“Visita Iglesia” Cardio Exercises, Part 1 (10,000 Steps v. 30 Minutes of Walking)

One of the Filipino traditions during yearly “Semana Santa (Holy Week)” is the “Visita Iglesia.” There are different strokes for different folks in the practice of this tradition. Some say, you have to visit seven churches, while some say, it should be ten. Some would visit one church per Station of the Cross. Here’s your chance to lose some unwanted fat and weight while doing your traditional visita iglesia. Get into some loose and light clothing and plan your church visits well. Don’t forget to bring water. Sunglasses. By the time you have completed your pilgrimage, I hope you have done the becoming-popular 10,000 steps for weight loss.

10,000 steps/day v. 30 minutes of walk/day

I have done 30 minutes of walk, although I’m very inconsistent. I have also counted 600 steps from Malacañang, College of the Holy Spirit gate up to Aguado Street. I am not good at math, but logically, in order to complete 6.000 steps, I have to walk 10 times back and forth. Still not enough… boring! I have also tried setting up my stationary bike to 10,000 strides. Again, enough of it! It became routine to me – worse, some sort of a duty or a job. If you own an activity tracker or Fitbit, which I unfortunately don’t, counting steps would be easier. But if you do it the “primitive” way, like the way I do, it would soon bore you, unless of course you have an exercise buddy with whom you will be able to engage in conversation with while completing the back and forth route. Mall walking? Yes, sometimes it’s good. But in most times can be expensive. Grrrrrrr!

Google says: “Completing 10,000 steps each day typically burns about 2000 to 3500 extra calories each week. One pound of body fat equals 3500 calories, so depending on your weight and workout intensity, you could lose about one pound per week simply by completing 10,000 steps each day.” Washington Manual of Medicine suggests 30 minutes of brisk walking per day. YAHOO! on the other hand points out that the best way to lose weight is 1 hour of walk per day.

Forget the count. Just engage in cardio exercises today

There is no magic to exercise. The rule is the same: What you take in (what you eat), burn it off. It doesn’t mean you have to exercise the whole day or complete the Fitbit recommendation. It just means you need to work out smart. So, here are the best cardio exercises. Number 1 in the least is walking. Brisk walk, according to Dr. Robert Gotlin of Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, burns 500 calories per hour. You have to take off 3,500 calories to lose a pound. If you’re a beginner, start from 10 minutes of walk per day to 30 minutes, and then to 1 hour. That’s about it – practical.