Interview with Joyce Shulman on walking

 

A former commercial litigator, Joyce is also the author of  Walk Your Way to Better and a veteran of the TEDx stage.  A serial entrepreneur, these are the latest successful startups Joyce has co-founded with her husband and business partner Eric Cohen.  

 

How important and life changing can a walk a day be? 

 

A regular walking practice can be transformative for mind, mood and body. Seriously, there are too many benefits and too much research to even know where to begin, but I’ll share just a few. 

 

For your mind, walking has been shown to improve your decision-making and focus, boost your creativity and improve your memory. In fact, one study has shown that a regular walking practice literally makes your brain bigger by adding volume to your hippocampus — the region of your brain associated with memory and executive function. 

 

For your mood, walking reduces the stress hormone cortisol, boosts the “happy hormones” dopamine, serotonin and endorphins has been shown to be as effective for many people as medication for treating moderate depression.  A single walk can be an immediate mood booster, while a regular practice can truly transform the way you walk through life (pun intended).  

 

And for your body, well, the benefits are really extensive. Increased energy. Better bone health. Reduced risk of a myriad of diseases. In fact, one study showed that a regular walking practice can add up to seven years to your life.

 

If someone is going through a cancer journey or medical issue, do you have advice or guidance or expertise on how a walk can help?

 

Of course, you need to heed your doctor’s advice, but there is a lot of research out there that shows tremendous benefits of a regular walking practice for those going through cancer treatment. In addition to all those benefits for mind, mood and body we talked about above, a walk can help reduce fatigue. Now, that can be tricky — it can be difficult to know if what your body truly needs during treatment is a walk or a rest. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is try it and if, after five or ten minutes of walking you don’t begin to feel better, then take the rest. But often, once you get moving, you’ll begin to get those benefits and realize you feel better.

 

Walking in nature, whenever possible, marries the benefits of walking with the benefits of being in nature. There are many studies that show significant positive impact on recovery associated with time spent in nature.

 

With so much tech these days telling us our steps, what’s the most important part about walking?  (steps / mileage/ community etc , fresh air, mental health)

 

Many — probably most — of us could benefit from getting more movement in our days. But I am a huge advocate of what I call “intentional walks.” I define an intentional walk as carving out some measure of time, be it 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes or more, to step away from our phones, screens and obligations and just walk. That is what gives your body the chance to reduce stress, fire up those positive hormones, get all of the physical benefits and truly give your brain what it needs. You don’t get those benefits from parking at the far end of the parking lot. 

 

The other potential downside of the step counting and daily desire to “close the rings” is that it can cause additional stress.  Walking should be a gift you give your mind, mood and body, not one more thing to check off your to-do list.

 

Do you have any hacks or advice or wisdom to those who can’t do long distance walks on how to do the best they can or how to motivate them to walk?

 

I think we have been convinced by what I call the “fitness industrial complex” that if we are not going hard, not racking up the miles, closing the rings, breaking a sweat, “feeling the burn” … then why bother? But the research shows that even a 10-minute walk can do a lot of good.

 

As for motivation — I think many people believe that motivation means that they should feel like doing something. They tell themselves “I don’t feel like walking and therefore I’m not motivated to move.” But the reality is that motivation often follows movement. As I often say, “when you need it most, you feel like it the least.” Don’t wait until you feel “motivated” to go for a walk, just lace up and go.

 

How do the Jetti Poles help?

 

Jetti Poles are the result of two full years of research and development. They do three important things.

 

First, walking with Jetti Poles activates the muscles of your upper body — your shoulders, arms, back and core — and effectively transforms a walk into a full-body workout.

 

Second, by activating your entire body, Jetti Walking has your body working harder. In fact, lab testing shows peak caloric output that is an average of 55.6% higher with Jetti Poles than without. Remarkably, it does this even while the perceived effort is lower — meaning you don’t feel like you are working harder, but you are.

 

Third, Jetti Poles provide great stability, which can not only be really helpful as you are walking but you can also use your Jetti Poles to go deeper into a lunge or a squat or a variety of additional exercises that you can take with you on a walk.

 

Oh, and Jetti Walking is fun!

 

How does walking in groups help?

 

When we walk together, a slew of really interesting things happen. First, we tend to have deeper, richer conversations — due in part, I believe to the wonderful ways our brains work while we are walking. Second, the research shows that we have a higher likelihood of sticking to our walking practice when we are committed to meeting someone else.  And, finally, we are generally wired to enjoy shared experiences and remember them more fondly when we share those experiences with others, and if we like it more, chances are better we’ll do it again!