Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee

Why Walking Is The Superpower You Didn’t Know You Had with Professor Shane O’Mara (Re-Release) #271

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May 14, 2022

In this enlightening conversation, Shane O'Mara, a neuroscientist and author of "In Praise of Walking," shares his passion for the underrated superpower of walking. He explores the profound cognitive and mental health benefits of walking, emphasizing its ability to enhance creativity, mood, and memory. O'Mara discusses the evolutionary significance of bipedalism, the risks of our sedentary lifestyle, and the need for pedestrian-friendly urban planning. By integrating more walking into our daily lives, he suggests we can improve overall well-being and combat health issues.

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INSIGHT

Walking's Decline

Humans are naturally inclined to walk, but modern society discourages it with car-centric design.
We've engineered a world of ease, neglecting our need for regular movement.

ADVICE

Design for Movement

Don't blame individuals for inactivity; redesign the environment to promote movement.
Make stairs more accessible than elevators to encourage their use.

INSIGHT

Evolutionary Advantages of Walking

Walking upright expanded humans' range and calorie efficiency compared to other primates.
It enabled carrying weapons, cooperative hunting, and unique behaviors like walking while eating.

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This conversation was first released in November 2019.

When was the last time you gave any real thought to walking? It’s so easy to put one foot in front of the other. Yet this unique, underrated activity sets us apart from other species, and brings incredible advantages – yes, superpowers – if we do it enough.

My guest on this week’s podcast is the neuroscientist Shane O’Mara, a professor of experimental brain research at Trinity College Dublin. After reading his remarkable new book, In Praise of Walking: The New Science of How We Walk And Why It’s Good For Us, I couldn’t wait to talk to him about the topics it raises. Shane has always been a keen walker and aims to clock 15,000 to 17,000 steps each day on his pedometer. But as we discuss, the positive effects of walking go way beyond the fitness benefits we all know about.

Walking helps more than our hearts and lungs, our muscles and posture, yet modern, sedentary lives mean we’re doing far less of it than nature intended. It can increase creativity and problem solving, lift our mood and protect us from depression. Shane reveals how it helps learning, memory and cognition and how it can slow and even reverse the functional ageing of the brain. All this science, he hopes, will help convince town planners and public health officials that we must redesign our environments with pedestrians in mind.

This is such an enlightening conversation and I know you’ll gain some fascinating new perspectives on how you could (and why you should) fit more walking into your life. Why not head out for a stroll as you listen?

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Show notes available at https://drchatterjee.com/271

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