I walk 30-60 minutes every day for sanity. It’s a break from sitting on my butt in front of a screen. It gets me outside breathing fresh air. I move around and see some sites, and catch up on podcasts.
There are studies that confirm walking is good for health, but I didn’t need that scientific evidence to encourage my daily stroll.
I don’t even consider walking exercise. It’s more an enjoyable break with benefits.
My 6-day a week, 10-minutes a day X3 Bar routine is my exercise.
Walking is something else.
My Walking Experiment
After doing research on walking, I’m inspired to try an experiment: walk without headphones. I’m a little nervous. The primary reason I enjoy walking is because of the uninterrupted podcast listening. I fear if I leave the phone at home, walking might actually bore me like it does a lot of people.
Plus, I lose 45-60 minutes of podcast time. This is how I stay informed. How am I going to replace that? My 60-minute commute to work every day is enough. But, there’s so much great recorded material out there these days. This might be a bit of an addiction. Anyway …
Generally, I like to be efficient. Walking for 45 minutes seems extravagant if I’m not at least pumping my brain full of information. Without the information download maybe I’ll feel like I’m wasting my time.
But …
I read about all these thinkers, writers, and creative types who insist on walking as part of their process, so I’m going to give it a shot. I’m going to take a notebook out instead of my phone and see what pops into my head. Hopefully, inspiration and nuggets of wisdom will flow. Or at least processing. Or something.
First Walk With No Headphones
I had a day off so I decided to test walking without headphones and document the results. Mind-blowing. I’m not kidding.
Shackles lifted off me. It felt free. It helps that the weather is warming up (40 degrees) and it was sunny. And, it was midday on a PTO day. But, without the podcast droning away in my ears, my mind was free.
I kept the phone at home. I carried a pocket-sized notebook and a pen. And, I left the building. But, first, I did some reading and writing on a project I’m working on. This mimics the process of some of the big brains listed below.
Head down to knock out some work. Then, walk to let your mind process.
Dr. Shelly Carson, in her book Creative Brain, wrote that you have to separate your absorb state from your synthesis state.
Absorb state is where you’re open to new ideas (i.e. playful thinking), while the synthesis state is for execution on logical thinking.
If you get good at this process you can stop waiting for random inspiration because you are setting the table for a steady flow of good ideas.
If you start working in the morning and get your brain firing on a particular problem or piece of writing, you can get up and walk away to shake it up a bit. It lets your subconscious process while you get exercise and fresh air.
Anyway, I took an hour to read and write notes for a blog post I’m putting together. Then, I took off on my walk.
I started having interesting thoughts immediately and wasn’t ready for it. I forgot to take notes. I’m so used to passive listening that I forgot to get the notebook out and write this stuff down.
Once I remembered to take notes I recorded good insights. My mind was flitting all over the place. Some of the better bits I wrote down while I was walking, which is a bit of an issue because my handwriting is terrible when still. My penmanship while walking is less legible than me trying to capture my thoughts by peeing in the snow on the shady side of the path.
I might have to stop to actually write the notes. I was feeling a little self-conscious too. Such an old-school thing to do. Walk around with pen and paper. But nobody gave two shits. Also, who are these people? Don’t they have jobs?
All I know is this was awesome. It’s much easier now that there isn’t a below zero windchill. Writing notes with gloves on in the dark in the snow doesn’t sound feasible. But, going into Spring this will be great. Although, the other caveat is that I won’t be doing it in the morning after reading and writing. I have to go to work on typical weekdays. I guess I could try to knock out an hour walk after an hour of writing, but I already get up at 4:55 AM. Do I look like Jocko?
One more bit to add here. In 2014 Stanford did a study and found that walking increased creativity by 60 percent. Interesting. This study didn’t find a difference between indoor and outdoor walking, but walking versus sitting was a game-changer.
The creativity continued to flow even after the subject sat back down.
Focused thinking, like coming up with a one-word answer to a specific word problem, didn’t improve. So, the upshot is to use walking to generate ideas or expound on concepts or ideas you’re starting to noodle around on. Hit the desk to crank out the work.
I love this flow: work, walk and take notes, type out the notes with additional thoughts, and back to work.
I gotta figure out how to make it happen daily.
Next Level Walking
After I pull the plug on my podcasts while walking, my next step (haha … get it) is to vary my routine. My daily routine is rigid, so I can get my stuff done. Otherwise, I spin off into oblivion. I approach variation with trepidation because it can make everything come crashing down.
Wow. Typing that out made me think therapy rather than walking variation is in order, but I’m trying to say my natural state is flitting around … researching this, doing that, and being lazy, so I have to apply a tight structure or else.
Still, I’m sure it’s beneficial to have curated variety.
In Nature
So, one weekend day a week I’m going to hike in nature. I live in downtown Milwaukee by Lake Michigan. The lake is awesome, but my path is concrete. I need to get into the woods.
This paper relates a 4-day experiment, where hikers unplug from media and walk in nature. Creativity and ability to solve problems improved by 50%.
I could always use more creativity and problem-solving acumen.
Being amongst the trees also does something positive for your brain. It slows it down and helps it relax. It gets you away from the constant flicker of screens, and the concrete bustle of the city.
Henry David Thoreau built a career around walking around and doing stuff in nature. He thought his four-hour-plus saunters had to be in nature to capture the full spiritual benefit.
John Muir traipsed around the Bay Area for decades, which is how he gathered material for his prolific nature writing career.
There might be something to getting off the beaten path.
Rough Terrain
Walking on terrain that isn’t flat and hard is beneficial. It helps with balance. It engages more muscles. It improves coordination. Paths in the woods fit the bill. I’ll also make it a point to hop the big rocks at the edge of Lake Michigan more often. That’ll keep me on my toes.
Actually, in the winter, even the flat concrete paths provide an extra level of difficulty when icy or packed with snow. Not my favorite walking conditions, but now that I know the benefits of switching it up, I’ll bring a different attitude about slip-sliding on the downtown tundra.
Barefoot Walking
I’m all in with minimalist shoes. At the very least I make it a point to wear shoes with the least amount of heel-to-toe drop.
I also love walking barefoot on the beach and on the grass. The beach is like a foot massage and it increases the difficulty as you sink down on every step.
Mark Sisson, of Mark’s Daily Apple, is a huge proponent of walking barefoot.
And if you want to get a little woo-woo, there are health benefits to connecting to the Earth without shoes on. Paul Chek says you are able to release unwanted energies out of your body and into the earth when you’re barefoot.
Since I live in Wisconsin, I can only do this for like three days out of the year, but I’ll be ready. Just kidding, we have warm days.
Put a Little Pep In Your Step
If walking bores you read 7 tips for spicing up your walking routine, which suggests varying the terrain, intentional breathing exercises, exploring, jumping and climbing obstacles, and walking to get somewhere.
Other folks gamify by setting goals and tracking their steps and even competing with friends, families, and co-workers. I get it. Use your competitive side for motivation. I’m not into tracking steps. I do enough spreadsheets at work.
Famous Creatives and Thinkers Walk
Walking doesn’t take a lot of focus which frees up your brain. Scientists, writers, creatives, and other high-powered minds work on their stuff, then take walks to come up with breakthroughs.
Poet William Wordsworth walked 175,000 miles in his life. He lived to be 80 from 1770-1850, which seems like a healthy lifespan for back in the day. He probably didn’t have a FitBit, so must have taken meticulous notes on his mileage.
Author Nassim Taleb is a proponent of walking to increase your vigor or, in his words, become anti-fragile.
“The data shows that long, very long walks combined with high-intensity exercise outperform just running.” – NN Taleb
He walks 10-15 hours a week and prefers walking in the city over nature walks. Also, to stay on brand he throws in a few random bursts of sprinting while he’s walking.
Philosopher Soren Kierkegaard spoke of the health benefits of walking:
“Above all, do not lose your desire to walk. Every day, I walk myself into a state of well-being & walk away from every illness. I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it. But by sitting still, & the more one sits still, the closer one comes to feeling ill. Thus if one just keeps on walking, everything will be all right.”
Ludwig Van Beethoven walked after his first work session in the morning, then took a long walk in the afternoon, no matter the weather. He always carried a pen and sheets of music paper in case inspiration hit.
He incubated ideas by taking “long, solitary walks through the forested valleys of Vienna.”
This article by Daily Rituals author Mason Currey says famous composers like Tchaikovsky, Mahler, and others also walked.
Goethe was also a walker.
Tech giant Steve Jobs walked around Palo Alto, CA for exercise and to clear his head. He was a big fan of walking meetings. This piece relates a story from Marc Andreessen, a tech giant in his own right, who almost ran over Jobs, while he was crossing the street during one of his famous Palo Alto walks.
“Steve Jobs was famous in the area for his long walks, which he used for exercise, contemplation, problem-solving, and even meetings.”
Fellow tech giant Mark Zuckerberg is well-known for walking meetings. There are stories of him taking job candidates on walks around the Facebook campus during interviews.
Philosopher Friedrich Nietzche walked for at least two hours every day.
“All truly great things are conceived by walking.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
Author Virginia Woolf recited her drafts aloud while walking. Despite looking nuts, it was an integral part of her process.
“To walk alone in London is the greatest rest.” – Virginia Woolf
Scientist Albert Einstein walked around Princeton University while knocking around theories.
Charles Darwin knew that the more complex the problem he was trying to solve was, the more stones he would kick on his walk.
Aristotle, like Socrates before him, gave lectures while walking around Athens, Greece. His students, called peripatetics, which is Greek for meandering or walking about, followed him around to soak up the wisdom.
Immanuel Kant viewed his daily walks as an escape from his scholarly work.
Walk for Sanity
Jordan Peterson claims he walks at least 10 miles a day to keep from going nutty as he levels out after his harrowing experience coming off an addiction to benzodiazepines.
Charles Dickens wrote from 9 AM to 2 PM, then went on a 20-mile walk. Every day. Walking was a relief from writing, which made him miserable.
“If I could not walk far and fast, I think I should just explode and perish.” – Charles Dickens
This study tested people with major depressive disorder, comparing the effects of quiet rest versus moderate-intensity aerobic exercise (a brisk walk falls in this category). Both groups reduced psychological distress, depression, confusion, fatigue, tension, and anger. And the exercise group had the added benefit of an increase in “positive well-being and vigor scores.”
History of Humans Walking
There was a time when human beings didn’t have cars, busses, taxis, Ubers, trains, and planes. They had their feet and animals. Most of the day-to-day survival involved walking. People would walk for firewood, water, and food. Humans were hunter-gatherers and averaged 3 to 10 miles of walking spread throughout the day.
As bipeds, we’re built for walking, not for sitting all day.
If pivoting your career to become a hunter-gatherer isn’t plausible, at least interrupt prolonged sitting sessions with bouts of moderate activity, including walking.
Health Benefits of Walking
Walking keeps your butt engaged. Modern life is sedentary. Walking keeps you moving and your glutes activated, avoiding the atrophy of excessive sitting.
It also reduces stress, improves glycemic control, triglyceride levels, lowers blood pressure, and boosts the immune system.
Many studies have shown the positive benefits of taking consistent walks.
- Positive effects on kids that walk to school compared to those that don’t.
- Habitual exercise like walking connected to reduced inflammation.
- Immune function boosted in the elderly.
Unlike the varying opinions on prolonged cardio, walking seems to be universally acknowledged by studies and literature for improving well-being, while being low risk for injury.
I started off by saying I don’t consider walking exercise, but it really is. It has myriad positive effects and counteracts the modern malaise of too much sitting.
Walking Connected to Longevity
People that walk put themselves in a better position to thrive as they age. It makes sense. You see older folks out on the trail. They have a gleam in their eye and a bounce in their step. They’re active on a daily basis and it shows, compared to those that have shut it down and rot on the recliner.
The mindset, backed by action makes a huge improvement. It takes discipline, but the level of effort is minimal. Talk about saving for retirement. Store some of those fitness chips for future disbursement during your hale and hardy senior years.
- Walking improved the longevity of women over 70.
Cognitive Benefits of Walking
A 2009 neuroscience study discovered that pre-adolescent students who walked on a treadmill for 20 minutes performed better on cognitive tests. This led the researchers to believe that this type of exercise would improve attention spans and academic performance.
This study showed a correlation between being able to walk for six minutes with better brain function in the elderly.
Walking improved the cognitive ability of people with Alzheimer’s.
Walking Is Catching On
Despite the doom and gloom reports of Americans becoming more sedentary, there seems to be a resurgence of walking. With wearables, people are making a point to walk while engaged in friendly competition. They reduce health insurance premiums if you meet certain step requirements throughout the year. HR departments are launching contests for taking the stairs rather than the elevator at the office.
Real estate sites give property listings walk scores.
Or it’s the last gasp, death rattle of a culture doomed to sit in front of a screen or glued to their VR headset 24/7.