52 Ways to Walk: The Surprising Science of Walking for Wellness and Joy, One Week at a Time

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I am trying to become someone who walks more, in all kinds of weather, and this book has definitely helped motivate me to choose walking over my car.

Afghan nomads use synchronised breathing to enable them to cover vast distances: walking at an easy pace breathe in for 3 steps, pause on 4th, breathe out for 3 steps, pause on 4th. Each chapter also includes a good balance of personal anecdotes and scientific studies to hold the reader's attention and make a convincing argument.I was most touched by the end of the book when the author states that this was her love letter to walking, and a tribute to her father who refused to drive, and who also passed away while she wrote the book. I will be honest, the primary reason I loved this book is because the science supports everything I've already concluded from my own walking experience (I knew it! Streets goes through them all, explaining the who, what, when, where, why, and how of each kind of walk. This is one I'm going to want to dip in and out of at will, which is much easier with an actual book. I've been a serious walker for years and I have already put into practice many of the author's suggestions.

So, when I stumbled upon this book I was excited to learn some new "ways" to walk, both to relax and improve fitness. I listened to the audiobook (yes, while walking), and once finished, I promptly got the kindle version to reference more easily and a hardcover version shipped off to my mother. And on a related note, what is it with middle-aged women and their obsessive desire to do silly little dances in public whenever humanly possible? Inspirational, backed by science, illuminated with human anecdote, and bolstered with how-to tips, 52 Ways to Walk will inspire, challenge, support, and encourage everyone to become more ambitious with their walking practice, revealing how walking may be the best-kept secret of the supremely healthy and happy, the creative and well-slept–those with the best posture and sharpest memories.

Annabel attempts to get you out of the rut of putting one foot in front of the other counting your steps. Streets has a very nice style in making what could be boring facts into interesting things a walker might want to try.

Ways to Walk: The Surprising Science of Walking for Wellness and Joy, One Week at a Time, is Annabel’s third non-fiction book and shares the thrill of 52 different ways to walk, explaining the latest science behind each one, and providing practical tips for making the most of your daily steps. Most woo walk that I actually want to try: Walk with negative air ions, which can be found near waterfalls, other flowing water, in the mountains, on a misty spring morning, or after a downpour. Ideas to engage all the senses, different times of day, terrain, moods, duration, health benefits, etc. this one focuses on the different ways you can incorporate more walking to your life and why you should. I love to walk, mostly with my dogs, but I love a good long walk with a good conversationalist and/or under a canopy of trees.But many of us are stuck in our walking routines, forever walking in the same place, in the same way, for the same time, with the same people. I do wonder how much we can take from a study of a group of 60 walkers (many of the studies referenced include less than 100 participants), but a lot of the things she claims make sense. She incorporates moon phases, singing, drawing, walking backwards, walking alone, walking with a friend.

There is a chapter on breathing through your nose as you walk where the author seems to hint that this filters out coronaviruses due to a specific chemical that it released. Do we need to be told to wrap up well in cold weather or to wear waterproofs or carry an umbrella in the rain? Full of clearly presented science, nuggets of history and infectious enthusiasm for being out in the world and simply walking as a way of tackling so many of our ills. Even as I was putting this on reserve at my local library, I strongly suspected that this was going to be one of those Buzzfeed-style listicles padded out into a full book, which I'm a real sucker for because I'm always holding out hope that the next one will be that rare exception and actually justify its page count; but alas, this turned out to be exactly what I suspected, a book that promises to provide creative and interesting ways to change up your daily walking habit every single week throughout a year, but then is filled with silly nonsense like, "Week 3: Take a walk while you smile at people! The book outlines 52 ways to walk, one for each week from January through to December, and all of which can be done by anyone, anywhere.Streets carefully breaks down the psychological and physical benefits of [walking], and makes a solid case that getting some movement in outside can help one “appreciate the exquisitely complicated and beautiful world we inhabit. streets piše strastveno (makar i prizemno banalnim rječnikom) i očito je da je srcem i dušom u hodanju, a benefiti hodanja mnogostruki su i sasvim sigurno poboljšavaju kvalitetu životu pa ako te i mrc potakne da se digneš iz kauča ili od kompa i kreneš za nosom, knjiga je svoju svrhu ispunila. Studies have shown that walking before breakfast, within one hour of waking, burns off more fat than a walk after a meal. Thing that will stick with me on the health benefits: Overall it seems that shorter more frequent walks have more benefits than one longer walk, especially short walks after meals. I ramble/walk often and am currently completing the London Outer Orbital Pathway (LOOP), over 150 miles of walking (split into 24 sections) encircling London through its green belt.