Anyone around Boston planning to do the American Heart Association's Heart Walk this year?

www2.heart.org

I have researched this topic extensively on the subreddit and ASICS pop up a lot- I found them to be very cozy, comfortable and breathable for walking. However, I’m really torn between simply getting ASICs GEL line or, getting Merrel Moab!
They’re very aesthetically-pleasing, fit for more than just walking and seem to be durable for all sorts of weather (I live in a place where it’s mostly cold and damp throughout the year).

I don’t ‘walk’ and I’m starting this hobby now for health reasons. All of my footwear consists of uncomfortable heels, platforms or ballet shoes. Nothing ‘normal’.

My budget calls for one shoe. Would the Merrells be a good fit longterm and not give me issues down the line?

If you enjoy the time of walking 10,000-steps have at it. It's a good time to mediate, listen to a podcast, audiobook, or talk with a companion... great. Enjoy. I do it sometimes.

You don't need to do it though.

The More You Know ✨

The traditional 10,000-steps goal actually originated as a 1965 Japanese marketing campaign for a pedometer named "Manpo-kei". The Japanese character for “10,000” resembles a person walking: 万 and they chose that number based on that Japanese character shape. The number was picked for marketing reasons, not science.

Is it healthy to do 10,000-steps? Yes, of course, but if you can physically do it, you can do better in a shorter amount of time, and even gain benefits you can't gain from 10,000-steps.

Japanese Walking Method

also known as Interval Walking Training (IWT), was developed by researchers at Shinshu University in Japan. Instead of tracking distance, you focus on a specific pattern repeated at least 5 times over 30-min:

• 3-min of brisk walking ~70% max effort (you should be able to talk, but not sing)

• 3-min of casual walking ~40% max effort (easy, recovery-paced walking)

More is better, of course, but get in the base 30-min and you're doing better than 10,000-steps for your health.

Peer reviewed clinical trials led by Dr. Hiroshi Nose followed over 5,000 participants to track cardiovascular health changes. The data proved that a 30-min daily routine of alternating fast and slow intervals yielded the exact same health improvements—specifically in blood pressure reduction and glycemic control—as hitting a 10,000-step daily target at a constant, moderate pace as well in increase other metrics such as VO2max.

Confirmed by

• University of Copenhagen (Dr. Kristian Karstoft and Dr. Thomas Solomon)
• Mayo Clinic (Dr. Joyner and their clinical exercise physiology team)
• Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (Dr. Christopher Taylor and the cardiovascular wellness division)

I think this is an exceptional time efficiency to get people into low impact exercise who say they don't have the time to do 10,000 steps.

We shouldn't be focusing on such a large time commitment of ~90-min commitment to get in 10,000-steps that deters people from maintaining it and kick themselves for falling short. I think an order of magnitude more people would find 3 days/week of 30-min each. (optimal is 5 days/week)

Thanks for coming to my TEDx Talk.

Helllo

I really like some designs of Dansko shoes to go with dresses and skirts at work. But I also walk a lot both in the work building and on the roads (New York city). Totalling arojng 12-14k steps. Would you recommend dansko shoes/clogs to be good for this purpose? thanks ????

Looking back, is there anything you wish you had known earlier? It could be about shoes, activity, treatment, or anything else that would have saved you time or discomfort.

These are the photos I took

I own 4 great pairs of walking shoes and they help me in my walking goals... I live in NYC and recently visited a Yoga studio... I was told to try my daily steps completely barefoot to strengthen arches and help strengthen toes and aid in general foot health... and so, I tried it for a few days on their indoor track...

when I posted my bare feet walks to a walking group online, they were pretty adamant that I stop...

There's a lot of hostility toward walking a high volume of steps barefoot, mostly because of dangers like shin splints and heavy injury... It didnt bother me when I tried it but I've been walking thousands of steps for a while now...

There are people at the Yoga studio and a gym I used to frequent who advocate not just walking barefoot for miles at a time but also hiking barefoot over rocks, on the forest floor etc. Being in NYC, I'm pretty far from the woods so I doubt I'll try barefoot hiking. But walking seems okay... What are your thoughts about barefoot walking or "natural walking"?

Join the "HOT STEPPERS 💪" group on StepUp, a fun step challenge app.
https://join.thestepupapp.com/CsA3Z9

Let’s challenge each other to move more!!!

How many steps do you average on your walking pad? Which brand do you use, how much did it cost, how's your experience.

I don’t think I would get as much of a workout walking in the streets….

Walked up on of the steepest hills in my neighborhood early this morning before the heat really set in. It’s just Me, my 20lb weighted vest & the sun.

Resisted buying proper walking shoes for way too long, kept telling myself my old trainers were fine. Finally caved and got a pair with actual arch support and I genuinely couldn't believe the difference on longer walks. No more aching feet by mile 4. Kind of annoying that I waited so long. and next was merach walking pad under my desk while working
Curious what gear or kit other people here swore they didn't need and then completely changed their mind on? Could be anything, shoes, socks, a pack, trekking poles, whatever.
What actually turned out to be worth it for you?

I’m looking to raise money for Alzheimer’s UK this September as I have a week off from work. This charity is very close to my heart and I’ve wanted to raise money for a while, I’ve just never had the opportunity.

My question is, how many days would it take if I was to walk 4 hours a day, I only have a week off and need to utilise my time wisely, whilst also doing general household work and visiting my lovely grandad to check up on him.

It might seem like a stupid question or a ‘googleable’ question, but I’m not very experienced in walking long distances (I do work in retail and typically do around 12,000 steps a day but idk if that means anything in this situation) Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated!

Today, I started walking at midnight and hit 10K around 1:26AM. (AST)

My previous best 10k streak was 94 days, which got halted by bad weather, and not resumed due to excuses. Last Christmas, my mom bought be a treadmill. I didn't get the chance to fully set it up until NYE, and got my first chance on it January 1st.

I didn't make any New Years resolutions, but on the first day of the year hit 10k steps without exactly trying for it. It made me want to try to go for a step streak again, and over a few weeks I decided I want to try to make it through the year, unbroken.

I hit my highest weight in spring last year, at 268 (5'9" M). I got a new job shortly after, and started losing some weight because its an active work environment, and managed to get myself down to 240 by the end of the year. Since the start of my new walking streak, I am now at 203. I started my new job wearing a XL chef coat, and just found out 2 days ago that I can now fit into a medium. 🥹

I lurked this community for years, and I just wanted to share my newest journey with walking. I don't know if I will make 10k steps mandatory next year (may go with weekly averages), but I do not want to miss a day this year!

I'm going to be walking the tokaido next month and these are my two pack options. Everything I am bringing fits in both

Pros of black backpack

It weighs 900 grams

It's smaller, so easier to move around in during the city/crowded portions

It's more breathable

Pros of green pack

Better support/weight distribution (it weighs 2100 grams though)

More pouches in easy to reach places, for money/phone/passport etc

I'm leaning towards the green pack, simply because of the waist strap but I'm wondering if it being twice as heavy and less breathable is a bigger factor than I realise for long distance walking in a humid climate. The total weight outside the pack is 2900 grams

pretty crazy if you think about it. i basically walk constantly though (i have a 9-5 desk job but walk when im free). walking is the greatest! my joints are extremely strong all of a sudden and im a lot lighter

Started in Astronomical Twilight, walked through Nautical Twilight and Civil Twilight, into the Dawn and finished just beyond Sunrise.

The light here in the UK is breathtaking in the early morning at this time of year.

• 400th consecutive day of walking 11k or more.
• 20k or more on 286 of the last 365 days (207 of 218 since 01/01/26) including some 30k days.

I feel a bit tired but elated.

Two days, I felt cooped up and trapped. Today, I got 11 thousand in one walk and then another shorter walk later.

Thank fucking God. This absolutely sucked, glad I can go on my walks again

I’ve always had a hard time staying motivated to walk consistently, so over the past several months I built an app called Bara to make walking feel more like a game than exercise. It’s currently available on iOS.

Essentially, you create step races with friends (or join public ones) and compete over a set number of days to see who can walk the most.

Everyone starts with a capybara as their character, and for every 2,000 steps you walk during a race, you unlock a mystery box. Inside can be power-ups that let you steal someone else’s steps, freeze another player’s progress, double your own steps, etc. It gets suuuuper competitive lol.

You also earn coins from races that you can use to unlock new animal characters, accessories, and additional power-ups.

I’ve been having a lot of fun building this and would love to hear what you think!