For the last several years, resistance training has been
my primary everyday exercise. I enjoy Summer hiking
too, but regard it as recreation more then formal exercise.

Before taking up resistance training, I self-experimented
with daily walks around the neighborhood. I found that for
walks of the correct length, I experienced a significant
boost in well-being afterwards. For me, the optimal after-
breakfast walk length is approximately 1.7 miles. Going
longer than that--or shorter than that--gives less than
optimal results. I am definitely not saying that that
distance is the correct amount for everyone.

I do think that walking titration is a worthy experiment for
most people in reasonably good health. Start at 20 minutes
of brisk walking, and increase in 5-minute increments.
Keep a diary, and note how you feel after each walk, what
you had for breakfast, how well you slept, etc. If you are
like me, you will approach a short-term well-being peak,
and then descend on a decreasing well-being 'shoulder'.
Once that happens, go back to the well-being peak, and
stay there.

We are culturally conditioned to look upon formal exercise
as drudgery. And it is true that exercise has that potential.
However it is also possible to titrate a daily walking
program, in which there is a short-term pay-off, above
and beyond the satisfaction of being virtuous. If the short-
term pay-off is there, we are much more likely to stay with
the program that we have created for ourselves.

We are also culturally conditioned to regard formal exercise
as an either-or proposition. Either we are total coach
potatoes, or we are training for the Olympics. Being mindful
of what our bodies are telling us can help us to find a more
comfortable middle ground.