# Is it possible to walk TOO much?



## this portrait (Jul 18, 2009)

I've been walking a lot within the past week (not every day, I've had some breaks in between). Usually I walk for about 1.5-2 hours, take a 30-minute to 1 hour break, and then walk for another 1.5-2 hours. I've been doing that every day for the last 3 days. In fact, I just got back to my apartment from doing so. My feet have been rather exhausted for the past 2 days.

I'm just wondering if all this walking is potentially bad for my feet? I know that running too much can be hard on your knee caps, but I'm just walking. Needless to say, I'm hoping it's not becoming too much. :blank


----------



## Glacial (Jun 16, 2010)

The cardiovascular workout you get is great for, well, your cardiovascular system (namely, the heart). You take breaks and allow your muscles to repair since you don't walk everyday, so it sounds like you have a great routine. 

Only negative effects I could think of would be musculoskeletal/joint wearing if you don't have proper form and good walking shoes. Also, you would want to drink plenty of water to stay hydrated.


----------



## Akane (Jan 2, 2008)

You probably won't do any damage to your feet unless you have an issue like no arches/flat feet and then you should buy shoes specific to that problem or you can have problems if your shoes do not fit correctly. Ignoring problems from poor fitting shoes and odd anatomy without proper shoes for it foot problems from exercise are pretty unheard of and the problems that do occur are generally very temporary. It's the joints all along the leg from hip to ankle that can begin to suffer problems. Finding parks to walk with dirt, sand, or mulch paths is better on joints and leads to less soreness in your feet than concrete sidewalks.


----------



## this portrait (Jul 18, 2009)

Ah, yeah, I have been walking on the concrete sidewalk, and for two days I wore flip-flops (REALLY bad idea), and the shoes I normally wear are very thin at the bottom (not as bad as flip-flops, but not the best, either). I think walking in the flip-flops is what really messed my feet up. Yesterday I didn't go hardly anywhere, but my feet still kinda hurt today. :/


----------



## PickleNose (Jul 11, 2009)

When I was growing up I walked pretty much constantly. If I was awake, I was on my feet.


----------



## Akane (Jan 2, 2008)

Growing up I usually spent the day barefoot or sockless in an old pair of tennis shoes that weren't hardly laced up and biking, walking, or riding horses to find trouble. Every time I tell a story from my childhood my husband asks how I'm alive today since I was never supervised and covered a good 5-10mile radius around whatever house we lived in. I rarely walked on concrete though. Middle of nowhere in Iowa has few sidewalks and lots of fields, pastures, or abandoned ground all covered in greenery. I used to be able to run flat out over a gravel road and not notice I'd done anything to my feet until my mom started screaming about blood on her floor. My feet are perfectly healthy with no problems except when I wear shoes that are too tight around my toes. Then I have toenail problems but most of the time I'm wearing sports sandals. I wouldn't mind a pair of moccasin type shoes that have no sole and just a thick leather to prevent injury from things like glass or sharp rocks. If you are on concrete a lot though your feet need more cushion because they weren't designed to impact such a hard surface repeatedly and if you haven't gone barefoot a lot aren't used to it either.


----------



## Cole87 (Aug 15, 2011)

flip-flops are a bad idea when walking, I don't do as much as I like but when I do, I walk 3 or 4 hours ST on the boardwalk. Just make sure if your walking a lot to take breaks and drink up. U don't want to over do it and make yourself sick, just take breaks here and there if u walk long. But other then that u should be fine.



If your not use to walking a lot your feet might hurt for sure, just make sure you wear shoes that fit you and don't walk so hard.


----------



## Recipe For Disaster (Jun 8, 2010)

this portrait said:


> Ah, yeah, I have been walking on the concrete sidewalk, and for two days I wore flip-flops (REALLY bad idea), and the shoes I normally wear are very thin at the bottom (not as bad as flip-flops, but not the best, either). I think walking in the flip-flops is what really messed my feet up. Yesterday I didn't go hardly anywhere, but my feet still kinda hurt today. :/


get a good pair of walking sandals. and it is possible to walk too much but very difficult. humans are designed too walk.


----------

