It has been a habit of mine and my friends, Bogs and Mike, to walk along the long street towards our house after office. We are quite heavier when we were younger because we do the wrong exercise. Oftentimes we would enrol on gyms and then forego the training program when we do not like the service anymore. We tried going out of town to do mountain climbing, surfing, biking-but all of these were quite financially draining to think that we have our own families to support and weekends are supposed to be bonding times with our wives and children. As a columnist, I have read a lot of research papers about the benefits of long walks. My personal take on this is that when you slowly see what is outside of you, and you take the time to just be with your feet, you are on hold and in control. You feel the breeze and you breathe more often compared when you are just seated until arriving at your destination. You are not bugged by unwanted noises of other passengers and not harrased by the slow traffic jam. I am speaking from experience. I lost 35 pounds ever since and is hardly ill. I was even promoted and given higher salary when I began being more productive at work. Thanks to long walks.
Hi kaiser,I couldn’t agree with you more. I walk over the Morrison bridge several times each week, walking from the yoga studio where I teach to my office downtown. I keep my ears open for new stories about walking. The other day, while listening to NPR, I heard about a guy who’s trying to get people to build treadmills around their desks. He explained that he walks about 1.0 miles per hour on the treadmill while he works. He’s lost weight, he’s happier, and he’s more productive, all because he walks while he works. I couldn’t find the NPR story, but here’s one on the same guy (turns out he works for the MAYO clinic) from USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2005-06-07-office-fit_x.htI totally want this set up in my house and office. People are built to walk; why don’t our work environments reflect this?~Colleen