup and situps as much as I can. I am currently at 30 pushups and 20 situps. I have started the pushups and situps only recently but I have been walking for a while now. Is this healthy?

mikekchar 8y ago
Certainly healthier than not doing it! "Healthy" in the context you've used is not a binary state. "If I do X it is healthy, therefore I will do X and I don't have to do anything else". Unfortunately it doesn't work like that. It's more like a curve and it's not just one thing. So you can be super fit training for marathons, but honestly you need some excess muscle mass because you're going to start losing it when you are 50-60 years old. You need to make sure that you are flexible because when you get older, if you aren't flexible you won't be able to balance and walk, etc. It's best to start training early so that it's easier to maintain that flexibility. Even if you are running marathons and staying trim, if you eat junk you can die of lots of different conditions. So endurance training, strength training, flexibility training, and diet all work together to help your health. At the same time, there are lots of ranges of activity where you will be just fine as you age and there are ranges of activity at both ends (sedentary and over training) where you won't be fine (although it's a heck of a lot harder to over train that to be sedentary ;-) ). Finally, there is something to be said for not overdoing things at a start. So while you might want to have this amazing training regimen someday, it would be a bad idea to start out tomorrow and do it -- you want to slowly work your way up to it. So the answer you are probably looking for is "No, it's probably not sufficient to keep you fit and healthy for your whole life". But it's certainly a great start -- especially if it gets you doing other things that you might not have tried before. And it doesn't have to be training -- it can be playing soccer with a local league, or cycling with your friends or any number of social and pleasant activities. How much is enough? Try to keep your weight, muscle mass, endurance and flexibility a fair bit more than what you actually need so that you can afford to lose some. Eat a diet that makes you feel good and consult with doctors when you have health problems. It's hard to say exactly what that will entail, because it is different for everybody.
- blocked_again 8y ago
  Thanks. This is a great piece of advice. I loved playing soccer and cycling when I was growing up. I should start again with that :)
goldenchrome 8y ago
It's healthy, in that it's miles better than doing nothing. In really simple terms, anything that increases your heart rate that you can stick to 3+ times a week, every week will keep you physically fit. The limiting factor for most people is boredom. If walking, pushups, and sit ups is interesting enough for you then keep going. If you get bored, try running or adding some more exercises from /r/bodyweightfitness.
- blocked_again 8y ago
  Makes sense. I usually listen to podcasts while walking so it's something that I really enjoy. Pushups and situps not so much. I will move to something else If I can't do the pushups and situps anymore.
rjf72 8y ago
Of course it's going to be healthy but the more important question is sustainability. Some can keep up these sort of regimes, but for most that's a purely new years resolution style plan. By contrast very simple things like mostly cutting sugar out of your diet, intermittent fasting, etc can have huge results and are very sustainable since they take practically 0 effort. It's important to do what you can realistically see yourself doing for the rest of your life.
jsjolen 8y ago
Situps work the abs by flexing them along with the spine. Stuart McGill (who's the guy on spine health) would say that's a bad idea and probably recommend something like planks instead. Push ups aren't bad, but training your pecs and anterior delts only is a bad idea to do, especially for someone who sits at a computer all day. Get a band and at least do some pull aparts with it, 200 or so every week.
scns 8y ago
Switch those situps with leg raises lying down without touching the floor. Better for your back.

mikekchar 8y ago

Certainly healthier than not doing it! "Healthy" in the context you've used is not a binary state. "If I do X it is healthy, therefore I will do X and I don't have to do anything else". Unfortunately it doesn't work like that. It's more like a curve and it's not just one thing. So you can be super fit training for marathons, but honestly you need some excess muscle mass because you're going to start losing it when you are 50-60 years old. You need to make sure that you are flexible because when you get older, if you aren't flexible you won't be able to balance and walk, etc. It's best to start training early so that it's easier to maintain that flexibility. Even if you are running marathons and staying trim, if you eat junk you can die of lots of different conditions. So endurance training, strength training, flexibility training, and diet all work together to help your health. At the same time, there are lots of ranges of activity where you will be just fine as you age and there are ranges of activity at both ends (sedentary and over training) where you won't be fine (although it's a heck of a lot harder to over train that to be sedentary ;-) ). Finally, there is something to be said for not overdoing things at a start. So while you might want to have this amazing training regimen someday, it would be a bad idea to start out tomorrow and do it -- you want to slowly work your way up to it. So the answer you are probably looking for is "No, it's probably not sufficient to keep you fit and healthy for your whole life". But it's certainly a great start -- especially if it gets you doing other things that you might not have tried before. And it doesn't have to be training -- it can be playing soccer with a local league, or cycling with your friends or any number of social and pleasant activities. How much is enough? Try to keep your weight, muscle mass, endurance and flexibility a fair bit more than what you actually need so that you can afford to lose some. Eat a diet that makes you feel good and consult with doctors when you have health problems. It's hard to say exactly what that will entail, because it is different for everybody.

blocked_again 8y ago
Thanks. This is a great piece of advice. I loved playing soccer and cycling when I was growing up. I should start again with that :)

goldenchrome 8y ago

It's healthy, in that it's miles better than doing nothing. In really simple terms, anything that increases your heart rate that you can stick to 3+ times a week, every week will keep you physically fit. The limiting factor for most people is boredom. If walking, pushups, and sit ups is interesting enough for you then keep going. If you get bored, try running or adding some more exercises from /r/bodyweightfitness.

blocked_again 8y ago
Makes sense. I usually listen to podcasts while walking so it's something that I really enjoy. Pushups and situps not so much. I will move to something else If I can't do the pushups and situps anymore.

rjf72 8y ago

Of course it's going to be healthy but the more important question is sustainability. Some can keep up these sort of regimes, but for most that's a purely new years resolution style plan. By contrast very simple things like mostly cutting sugar out of your diet, intermittent fasting, etc can have huge results and are very sustainable since they take practically 0 effort. It's important to do what you can realistically see yourself doing for the rest of your life.

jsjolen 8y ago

Situps work the abs by flexing them along with the spine. Stuart McGill (who's the guy on spine health) would say that's a bad idea and probably recommend something like planks instead. Push ups aren't bad, but training your pecs and anterior delts only is a bad idea to do, especially for someone who sits at a computer all day. Get a band and at least do some pull aparts with it, 200 or so every week.

scns 8y ago

Switch those situps with leg raises lying down without touching the floor. Better for your back.