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Building a walking routine

sahilbloom.com

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Re: Building a walking routine

#61

Post by andai »

ad404b8a372f2b9 wrote: post #45
serf wrote: post #37

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 m…

Hahaha, sorry I empathize but I'm so delighted that I'm not the only one who feels this way. It's not a feeling that most people can relate to, the absolute deflating feeling when you open an article about the greatest tool ever and it goes: The Walk. It's kinda funny.

Turns out history's greatest men have something in common with man's best friend :)

Re: Building a walking routine

#62

Post by sph »

> There are four types of walks to consider implementing in your routines

Ugh, can these growth hacking types stop trying to make everything into a "thing"? Can one just go out for a bloody walk without someone saying they need to make the best out of it, and to use it for spiritual and career growth. Just go out to pump some fresh blood and air in your body. There's no unproductive way of walking, for god's sake.

Also:

> University of Hong Kong researchers showed that walking side-by-side led to deeper feelings of connection, implying that walking meetings may actually create better outcomes.

Soon at your BigCo walking meetings for you to bond emotionally with your boss. We found it improves employee retention and reduces turnover rates.

Re: Building a walking routine

#64

Post by Mistletoe »

alpark3 wrote: post #4

Does walking on a treadmill replicate the effects? Or is the slowly changing scenery and physical sensation of moving through/to somewhere a major part in the positive effects?

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20026572/

>The results indicate that treadmill walking improves spatial and temporal gait characteristics more effectively than walking outdoors.

At least in this study it seems better than walking outdoors for stroke victims. A lot of recent studies about the benefits of sunshine would lean me towards that way, but a treadmill is still super!

For mood, it seems outdoor is best-

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/28/well/move/for-exercise-no...

Re: Building a walking routine

#66

Post by mudrockbestgirl »

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…

I have no doubt that exercise is good for you, but I'm extremely skeptical about these kind of books. I haven't read this one specifically but from your description it fits this archetype of pop-science books that cite studies as proof. But studies, especially these kinds of studies, are no proof. It sounds like a huge collection of selection-bias based experiments, which already suffer from selection bias due to the academic system, spun into a narrative to sell a book to the general clueless population.

Again, I'm sure exercise is great for you (how could it be bad?), but given how difficult it is to get replication in these types of studies I wouldn't trust any of the specific results... I'd bet lots of money that, for example, "People learn vocabulary words 20 percent faster" is complete BS and not replicable.

Re: Building a walking routine

#67

Post by number6 »

sph wrote: post #62

> There are four types of walks to consider implementing in your routines Ugh, can these growth hacking types stop trying to make everything into a "thing"? Can one just go out for a bloody walk without someone saying they need to make the best out of it, and to use it for spiritual and career growth. Just go out to pump some fresh blood and air in your body. There's no unproductive way of walking, for god's sake. Al…

You might enjoy: Four thousand weeks: time management for mortals.

Got it from another comment on HN. It's really good down to earth, not everything has to be a thing, stuff.

Re: Building a walking routine

#68

Post by number6 »

lostgame wrote: post #58
mudrockbestgirl wrote: post #43

Amazing! Added to my 1000-item list with the other "must-build habits for life success according to influencer BS clickbait posts" Don't forget to meditate, journal, go on silent retreats, take cold showers, eat a kiwi a day, and use Rust for maximum life success! Ah, and don't forget to breathe. I read it increases longevity.

Jeez, you even had to drag Rust into it. Does the downvote button have a ‘turbo’ button like a 486? Could it actually work; instead of just slowing down/buffering performance?

Your screenname... damn it...

Re: Building a walking routine

#69

Post by ToJans »

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?

As a keyboard warrior spending hours sitting in front of the computer, I was having back pain issues and gaining weight every year.

This summer I decided to tackle the root cause, so I started doing daily walks during my yearly vacation (about six months ago). Most walks were short (30min), and some took a couple of hours because I was visiting friends/family/local events, going for small groceries, ... If it was less than 10km/(~ 7 miles), I had the time and the weather was reasonable, I walked.

I was convinced I would have to walk a lot in bad weather, but this turned out not to be the case: in the morning I check my calendar and the weather for that day, and mentally mark a few opportunity windows to go for a walk.

After doing this, the biggest task is getting up and putting on my waking shoes and coat (and chest light when it can get dark) when the time is there. Once I do get out the door, I usually have to force myself not to walk further than I initially planned.

In the beginning 30 minutes felt like a long walk. When I go for a walk now, it feels like I'm only beginning to get in the flow after 30 minutes. I do have a fixed route for my brisk walks that I tend to do during weekdays, which is a little over 6km and now takes at most an hour. (It used to take way longer when I started, so there's progress there as well.)

I tend to go for bigger walks during the weekends, or as a "reward" when I close a big deal/wrap up a big task...

So what did I do with all that time before I went for these walks? A lot of it was mostly feeling productive/creative: browsing around on the internet, noodling at the piano/guitar, watching TV or doing a gazillion small things. Turns out having a fixed walking window where I let my mind wander is way better for me personally: I tend to come home with at least one insight, doing a lot of "gedankenexperiments" (thought experiments) and come back more zen.

Next to this it's also improving my physique slowly but gradually. I keep close track of my progress via a smartwatch, because I'm an IT guy after all, and love tracking progress...

All things considered, it took a few weeks/months to build this habit, but in the end it was all about starting small and building up gradually, stacking up one little habit on top of the other as time progressed.

Over the last fortnight I have been unable to go for walks due to a medical procedure, and I missed my daily walks a lot. Thankfully I'm now able to slowly reboot the habit, and I don't plan on stopping with these walks anytime soon.

Highly recommended!

Re: Building a walking routine

#70

Post by sammalloy »

mudrockbestgirl wrote: post #66
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…

I have no doubt that exercise is good for you, but I'm extremely skeptical about these kind of books. I haven't read this one specifically but from your description it fits this archetype of pop-science books that cite studies as proof. But studies, especially these kinds of studies, are no proof. It sounds like a huge collection of selection-bias based experiments, which already suffer from selection bias due to the…

The effect is explained by the increase in cerebral blood flow as opposed to sitting. I myself have experienced it. If you have a goal involving something creative, try walking for 20-30 minutes at a good pace before you attempt it. You’ll notice the difference in energy, germination of ideas, and attention and focus. It works.
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