I work at a hospital, and my position has me walking for about 11 hours, occassionally taking the stairs, and constantly pushing a cart of food trays around and delivering them. No doubt my upper body is being strengthened, as I do a lot of pushing, pulling, lifting, and reaching. I'm sure my leg strength is being helped by the immense amount of time I spend on my feet...but I still like to get at least 30 minutes of cardio in each day. I get home around 6:00, and am usually exhausted, but will push myself to go for a jog anyway.

I am wondering if all of the walking I put in during the day is at all equivalent to a few miles of outdoor exercise. And, of course, I'm sure it would be beneficial to exercise outside of work, but is it absolutely necessary?

Any opinions?

Thanks!

I believe that there is nothing quite as weight, strength, or cardio training. There is nothing that is equivalent to it in the long run. Sure, throughout your work day you might feel that excruciating pain in your lower back, your calves are burning, the stairs become a challenge to climb, but it doesn't have your heart working the way that cardio or weight training would. Your heart doesn't reach the athletic rate that you do when you jog or when you lift weights. So, personally, I don't think that it's nearly the same. But, I'm no doctor ;)