walking, an almost daily exercise that we do out of need or pleasure

Often, it’s the punishment. You have to walk because you are parked too far away, there is no metro station or bus stop, you have to finish on foot. This is the majority mode of travel in France, but only for short journeys, less than a kilometer.

Walking remains the first physical activity of the French, and probably the most accessible: it’s free, no need for special equipment apart from comfortable shoes and you just have to open the door to get started. You might even find fun in it!

If you run or cycle, you know how fast you are going. You even make it a little challenge, but do you know how fast you walk? This is exactly why the French Athletics Federation is organizing, Saturday October 5 and Sunday October 6, the Marche en Fête, in six cities in France. To motivate you to walk, and also remind you that it is a wonderful health ally.

The figure of 10,000 steps every day to stay healthy is not based on any scientific evidence. Studies have shown that from 4,000 steps each day, the risk of death decreases. Even if you start from nothing, take just 500 steps more than the day before, your cardiovascular risk drops. 500 steps is 300 meters, approximately. The idea is therefore to regularly extend the distance and aim for 6,000 steps daily. It is rather this figure that we must remember. It corresponds to the 30 minutes of physical activity recommended for adults.

When it comes to physical activity, the key word is progressiveness. So everyone has their own pace, to begin with. And, if we can, we increase the pace. Your heart will start to beat faster, your breath will shorten, you will start to feel hot. This is called active walking and it’s ideal: it works the balance, the muscles and the cardio-respiratory system. You don’t have to do your 30 minutes all at once, you can split it up, with three times ten minutes, for example.

Walking is an activity that is good for morale, too. It helps combat anxiety and soothes you, which can take you far, well beyond the number of steps! For the philosopher Nietzsche, great thoughts came while walking, while Steve Jobs, one of the founders of Apple, held “walking meetings”. At our level, if we spend a lot of time sitting, we can already stretch our legs every two hours and make phone calls while walking.