About 60 percent of American adults do not get the recommended amount of exercise, and about 25 percent are not physically active at all, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Exercise need not be strenuous to provide significant health benefits. Physical inactivity is most common in older women, and walking is often an ideal way for them to gain some of the health benefits of physical activity.
Moderate Intensity
Though many athletes and other people get regular vigorous or sustained exercise most days, the actual goal of good exercise is simply to achieve moderate intensity physical activity. The Michigan Surgeon General defines moderate intensity physical activity as that which causes you to feel exertion, but wouldn't prevent you from holding a conversation comfortably. For most people, walking should fall within this category. If you need to walk more than 4 mph in order to feel exertion, use proper speed-walking technique or consider jogging instead.
Duration of Activity
The Michigan Surgeon General places the target for physical activity at 30 to 60 minutes of moderately intense activity at least five times each week. At an average walking speed of 3 to 4 mph, this means the equivalent of walking anywhere from 1.5 to 4 miles. Thus, while walking a mile is good exercise, on its own it is probably insufficient to meet the recommended level of physical activity. Continuing on for at least an extra half mile, however, would probably be sufficient to meet your minimum level of recommended physical activity for the day.
Cumulative Activity
The total amount of cumulative physical exertion you undertake in a day determines whether someone is getting "good exercise." That means you can get the same relative benefit from a longer period of less intense activity as you can from a relative brief period of intense exercise. Thus, 30 minutes of brisk walking is about as useful as 15 to 20 minutes of jogging. And if 30 minutes to an hour is tough to fit into your schedule, break it up into 10- or 20-minute segments. If you are completely sedentary, start by getting just five to 10 minutes of moderate activity daily and gradually build to your desired level of exertion
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One Mile Could Be Enough
Walking one mile alone could be good and sufficient exercise if it took a full 30 minutes to complete the mile at a moderately intense pace. This would be an average pace of about 2 miles per hour. While it probably wouldn't be true for most people, if at this pace you feel the exertion of the activity, walking one mile would be enough exercise for the day even if you completed it in two or three different periods during the day
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References
Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/397890-is-walking-1-mile-good-exercise/#ixzz2J6P9KE4W
Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/397890-is-walking-1-mile-good-exercise/#ixzz2J6OianFx
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