WALKING

“All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

Tomorrow I’m leaving for a work related trip to Singapore for a week. I am attending a couple of symposia and also I a presenting at a medical conference at the University of Singapore. Singapore is the Switzerland of Asia and I always enjoy visiting. Although most Westerners are familiar with the Orchard Rd area where the major shopping malls are, Singapore is not just Orchard Rd and there a numerous nooks and crannies where one may discover all sorts of surprising cultural and natural beauty spots. More of that from my travel blogs next week.

Here in Melbourne we are having a nicely wet Saturday. It is so good to see the rain falling down, even though it is not heavy. Anything that comes down to refresh our gardens is welcome! Despite the wet weather we had our regulation hour-long walk, which today was prolonged to 90 minutes. At 6:30 am the overnight rain had stopped and everything was wonderfully wet and freshly washed, with a glorious wet earth smell on top of which the aroma of Eucalyptus and lemon-scented gums added a fragrant note. The streets were deserted and only the odd car was passing by every 5 minutes or so. The temperature was relatively high, so the climactic conditions were reminiscent of the tropics.

To start one’s day with a brisk walk does wonders for one’s health. New studies show that even a 30-minute brisk walk 6 days a week is enough to trim waistlines (when combined with a healthy diet, of course) and to prevent the so-called “metabolic syndrome” associated with obesity, diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure and heart disease risk. One should aim to walk at least about 20 km a week so as to gain significant health benefits. If you are a jogger, doing about 30 km a week, you reduce your metabolic syndrome risks even more.

Interestingly enough, these studies show that people who do short bursts of very vigorous exercise (e.g. in a gym), do not improve their risk of developing metabolic syndrome, especially if these periods of exercise are performed occasionally (i.e. ever two or three days). The other risks that very vigorous exercise and running carry is the musculoskeletal system disease risk. For example, runners can damage their joints and develop osteoarthritis earlier and more severely than those who exercise gently, e.g. walking.

Seeing I’ve talked about walking today and it is Song Saturday, how about a walking song? Here is Tchaikovsky’s “Andante Cantabile” from his String Quartet In D Major, Op. 11, arranged for the Rastrelli Cello Quartet. Andante means a “walking pace” in music and “Cantabile” implies that the piece should be played in a singing manner. Truly beautiful interpretation here, enjoy!