Walking

In my opinion, walking is the most underappreciated activity in the known human universe. For most of our history, walking was a necessity. People would walk searching for food, to travel, to migrate. Now, most people rarely walk. We can drive our car to the grocery store. Most of our jobs are sedentary. It doesn’t take long to get out of the habit, and we are no better for it. I hate to admit this, but when I am really busy with work and school my step counts go way down, and it will take real intentional effort to get those back up again. Which is a shame, because walking is amazing. I love just going out for a stroll on a warm night. I might take a walk to get some thinking done. I might take a walk to think about nothing.

Walking in the woods is called hiking, and hiking is awesome. Of all the outdoor activities I enjoy, hiking is at the top of the list. I also like the idea of urban hiking. Walking in an amusement park, walking in a museum, walking in a zoo, are all great ways to change up the scenery. I also recommend just walking in the city you live in and their parks. This is best done during the workday if you happen to commute downtown. It is a great way to reset yourself.

What is best about walking is that the more you do it the better you feel physically and mentally. It is a great way to get your joints loosened up. It is also a great way to work out the aches and pains in your lower extremities. It is also probably the most underappreciated way to lose weight. I’ve known a few people to shed enormous amounts of weight just by walking everyday. There is no doubt walking should be in everyone’s aging strategy. When I was younger, mall walking was a thing for older people, so that generation knew what was up.

If walking is so great, let’s talk next about cardio in general…