Walking trends

The simplest and cheapest form of exercise is walking. All we need is a comfortable pair of sneakers and appropriate clothes, then we’re ready to go. The easiest walk, one that we enjoy and do regularly, will give us a healthier life.

I’m not sure if these walking trends have been introduced here but it seems that walking is not just walking anymore. Videos, mostly TikTok, show people following these trends and the assortment presents us with various ways to get the benefits of walking. Here are some of them. The last trend does not involve strenuous physical activity but very diligent preparations.

Japanese walking – technically, it is called ‘interval walking training’. It is a technique where we rotate between three minutes of high intensity walking followed by three minutes of low-intensity walking through a 30-minute walk. This leads to stronger legs, better heart health and increased fitness. I don’t know how this name came to be as I’m quite sure, Japanese people literally don’t walk this way.

Nordic walking – this was originally designed as a summer workout for cross-country skiers.  To do this, we use a pair of poles and use them to move us forward.  It involves more muscles, so we build full body strength.  It lessens stress on our legs, burns more fat and helps us cover more ground.  This is good if we prefer hilly trails and the poles can double as protection. 

Fart walking - yes, you read this right.  This was developed by a cookbook author who started walking after dinner to pass gas. Just make sure to do it within an hour after eating and that no one’s closely following you when you fart walk. Walking after a meal helps digestion and prevents bloating. At one time or another, we had done some fart walks, be it loud or silent.

Rucking – this is a military-inspired trend where we don a rucksack or backpack with some weights.  The weights help us to build strength, fitness and endurance. We are to focus on an upright posture while walking and gradually increasing weight, distance and time as we get stronger.

12-3-30 Treadmill walking – this could be intense for beginners, so we’ll adjust the numbers to our current fitness level.  The numbers are treadmill settings. Have the incline to 12%, set the speed at 3mph and walk for 30 minutes.

Croc walk – meticulous planning is involved in this technique where we get to walk away to some foreign country after devouring suitcases of stolen money. With all the bark we hear without the bite, more could be doing the croc walk.