Congratulations! You have found America’s Podiatrist Walking Page, and if you are here, you are likely interested in Mankind’s most universal exercise—walking. It does not matter if you live in Chicago, Paris or Tokyo; everyone walks. According to the American Sporting Goods Manufactures’ Association 2010 Research Report, 70 million Americans walk on a regular basis and that number is growing.
Walking is Man’s oldest and most natural way to exercise. Anyone who can put one foot in front of the other can walk. We’ve been doing it every day for an astounding 3.6 million years. Famed anthropologist Mary Leakey discussed the importance of walking (bipedalism) in National Geographic:
One cannot overemphasize the role of bipedalism in human development… This unique ability freed the hands for myriad possibilities: carrying, tool-making, intricate manipulation. From this single development, in fact, stems all modern technology. Somewhat oversimplified, the formula holds that this new freedom of the forelimbs posed a challenge. The brain expanded to meet it. And mankind was formed.
Researchers have proven that taking a daily brisk walk helps, prevents or lessens the severity of nearly every medical problem that can plague us: from high cholesterol to low testosterone, diabetes to arthritis, anxiety to depression, insomnia to irregularity. The list goes on.
Could there be a reason that walking has remained our main form of exercise over this extraordinary length of time? I believe walking is a wonder drug of sorts. If pharmaceutical companies could package it and sell it, they would. No drug comes close to offering the wide diversity of benefits of a daily brisk walk.
Walking gets the blood moving in a safe, natural, low-impact manner. When our blood moves, it carries fresh oxygen to every corner of our body, and oxygen is life. Think about it: You can go weeks without food, days without water, but only minutes without oxygen (and some teenagers can only go seconds without texting).
This site is an exploration of the wonderful, truly life-extending, health-enriching blessings of walking.
Surprisingly, even though we all walk, few people think about HOW they are walking, but when they do, most admit they walk with poor form or posture or other bad habits. For example, some people hang their head out in front of them or they walk as if pulled forward by their sagging stomach (often combined with an over-arched back). Other people may walk by propelling themselves forward by twisting their body excessively or swinging their arms vigorously.
These poor walking habits (and others) lessen the benefits of a brisk walk and worse, could contribute to excessive joint, ligament and muscle strain. To get the most from every step, we should walk with great form and posture. This site will also explore the detrimental effects of poor walking habits, and simple ways to walk better.
At this point, some people ask: isn’t walking just as simple as putting one foot in front of the other? It is and it isn’t. This is like saying, isn’t golfing just as simple as whacking the ball with a club?
We all should walk daily and should walk at our very best. This way, we get the most from every step–the maximal toning and weight-loss, while lessening stress and strain on our joints and muscles.
Given that we walk every day (we average 5,900 to 6,900 steps a day, but should walk 8,900 to 9,900 steps/day) it would make sense for us to walk our best. This site will delve into simple ways to get ourselves walking better, but to learn even more, you may want to visit Dr. Nirenberg’s FloWalking.com.
FloWalking is a new, revolutionary way to improve your current manner of walking to boost weight loss and lessen pain. It is a fitness method developed by Dr. Nirenberg to help people walk better, feel better, lose weight, and get relief from aches and pains. (It is not affiliated with Friendly Foot Care).
Walking isn’t just for our body; it is for our mind. A brisk walk can be a relaxing, mind inspiring break from the hustle of daily life, a chance to focus on yourself or the world around you, especially if you are walking outdoors where you can connect with nature.
I hope you become inspired to take a brisk walk each day and learn to walk at your very best. The top articles on walking on this site can be found by Clicking Here.
References:
- Troiano RP, Berrigan D, Dodd KW, et al. Physical activity in the United States measured by accelerometer. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2008;40:181-188.
- Tudor-Locke, C. Steps to Better Cardiovascular Health: How Many Steps Does It Take to Achieve Good Health and How Confident Are We in This Number? Curr Cardio Risk Rep (2010) 4:271–276.
- Tudor-Locke C. Steps to Better Cardiovascular Health: How Many Steps Does It Take to Achieve Good Health and How Confident Are We in This Number? Curr Cardiovasc Risk Rep. 2010 Jul;4(4):271-276. Epub 2010 Apr 30.
- Schmidt MD, Cleland VJ, Shaw K, et al. Cardiometabolic risk in younger and older adults across an index of ambulatory activity. Am J Prev Med. 2009;37:278-284. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2009.05.020
- Morris JN, Heady JA, Raffle PA, Roberts CG, Parks JW. Coronary heart disease and physical activity of work. Lancet. 1953;265:1111-1120.
- Paffenbarger RS Jr, Hyde RT, Wing AL, Hsieh CC. Physical activity, all-cause mortality, and longevity of college alumni. N Engl J Med. 1986;314:605-613. ABSTRACT
- Oscar H. Franco, MD, PhD; Chris de Laet, MD, PhD; Anna Peeters, PhD;Jacqueline Jonker, MSc; Johan Mackenbach, MD, PhD; Wilma Nusselder, PhD. Effects of Physical Activity on Life Expectancy With Cardiovascular Disease. Arch Intern Med. 2005;165:2355-2360.
- Paffenbarger RS Jr, Hyde RT, Hsieh CC, Wing AL. Physical activity, other life-style patterns, cardiovascular disease and longevity. Acta Med Scand Suppl. 1986;711:85-91.
