Dr. Keith Roach is a physician at Weill Cornell Medical College and New York Presbyterian Hospital. He writes an educational column on infectious diseases, public health and sports medicine.North America Syndicate

DEAR DR. ROACH: Seniors are advised that one of the best forms of exercise is walking. The advice is to “walk briskly” for at least 150 minutes per week. There are those of us who, because of knee or hip pain, or other reasons, are not able to walk briskly. Does that mean that we shouldn’t bother to walk at all? I would think that walking slowly would be better than not walking. What would you say? -- A.S.

ANSWER: I would agree with you 100%. Any exercise you can do that is safe and fun for you is a good exercise. Walking is a great exercise for most people, and walking briskly gives you cardiovascular benefits. But, walking at a leisurely pace is much, much better than not exercising at all. 150 minutes is great, but people receive some benefit at lower amounts. So, 150 is normally a goal that many people work toward.

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