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The faster we move, the faster we reach our goal? The answer is not so obvious – as in the riddle of the hare and the tortoise. Let’s try to compare two different views on life, two ways to know the world and your own body.
A leisurely walk or a vigorous jog – how to understand what is best for us?
“Temperament can significantly influence preferences when choosing between different sports, for example, between walking and running,” says psychophysiologist Alexander Chernorizov. “After all, it sets the pace and rhythm of our mental processes for life, determines the degree of emotionality, expressiveness, and energy of movements. The individual features of these processes are genetically predetermined and determine the ceiling of energy possibilities. From this point of view, it is difficult to imagine a diligently running melancholic or a meditating sanguine on foot.
Indeed, many dreamers prefer walking, and those who love running belong to active, assertive, strong-willed natures. In the 80s, at the beginning of the jogging wave, many people generally believed that only truly energetic people were capable of getting on the treadmill after work.
“There is a grain of truth in this view,” says social and sports psychologist Gerard Bruant. “But at the same time, having a hobby, we bring new ideas and skills to life. Following the values that leisure promotes allows you to interact with the body in a new way, to look at yourself and your life from a different angle.”
Whenever we give ourselves completely to some activity, we feel that it captures us entirely.
“And yet this is only a temporary change of appearance: we are temporarily changing the everyday way of being to a “sporty” one, explains Gerard Bruant. – We do not transfer the skills and habits gained in sports into our life as a whole, because the rules of the game are different there. Therefore, it is not at all necessary that a fan of running will take a more active life position than a fan of leisurely walks.
The difference between running and walking is by no means limited to speed and heart rate. While walking, attention is focused on the world around, while running explores the internal resources of the body – here the vector of interest and effort is directed not outward, but inward. And if the categories of space are essential for walking, then the categories of time are essential for running. With the help of running, we seem to be included in the marathon race of life, while walking allows us to slow it down.
“After jogging, I am physically exhausted, but walking calms me down,” says 40-year-old Pavel, a long hiker. “However, in both cases, the body and spirit are released, they receive a release.” What exactly to choose depends on motivation and … physical condition.
Therapy on the run?
The antidepressant effect that occurs during physical exertion due to the synthesis of endorphins is used in his therapeutic practice by Wesley Syme, a physiologist and psychologist from the University of Nebraska (USA). He invites depressed patients… to run with him.
Syme believes that such sweat therapy can create the best contact between doctor and patient, and hopes that the few phrases that they can exchange during the run will help to remove unnecessary communication barriers.
Walking: an epicurean look
Walking is first and foremost the art of living life to the fullest. When we walk, we forget about stress, focusing on the surrounding sounds, smells, colors. Unlike everyday life, which requires constant inclusion, response, participation, the world that opens up while walking allows you to remove the “social armor” and become a simple contemplator. Especially if this walking tour passes through beautiful places. To return to the pleasure of a detailed and unhurried study of the outside world is a real luxury today.
We live in constant running, trying to fulfill ourselves, so walking becomes an opportunity to take time out, to switch from running to a leisurely walk, to look around. Taking a deep breath, finally saying “stop” and surrendering to reflection – this is how 55-year-old Mikhail formulates his view of walking: “At this time, I am completely and completely in the present moment, I meditate.”
To find your pace in running, you need to be sensitive to the slightest signals that the body gives us.
Mikhail believes that while walking, he first of all goes through the inner path. Thoughts flow freely as one landscape gives way to another, they germinate and bear fruit. “For some people,” notes Gerard Bruant, “the walk becomes a kind of religious appeal to nature, communion with the divine through the interaction of the body with the outside world.”
A long walk can serve as an allegory for life. At first, walking does not require much effort, it comes easily, by itself. But after a few hours and kilometers, fatigue, heaviness in the body and legs begin to increase. And yet, you can’t stop – as in life, you need to continue in order to reach the next stage without fail. As in life, sometimes during a hike we move “through I can’t”. And we overcome some steep climb, as a difficult situation in life.
Run: challenge yourself
Like walking, running is a natural movement. A child improves the ability to move quickly from year to year, but it’s not just about moving from point A to point B: running becomes a game, an escape from something, gaining freedom. And an adult runs not only to lose weight or strengthen the cardiovascular system, but also to try to determine the limits of their capabilities.
And this question is addressed not only to the lungs, muscles and heart, but also to our ability to not give up – both in the process of training and in the long term.
“Running at the stadium in any weather with a chronometer in hand is not the most interesting pastime,” Pavel admits. There is something of masochism in this. But for me, this is a kind of training in humility. I must say, I do not have the spirit of competition – precisely because I “burn” it while running.
To find your pace in running, you need to be sensitive to the slightest signals that the body gives us. And at the same time, constantly challenge yourself: hold out for another five minutes, and one more … The Spirit triumphs over the flesh. Now it is not the body that controls us, but we control it – and self-confidence grows, strengthens.
“The longer I run, the lighter and more invulnerable I feel,” says 37-year-old Elena. – Twenty minutes after the start, I manage to catch “my” breath. It seems as if the body is gradually disappearing, I become like a gust of wind. Now this “airiness” allows me to understand the relativity of many things.
Is it possible to be addicted to running?
“When we run, it’s like boxing with our feet,” explains sports doctor Jean-Pierre de Mondenard. The impact force from pushing the feet while running is four times stronger than when walking, it is transmitted throughout the body, up to the top of the head. It is possible that these beats are involved in the process of secretion of endorphins by the brain. This conclusion can be drawn based on the fact that the synthesis of these substances in marathon runners occurs in a larger volume than in those who practice other endurance sports. Endorphins help to better endure pain, and for the most trained athletes, they even create a feeling of soaring.
Both walking and running are mechanical actions. They refer to the “competence” of the cerebellum, which is responsible for automatic movements. Therefore, walking and running (if we are not talking about overcoming obstacles) leave the central nervous system free, unoccupied, which is responsible for the thought processes in the body. This is why thoughts wander freely when we walk or run.
Physical activity has a “narcotic effect”, the effect of which is clearly manifested after training.
Increased heart rate leads to the expansion of blood vessels, energy consumption and, therefore, to the release of heat, which relieves tension. The work of the heart increases the flow of oxygen to the cells of the brain – and this natural fuel increases the activity of our thinking. Add to this the increased release of adrenaline, the stress hormone, and we understand the confession of the philosopher Michel Montaigne: “My thoughts sleep when I sit them down. My mind only moves if my legs move it.”
“Any physical activity is stress for the body,” says Alexander Chernorizov. – When stressed, the brain releases a number of hormones that help the body cope with these stresses. Part of these hormones – enkephalins and endorphins – suppress pain sensitivity and give us a feeling of pleasure and even euphoria – these sensations are similar to those that occur when using certain drugs.
Physical activity has a kind of “narcotic effect”, the effect of which is clearly manifested after training (feeling like we are flying) and is noticeably more pronounced after intense running than walking (race walking does not count).
As a result, a person may form a kind of addiction, similar to a drug addiction in physiological essence, although incomparable with it in severity and threat to health. Potential members of such a “risk group” are people who unconsciously compensate for negative emotions and troubles with the pleasure of sports.”
run on tiptoe
How did people manage to run thousands of years ago without running shoes with shock-absorbing soles? Perhaps the secret was that they landed with an emphasis on the arch of the foot.
Daniel Lieberman and his colleagues at Harvard University compared the running style of marathon runners in the United States and Kenya and found that almost two-thirds of those who run barefoot (whether they ran barefoot as children or started as adults) tiptoe, sending the brunt of the impact on raising the arch of the foot.
This is an unusual habit: 80% of marathon runners land on their heels. As a result, it was suggested that the ancestors ran with an emphasis on the toes, probably in order to reduce the negative effects of running on the architecture of the foot, the ligaments of the leg and the spine. Heel runners put seven times more stress on the foot than toe runners.
“Imagine that you are being hit on the heels with a hammer whose weight is three times your body weight,” the scientist says and suggests taking a closer look at how we put our feet on the ground.
“In urban conditions, on asphalt, the impact force is much greater than on the ground,” says Elena Tyapkina, osteopathic doctor, leading specialist at the Telo’s Beauty clinic. – To compensate, you need to choose the right shoes, a warm-up before running is required. However, a specialist, for example, an osteopath, should recognize deviations from the norm and determine their causes.