Don't go down to the woods tonight . . .

A glimpse of the highway on an after-dark walk.

UNLESS you have a torch, and ideally someone to walk with, it’s not wise to go walking in the woods at night. Not just because it’s scary – things take on strange half-human shapes that loom out at you from the shadows – but because of the hazards. In previous posts I’ve mentioned the uneven pathway, small holes and tree routes. In the daytime, they add character and variety to your walk; at night, they become obstacles waiting to trip you up at every opportunity. 

And then there’s the dog mess. It’s difficult enough to watch where you’re treading when you can see – when you can’t, you never know what you’re putting your foot into.

This is not to say that a woodland walk in the dark can’t be fun, but it would take a lot more planning – and really isn’t the sort of get-up-and-go-right-now kind of walking being advocated on Route Walk.

In a post on another blog yesterday (Bubblews: http://www.bubblews.com/news/1080680-back-in-the-swing-of-walking) I briefly mentioned the reduced impact walking has on your joints compared to jogging or running. Casey Mayers, in Walking, A Complete Guide to the Complete Exercise, points out that in running, we land with a force of three to four times our body weight; he says 3.5 is the ‘generally accepted’ figure. Maggie Humphreys in Step It Out refers to the same statistic, stating that your feet hit the ground with more than three times your body weight when jogging, compared to one to one-and-a-half times your body weight when walking. And the Livestrong website adds that power walking places less strain on your body and joints than running does. 

Headlight trails on the highway.

It would seem that even walking at speed, your body suffers less impact than when jogging or running, although to be fair, running would enable you to burn more calories over the same length of time.

Of course, if you go walking in the woods at night, you may receive some unwanted impact as you become snagged in branches, or take a tumble over that 'invisible' tree root.

So don't go down to the woods tonight; wait until it’s light, step out into a new day – and improve your health and fitness without bashing your bones to bits!