Walk More, Die Less - 30-Day Challenge
Exercise is what you need to stay above the dirt.
If you can walk more, you should. You’ll die less.
Walking more than 4,000 steps daily reduces your risk of dying from any cause by 20% to 30%. Every thousand steps above that lowers your risks even further.
Sitting still all day and not walking — Bad.
Walking to counteract silly sitting — Good.
The Walk More, Die Less 30-Day Challenge starts April 1st.
Sign up for a membership now to get a 25% discount!
The Walk More Die Less Challenge is exclusively for members of Time2Thrive. What’s the goal? Walk more than you usually do! It will increase your cardiovascular health, improve your mood, reduce stress, and extend your potential healthy lifespan.
Accountability and encouragement in the members-only chat
A photo scavenger hunt with a daily prompt
Set your step count or distance goal and share it with the group
If you can’t walk due to injuries or physical condition, I feel for you. This next paragraph doesn’t apply. If you still want to get in on this challenge, message me or comment below, and we’ll come up with a plan.
Are You a Sad Sack of Sedentary Human?
It’s common these days to sit around a lot.
Some of us work from home and never need to leave the house.
We can order food right to our doors.
Streaming video and gaming turn us into couch potatoes.
Do you check how many steps you’ve traveled in a day? Anyone reading this packs a gadget that has this information. Check your fancy smartwatch or your smartphone.
Getting less than 4000 steps means you’re sedentary as fuck.
You need to do something about that! Get up, walk around, move your body. You can do it! It won’t even cost you anything. You might end up saving money.
Don’t worry, you can bring your precious, your phone.
Bring your phone, put it in your pocket, and ignore it. Don’t be the one slowly wandering namby-pamby with your face aimed at your slave-collar-screen like a zombie. This is walking time. Head up, eyes forward, arms swinging.
Walk like you mean it. You can TiK TaK later.
Walking is one of the best forms of exercise, and it’s virtually free. It combines physical activity with fresh air and scenery. Spending time outside is good for the mind, body, and soul. It’s therapeutic and healthy. There’s no replacement for it.
I like to get outdoors and walk on sidewalks or paved paths in town. I look at the sky and watch birds fly by. I notice flowers planted in yards. I nod at dog walkers and runners.
Nature is outside your door if you look. It’s the free ingredient that can bring magic into your life. Don’t discount your local park, sidewalk, dirt road, or even up and down in front of a strip mall. It all counts.
There’s no excuse you can give for not walking.
Even if you can’t go outside, you can do an indoor walking routine on YouTube, like this Low-impact indoor walking workout 15-minutes.
No excuse!
1. Walking is the Best Exercise
I hope you’ll go for a walk today. It’s really good for you.
A thirty-minute walk improves your cardiovascular fitness and gets your whole body active. It also improves your mood and can help with anxiety.
The lymphatic system, our secondary circulatory system, helps protect against infections and maintains fluid levels in the body. It produces lymphocytes or white blood cells. But the lymphatic system doesn’t have a heart pumping the fluid around. Exercise is the pump. Walking moves the lymph fluid around and helps it do its job.
Sitting still means our secondary circulatory system is struggling to cope.
Can’t make it to a picturesque wilderness trail? No problem. A sidewalk adventure is all you need. Walking every day in whatever location you’ve got is more important than trying to save it up for “better” places you must travel to by car. Daily doses of strolling counteract all of our silly sitting.
If you can get to a park or trail, hiking takes it to the next level. When you wander down a trail, it isn’t flat and straight like a sidewalk. It has irregular features like gravel, dirt, rocks, roots, and puddles.
There are little deviations everywhere. Ducking around a branch to avoid a face full of leaves. Side-stepping around a puppy surprise left behind by an uncouth dog owner. Meandering up a hill with a side slope and a drop-off on one side.
All of this engages multiple muscle groups. Instead of just repetitively walking in a straight line, you use your core, your arms, and your whole body.
Your cardiovascular system has to up its game, too. You get that breath going faster and build some heat in your body.
Exercise is what you need to do to stay above the dirt. Hiking gives you plenty.
2. Walking Sharpens The Mind
Walkers get the brain working at full capacity. That’s why exploring a new neighborhood, sidewalk, or trail is good.
Most people repeat the same actions every day:
brushing teeth the same way every morning
holding a coffee cup with the right hand
feeding your minions (some call them children)
washing your popcorn (well, maybe not everyone’s day-to-day)
These everyday activities are all on autopilot. You’re so programmed that you brush your teeth or wash your popcorn without even thinking about it.
When you go outside, your brain wakes up again. Now you have to navigate all the little unknowns. Making micro-adjustments to your balance to keep your footing. Going down a slope or some stairs takes precision in your steps. Watching for traffic. Avoiding the dog poo.
The old noggin makes a ton of tiny decisions every few feet to stay upright and not trip and fall on your face or step on a dog-dropped landmine.
All of this sharpens the tack. Upgraded reflexes and mental toughness are the result. You take that home with you. It makes your daily life better.
3. Walking Lowers Stress Levels
Our lives in this modern world make us more stressed all the time. A good outdoor walk can settle you back down and drop your cortisol levels.
We evolved to see an open sky with sun and clouds and to be around trees, dirt, and rocks. We aren’t meant to spend every day indoors, staring at screens and watching TikTok. As soon as you go outside and stroll about, your inner storm releases a little tension.
Getting outside and moving releases feel-good brain chemicals that help your mood, reduce stress, and give you a good mental break.
4. Walking Boosts Creativity
Exercise gets the blood flowing through the brain. More oxygen and nutrients mean that your thinking tools stay sharp.
Walking does something special to the creative process. It speaks to your spirit. Your subconscious mind rumbles to life.
“All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
This is especially true if you can find some trees, grass, or a pond on your walk.
I use walking to boost my creativity. I always make notes on my phone by dictating to Siri in the free Notes app. Sometimes I can’t keep up with the creativity. It just keeps throwing ideas out there like a hockey player shooting pucks at me.
I save it all and go home rich with ideas. Thanks, nature!
The Walk More, Die Less 30-Day Challenge starts April 1st. Sign up for a membership now to get a 25% discount!
The Walk More Die Less Challenge is open to all paying members of Time2Thrive. What’s the goal? Walk more than you usually do! It will increase your cardiovascular health, improve your mood, reduce stress, and extend your potential healthy lifespan.
Accountability and encouragement in the Substack app chat for members
A photo scavenger hunt with a daily prompt
Set your step count or distance goal and share it with the group
How Do I Join the Walk More Die Less Challenge?
I’ll send out the details next week on how to join us and get in on the photo scavenger hunt. If you haven’t subscribed yet to Time2Thrive, hit the button below and make sure you don’t miss it!
I’m in!
Great piece, Tim! I love the idea of incorporating photography, as walking is a great time for deep and careful observation. My walking route varies in terms of aesthetics, sometimes it's quite beautiful, but mostly it's full of litter!