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Building a walking routine

sahilbloom.com

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Re: Building a walking routine

#31

Post by [deleted] »

function_seven wrote: post #21
ffactory wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty sure the comment is about cities not built for pedestrians, commonly found in the US.

I’ve never seen a city that doesn’t have some way to go on walks. All the terrible unwalkable cities in the US are called that because you can’t actually walk to anything useful. In other words, those cities that require a car to do errands, go shopping, get to work, go to school, etc. But for exercise—walking for walking’s sake—it’s usually doable. It is nice if you can get the walking “for free” by combining it wit…

[deleted]

Re: Building a walking routine

#32

Post by hinkley »

Centigonal wrote: post #6
gedy wrote: post #2

Agreed, though the article lays it on a little thick.. Daily, 7 days per week walking (4+ miles) has definitely improved my physical and mental health. Got me through a bout of anxiety/panic attacks as well. Highly recommend it.

How do you fit this onto your life? Do you do one long walk in the morning or split it into smaller walks throughout the day? Is it the same each day or different? Do you vary your routes?

One of the things you discover with some exercise is how many hours in the day you need for extra sleep or coping mechanisms.

When I first started exercising (again) the amount of sleep I needed to function went down by over an hour more than I spent in class, so the class netted me time.

Now that I’m trying to work up to serious walking distance, it has replaces some time I spent in front of the TV, and reduced the amount of time I need to spend on other recharging activities like gardening.

Re: Building a walking routine

#33

Post by celrod »

rg111 wrote: post #28
pstuart wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also misses out on fresh air and possible sunshine.

Only if you live in a place where sunshine is pleasant. Treadmill has been a lifesaver for me and has finally let me have a consistent running/walking habit. Couldn't go out in the dawn as I am a night owl. When I managed that, winter (fog) or monsoon would ensue and mess with my routine. Treadmill saved me.

I use a treadmill desk and am a big fan. It's nice to walk for a few hours a day while on the computer.

Stephen Wolfram takes this up another level by also walking outside for a while in nature with a laptop holder[0]. Anecdotally, he reports having a lower heart rate on days he does this.

[0] https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2019/02/seeking-the-prod...

Re: Building a walking routine

#34

Post by [deleted] »

chegra wrote: post #13

From a similar view, the book, "Spark: How Exercise will improve your performance by Dr. John Ratey" has other benefits of exercising: 1. Exercise is better than Zoloft in treating depression 2. Students with higher fitness scores also have higher test scores 3. People learn vocabulary words 20 percent faster following exercise than they did before exercise 4. A massive Dutch study of 19,288 twins and their families…

[deleted]

Re: Building a walking routine

#35

Post by FullyFunctional »

abdullahkhalids wrote: post #18
TheRealPomax wrote: post #3

Of course, what this usually ignores is "...and live somewhere where you can actually safely walk for an hour".

I am living in Canada. It's winter and it is wet. Going outside means a 5 min ritual of changing into outside clothes (because it is wet) and wearing boots, walking and doing the reverse 5 min ritual. I love walking but very annoying these days.

I got a forcing-function: the stereotypical pandemic dog. If he doesn’t get his walk, he will do his business in the house. I literally just came back soaked from my daily one hour walk (I was too optimistic about the weather).

Re: Building a walking routine

#36

Post by hinkley »

garren wrote: post #25
tjr225 wrote: post #9

I would only add to this: try it without podcasts and music. Let your mind go somewhere else.

I’d go the opposite direction and say throw on an audiobook. I walk pretty regularly and found that a good long audiobook can be motivating.

Motivating yes, but possibly also allowing you to overdo it by checking out.

I say you’re both right. While building a habit, audiobooks help a lot. When trying to set goals, music is better (tempo) but for the mental health aspects, like nature bathing, touching grass, and meditation, eventually you want nothing in your ears more often than not.

But only after you’re confident you’ll actually show up for the exercise, distractions or no.

Audiobooks are a great way to get through books you feel you should have read but can’t seem to get into.

Re: Building a walking routine

#37

Post by serf »

I know it's petty and unavoidable, but it's a bummer to click an ambiguous headline like that hoping for a new tool to add to your repertoire as a wheelchair user.

That's one thing that I miss from my able-bodied life, contemplative walks. Rolling a wheelchair around and dealing with the intrinsic difficulties associated with doing so really destroys any kind of meditative quality out of the experience.

Now my deep meditative thoughts come to me in the shower, but it still doesn't hold a candle to a stroll through town during a brisk winter in fair weather.

Apologies for bringing down the mood, but I feel better.

Re: Building a walking routine

#38

Post by [deleted] »

abdullahkhalids wrote: post #18
TheRealPomax wrote: post #3

Of course, what this usually ignores is "...and live somewhere where you can actually safely walk for an hour".

I am living in Canada. It's winter and it is wet. Going outside means a 5 min ritual of changing into outside clothes (because it is wet) and wearing boots, walking and doing the reverse 5 min ritual. I love walking but very annoying these days.

[deleted]

Re: Building a walking routine

#39

Post by bagels »

s-lambert wrote: post #8
TheRealPomax wrote: post #3

Of course, what this usually ignores is "...and live somewhere where you can actually safely walk for an hour".

Where do people live where going outside for a walk for an hour is that dangerous? I'm pretty sure even if you lived in a super high crime rate area you could still find times to go outside for a walk during the day. Unless we're talking about extreme scenarios like living in an active war-zone.

It's cars. Rural america is not walkable unless you live near nature trails. You're walking on roads with no shoulder and people happy to run you over.
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