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Comment by brador | Hacker News Reader

I can see walking 10-20 miles a day being detrimental to your health long term. Knees, feet, hips, somethings gonna give.

Good cushioned footwear and insoles is a must to limit the damage at that range.

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While cumulative effects no doubt contribute to tissue changes, those changes aren't necessarily going to be for the worse. Leg bones and cartilage adapt positively to the light impact and weight-bearing of walking (for most people, most of the time, in most circumstances). In fact a lack of upright weight bearing in 20s and 30s may contribute to the development of osteoporosis and cartilage thinning.

Your mileage may vary (apologies for the pun) but if you can, walk.

I've been walking about 10kms per day for decades now without wearing any shoes at all. No detrimental effects so far. But then I'm a featherweight, which might help.

Anyway: walking is absolutely essential to me. I do most of my work outside, walking and thinking.

It will be beneficial to many others parts of your health. I'm thinking it would be a net positive, vs not walking / exercising very much. I agree on cushioned shoes if walking on something like concrete.

There are ways in which walking for long distances can affect you negatively. Consider bursitis for instance. I was walking 5 miles a day, on average according to my iPhone, last year. I suddenly noticed this dull aching pain in my hip/buttock sometime in December. Over the course of several weeks, it got increasingly worse until the point where I was bedridden for 4 days. I've started my routine up again, but I walk about 3 miles a day now, and not every day, until I can be confident that the pain will not return.

Running maybe (and I say that as a runner myself) but even then the jury's pretty much out.

I'd imagine that spending the few hours it takes to walk 10-20 miles sitting instead would be far worse to long term health.

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