The case for ambulating., Sean Hedderich

Why walking can burn fat, work your butt, and fix your back.

Bob sat all day. He sat at breakfast, in the car, in his cubicle, at lunch, and on the toilet. Then he drove to the gym where he sat on the leg press, chest press, and the bike. Now he’s home sitting on the couch wondering why his back hurts (1). Kudos to Bob for exercising, but does he know we evolved to walk upright?

9 hours of tightening

Walking is the best possible exercise.

Thomas Jefferson

Resolutions to start exercising are often scuttled by confusion. Where to begin? Is yoga good? Should I start jogging? Whatever your goals, whatever your level of fitness, walk first. Before stressing over the details of a complex training program, just start moving. If you’re intimidated by kettlebells, jump ropes, bowflex, and Zumba, just step outside. Once you’re doing it regularly, then you can, and should, add weights and cardio.

The not so distant future

Walking is foundational. It builds basic strength, stamina, and core stability, which you’ll need before anything else gets thrown on top.

Can it also wake up our butts and fix our aching backs?

Sleepy Tushy

Up to 80% of adults will experience back pain in their lifetime (27). Research suggests they may just need to train their glutes.
Bob should definitely be lifting weights. But after sitting all day, muscle creep has set in (2). His hip flexors (upper thigh) and hamstrings have tightened, while his quads and butt muscles are overstretched (gluteal amnesia) (3). A recent study compared glute activity between two groups of adult men; a healthy group, and a low back pain group. The study revealed that walking at an incline produced much greater glute activation in the healthy group (20). The low back pain sufferers weren’t using their butts, resulting in too much lumbar stress. Psoas tightness could have been a factor, as well as disuse of the gluteals. Inactivity (constant sitting) can lead to atrophy of the hip musculature (21). So even if Bob goes to the gym, his butt is like me on vacation: stretched out and in no mood to work. His back woes could be the result of substituting lumbar extension for hip extension, hinging in the lower back instead of the hip.

Walking Works the Butt

The job of the glutes is to push us forward more than up. Squats recruit them at the bottom of the movement, but less at the top. As you stand up, the contribution of the glutes drops because the load is vertical (the weight is above them, gravity is pulling down), and their action is horizontal (pushing forward). At this point, the quads and hamstrings have fully shortened, but gluteus maximus has not. It could further contract, pushing your hip into hyperextension. But because you are standing up and not lying down or moving forward, there is no load, and therefore no training stimulus. It isn’t until horizontal loading combined with hip hyperextension that peak gluteus maximus contraction occurs (19). Therefore, hip bridges and hill sprints are better butt exercises than squats.

You could start doing bodyweight bridges immediately, but loaded bridges and sprints require a foundation of mobility, stability, and strength.

Enter walking. When you walk, your hip moves into full extension.

Bridging = exaggerated stance phase

Though not the main locomotors, the glutes fire with every step, primarily in the stance phase (23). And they work disproportionally harder the faster you go (24). Find an incline, and they’ll work harder still. As they contract, the antagonist hip flexors lengthen. Finally we’re starting to offset the imbalances caused by sitting. But that’s assuming form is correct. Walk tall, and lead with the hips. Actively extend the back leg. Put your hands on your butt to feel if it tightens as you push off, but remove them if you visit in-laws.

Low lunge stretch

If your hips feel tight, or your pelvis is tucked under, this stretch may help. Lift the chest and push the hips forward. If you don’t feel much in the rear upper thigh, or if it bothers your lower back, try elevating the front foot. You can further increase the stretch by bending the back knee and resting the foot on something.

In a nutshell:
You sit all day, which loosens and weakens the glutes, which are overpowered by tighter hip flexors, possibly leading to pancake butt and lower back pain. Walking, thigh stretching, and bridging might fix it.

Active and Sedentary: Two Groups of Non Walkers

Some don’t walk because it’s difficult, others because it’s easy. The sedentary group includes elderly, obese, infirm, and simply inactive. Joint pain, fear of falling, fatigue, asthma, depression, even agoraphobia can be impediments. If you are in this group, you must walk. Pronto. You can improve balance, lymph flow, bone density, mood, joint lubrication, and cardiorespiratory conditioning. Start small; minutes a day, and just gradually keep adding.

The active group omits walking because it’s chump change compared to their workouts. What’s 250 calories against 600 expended in a spinning class? These individuals have limited time available for training and want the most bang for the buck. But if they’re having trouble losing fat or building muscle (and perhaps chronically fatigued) the reason could be overtraining.

Weight training and cardio are catabolic activities. They deplete energy stores, damage muscle, and punish the nervous system. Assuming sufficient recovery and nutrition, these are all good things, until they’re not. That threshold is different for everyone, but the warning signs are consistent: chronic fatigue, insatiable appetite, joint pain, inflammation, and plateaued fat loss or muscle gain.

WALKING

Burns mainly fat

Easy on the body
Long duration
Fast recovery
Spares muscle
Conducive to high frequency
Limited effect on appetite
Lowers stress hormones
Very safe

SPINNING

Burns mainly glucose

Hard on the body
Short duration
Slow recovery
Breaks down muscle
Inconducive to high frequency
May stimulate appetite (16)
Elevates stress hormones (14)
Greater likelihood of overuse injury (13)

Long story short: spinning may lead to overtraining and overeating, but you can sustainably walk all day, all week, increasing fat metabolism, without substantially stoking your hunger or hurting yourself.

Don’t stop exercising! Resistance training and brief, intense cardio (especially high intensity intervals) provide tremendous stimulus and myriad benefits. But try swapping some workouts with walking. Think of it as active recovery, speeding the healing process until your next session. If fat loss is your goal, remember that fat is the preferred fuel for low level activity. You’re burning fat right now. Take a walk and you’ll quadruple the combustion rate and recover much more quickly than you would had you chosen spinning.

Elite bodybuilders understand this. Its why they do an hour of light cardio (easy cycling, walking) almost daily, and frequently fasted (early AM). They gently, patiently, and consistently cook off fat stores with easy aerobic exercise.

Building muscle and burning fat requires ideal conditions. Your body is neurotic and fragile, always planning for the worst. Overstress it daily, and it will respond by hoarding fat, breaking down muscle for fuel, and speeding the aging process. It is very easy to train too much. It is nigh on impossible to walk too much.

Walk, then Lift

Another quirk of the active group is they tend to launch directly into physical activity the moment they enter the gym. My advice, especially considering they probably drove there, is to walk for five minutes.

To walk is to stay. Sisyphus can sympathize.

“Alright, I’m sold! To the gym I go!”

Ah, the treadmill. The ground wasn’t good enough, we had to make it move.
Real walking requires active hip extension; pushing off the ground to propel your body. But the treadmill only asks you to swing your leg forward in time to land on the belt, which then carries it back for you. Studies have shown treadmill walking produces faster cadence, diminished stride length, and a shorter stance phase, suggesting less recruitment of the glutes and hamstrings (4,5,6). Arm swing is impacted, which may negate some of walking’s upper body benefits.

The treadmill is less proprioceptively demanding. Unless you drop your ipod, there’s no variety. You aren’t navigating terrain changes, and the inclines are all programmed and predictable, which is less challenging for your muscles, nervous system, and brain.

And for you heliophobes, part of the whole Walking Experience™ is collecting some vitamin D! The treadmill separates you from that orange thing in the sky.

These machines are also a bit dangerous. Holding on decreases chances of falling, but further alters arm swing and trunk rotation, possibly leading to injury (those tiny contractions of the forearms add up over time).
And on a personal note, I loathe the notion of negated work. You expend just enough energy to nullify that of the treadmill. It’s digging a ditch while someone fills it in. It’s absurd! Call me a luddite or tree hugger, but what a waste of electricity. What does it say about us when even walking must be motorized?
HOWEVER! There are obvious restrictions to outdoor walking. In our car-centric culture, sidewalks are becoming obsolete. And rain can short out your iPhone. So by all means, if nature is unavailable, the treadmill beats the couch.

“But I’m busy! And walking is boring!”

I know. Try this stuff.

Get a bluetooth headset and make your calls on foot. You’ll look like a schmuck, but you’ll be healthier.
Try podcasts, lectures, or audiobooks. If nature can’t provide enough stimulation, perhaps the dulcet voice of David Mcullough would help.
Park far. From work, the store, whatever. If you live in a city, perhaps you could walk to work, unless that city is Baghdad.
Get a dog.
Get a standing desk.
Travel. Take walking tours. Hike. Visit neighbors. It all adds up.
Call customer service on your headset. That guarantees hours of exercise, and the endorphins may mitigate homicidal urges.
Quit your desk job and juuuuuust kidding, I’m not that far gone.
Ditch the cart and walk the golf course, if they’ll let you.
Try a pedometer. Cheaper is fine, unless you want bells and whistles.
Perhaps an app. Android or iPhone tracking data might spur you on.

Other reasons I like walkin.’

Walkin is good for you

Ward off dementia.
Spinal therapy. Although studies have shown mixed results (26), there is some evidence that walking may be a beneficial treatment for chronic low back pain. The inconclusive results could be due to poor coaching or compliance, or the paucity of data. Hypothetically, the gentle rotational loads induced by walking may provide adequate stimulation for the core musculature.
You’ll really work your calves. Distal muscles are activated the most (10).
The hamstrings are involved in propulsion but work harder to decelerate your leg as it swings forward (9). Athletes should consider this when training for injury reduction.
Cook off some of your dinner. Postprandial walks lower triglycerides (11).
Walking may have a positive effect on bone density, but should not be relied on alone to combat osteoporosis (8). Regular weightlifting and adequate nutrition are recommended.
Improve insulin sensitivity (12).
Postmenopausal women can substantially decrease chances of cardiovascular events (25).
Older adults with diabetes can decrease chances of mortality from cardiovascular disease (18).
Good for brainstorming, or cooling off after a fight.

All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzche

Notes on Form

Walk tall. Lead with the hips, lift your chest.
You want some firmness in your midsection, but looseness in the upper spine and shoulders.
Speed up a bit. “Mall strolling” isn’t as good for you, according to spine biomechanist Dr. Stuart McGill. Natural arm swing and the cyclic loading of tissues associated with faster walking results in lower lumbar spine torques (3).
You may want to stop and stretch now and then. The thigh stretch above is great. Calf stretches may help alleviate pain in the arch of the foot.
Take off the heels, unless you like knee osteoarthritis (17). Gisele agrees with me.
Ditch the bags. Ladies I’m gonna become a purse snatcher just to improve your gait! Any bag is a bad bag, altering joint mechanics, stride length and cadence (28). Single strap bags lead to lateral bending of the spine and altered hip and shoulder mechanics. Rolling luggage leads to spinal rotation (32).
Textbooks need to go digital before all the smart kids develop sciatica. Double strap backpacks contribute to forward leaning, which can increase stress on intervertebral discs (31). One study suggests loosening and wearing the backpack lower may reduce stress (30). Shoulder bags are best worn across the chest, but your best bet is packing light.
Ditch the overbuilt athletic sneaker. The higher the heel, the greater the knee adduction (caving in) (33). Barefoot is best (34), or at least opt for a flat soled, minimalist design.
Get your nose out of your smartphone. You look like Charlie Brown walking around with your head hanging like that. The extreme cervical flexion is bad for your neck (I am guilty of this one).
Seek out soil and sand. Pavement hurts, earth heals.

ipad 4 xmas pleez lol

Legitimate Excuses

Regrettably, perambulating is not a panacea, and some injuries require attention prior to walking. If disease or an injury causes you to limp, the compensatory patterns could create problems elsewhere. Fix this. Get a sound diagnosis and possibly seek physical therapy.

One Small Step

When we think of the moon landings, Neil Armstrong probably comes to mind before Michael Collins, pilot of the command module. Myths, legends, stories, and scripture invariably describe a journey. The hero experiences a transformation along the way, and when he returns with the elixir, it’s more likely on foot than in a volkswagon. A walk to the deli may not compare to carrying Sauron’s ring to Mordor, but someday it will. Eventually, for all of us, just taking one small step will present an epic struggle.

My mind can never know my body, although it has become quite friendly with my legs.

Woody Allen

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