National Walking Month in May has revealed that the average person now walks less than half a mile a day – a distance which has dropped since the mid-eighties, when we were walking an average two-thirds of a mile a day. What’s more, the way we walk has changed.
While one study shows that using smart phones when we’re walking has changed our posture and awareness, turning us into ‘smart phone zombies’, the art of walking without purpose – just going for a stroll for the sheer joy of it, with or without a dog – has all but disappeared. Yet at the same time we all want more energy. And we are all more environmentally aware. So why aren’t we walking more? Walking charity Sustrans say that if we all swapped one car journey a week to walk, traffic levels would reduce by at least 10%.
So has spontaneous activity disappeared? Are we are boxing up exercise – like so many things in our lives – into parcels of time that put the emphasis on getting a return out of every second, not simply enjoying the moment? Or are we using our walk time – to the sandwich bar, the bus stop or around the park with the dog – to catch up on texts and emails rather than engaging with what’s going on around us?
“Walking without real purpose – letting the mind wander and soaking up the scenery – seems to be a luxury”, says Legology founder Kate Shapland. “And that’s a loss because walking is environmentally friendly, it de-clutters the mind, offsets stress and inspires – it’s no coincidence that writers and artists are often great walkers”.
“For legs, walking isn’t just good for its toning and tightening benefits, but because it moves the lymph – the body’s natural waste disposal – which encourages release of the trapped fluid that compromises shape and causes heaviness and discomfort”.
Legology Air-Lite Daily Lift For Legs, developed to enhance leg health and beauty by delivering lightening, energising and contouring benefits with a pioneering detoxifying formula that also works to promote lymph drainage and muscle recovery. Applied to legs before or after a stroll, it’s the perfect companion.
Legology Air-Lite Daily Lift For Legs, £62/175ml and £45/100ml
legology.co.uk
For more information and interviews with Kate please contact
Fran@imaginationpr.co.uk