Irish neuroscientists tell you why we walk

22 September 2021 will be the 100th birthday of China's Mr Chen Ning Yang.

Tsinghua University, the Chinese Physical Society and the Chinese University of Hong Kong jointly hosted a seminar on Mr Yang's academic thinking.

At the symposium, Mr Yang delivered a speech entitled "Long May We Live, Thousands of Miles Together".

Looking at him, many people would not have guessed that he was already a hundred years old.

The secret of his health has been a hot topic of discussion for a while.

Yang confessed that his longevity was mainly due to several factors: firstly, good family genes, no genetic diseases, and secondly, a good lifestyle, reading newspapers, writing and painting every day, and going for walks when he has time.

In Yang's opinion, strenuous exercise is harmful to the body, and walking is the best exercise.

He often walks for exercise, for an hour at a time, and even now, when his legs are not flexible, he walks around the house for ten minutes from time to time. In his view, walking is an informal and relaxing exercise that stretches the joints and bones and improves the body's resistance to disease.

The Irish neuroscientist, Shane O'Mara, in his book Why We Walk In his book Why We Walk, O'Mara clearly states that "walking is not only good for our muscles and posture, it also protects our organs and repairs damage, slowing or even reversing the ageing of the brain."

A world-renowned neuroscientist, Shane O'Mara is also a member of the Royal Irish Academy of Sciences. Through his research, Shane has found that the modern world's sedentary lifestyle has taken a heavy toll on our physical and mental health. We need to get back on our feet, walk, climb, shop, go to the park, get up from the sofa and chair, walk and discover a healthier and more rewarding lifestyle.

01 Why is walking good for us?

If we pay attention, we will find that many people nowadays lie down instead of sitting, sit instead of standing, or walk instead of walking. Coupled with the convenience of various means of transport and artificial intelligence, people are becoming more and more inactive, and over time our bodies are becoming weaker and weaker, and our blood circulation is getting slower and slower.

When we don't walk for long periods of time, our muscles also change and fat accumulates in them, so we gain weight.

As we get older, we lose muscle quickly through lack of exercise, and our blood pressure and metabolism change.

Many people experience lower back pain and lower back pain and the reason for this may be lack of exercise, or being sedentary.

The solution is simple: get up and move around and walk more.

Shane said that once we get up and stand, our brain and body are in a new state.

The body becomes more energetic, the brain is more active, and thinking and memory are improved.

In addition to these benefits, there are many more benefits to walking.

For example, it is good for the heart, protects and repairs organs, improves the digestive tract and slows down brain ageing.

A recent scientific study involved seniors in a walking group experiment, with one group, Laun, walking at a moderate intensity three times a week and the other group not having this requirement. After a year, the elderly who walked regularly had an increase in the area of the brain responsible for learning and memory.

This means that walking enhances the plasticity of brain structures, in the same way that exercise increases muscle strength.

Why walk?

Because walking is good medicine for the body and mind.

02 How do I walk?

The benefits of walking are so many that you are already eager to get out and walk, right?

But the question arises, how do you walk?

We rarely reflect on the way we walk, just as babies naturally learn to crawl and walk upright, we think it is something that comes naturally and does not need much attention.

In fact, there is a technique to walking.

The book calls it "walking in rhythm".

Keeping the body upright, one leg moves forward, one leg straightens and then moves forward, the previous leg straightens and the body moves with it.

In this process, we have to ensure that we do not fall over and that our legs alternate in a steady and rhythmic manner.

To do this, the brain has to engage the nerves, muscles and bones of the body.

If you are walking at the moment, or intend to walk, pay attention to your walking posture and observe how your brain controls everything, and you will realise that walking is indeed a whole-body exercise.

The mechanism of walking is that the brain controls the whole body, engaging all the senses to help us walk in a smooth and rhythmic way.

03 Creative walking

You may think from what you have heard that walking is a good exercise and that it is good for the body.

In fact, this perception is still not deep enough.

We all know the physical benefits of walking, but it is the creative thinking that comes with walking that we have been ignoring.

The Japanese writer Haruki Murakami once said that he ran for ten kilometres every day and during the run, a lot of inspiration for writing came out.

Back 150 years ago, the Danish philosopher Kierkegaard said: "Every day we walk until we feel happy and free from all sickness. I keep walking and get out the best ideas, and there is no stress that cannot be removed by walking."

Walking stimulates the brain, helping us to remove distractions, increase creativity and improve the effectiveness of our thinking.

To use an analogy, when you are upset and in a bad mood, go for a walk and after walking for an hour, you will find that your mind gradually settles down, you will be much calmer, the clutter in your head is gone and your thinking is clear.

The reason behind this is that there is a correlation between physical movement and fluid thinking as mentioned in the book.

In Why We Walk, it is stated that when we walk, the hippocampus in the brain is activated. The brain becomes more energised and is in a better physiological state, which in turn helps us to think creatively.

It follows that when we feel sluggish and dizzy, the easiest way to wake up the body and activate the brain at the same time is to get up and walk.

The benefits of walking have long been proven by authorities, with the World Health Organisation stating in 1992 that walking is the best exercise. A study by Stanford University on walking and health showed that walking for about seven hours a week, spread over several days, can reduce the incidence of coronary heart disease and heart disease by 30%.

An hour of walking a day has a 50% prevention effect on type 2 diabetes. It can reduce the risk of breast cancer by 12%.

Shane. In his book "Why We Walk", O'Mara's central message is to tell us why walking has many benefits. He starts with the evolution of the human race, which has distinguished itself from other animals, including the primate monkeys and orangutans, by walking upright, making us smarter and healthier.

This book is not a medical science, but simply helps us to gain insight into the importance of walking so that we can set a time slot in our schedules for walking in the future, and stick to a half hour, or even an hour, of walking each day.

It's such a simple thing to do, but it can greatly improve the quality of life and promote physical and mental health.

If you're in doubt, give it a try, I'm sure practice will give you a satisfactory answer.