# Is excessive walking ever detrimental? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 29, 2019, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-excessive-walking-ever-detrimental/839430 "2019-08-29T19:40:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-excessive-walking-ever-detrimental/839430/21 "2019-08-30T15:50:57Z")
Six miles a day on trails sounds like it’s a great exercise program. Walking is not nearly as punishing on the hips and knees as running, and hiking on trails means varied terrain to reduce chances of repetitive-motion injuries. I am not a health professional but it doesn’t sound like anything you are doing could have long-term negative consequences. > [@Lumpy](#): > > [This guy who hiked the Appalachian Trail](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/robertmoor/heres-what-happens-to-your-body-when-you-hike-the-appalachia) said that by the end he had turned his body into a walking machine.[…] > So while I would hesitate to name a specific point at which you’re overdoing it, there apparently is one. The guy in that article was doing up to 30 miles a day. It got a little obsessive. ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-excessive-walking-ever-detrimental/839430/22 "2019-08-30T18:01:08Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > –snipped for brevity– > The guy in that article was doing up to 30 miles a day. It got a little obsessive. 30 miles per day. Whew. I would rather take several time-outs and enjoy my surroundings. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![ethelbert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@ethelbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethelbert)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2019, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-excessive-walking-ever-detrimental/839430/23 "2019-08-31T14:20:44Z")
I walk a similar mileage but on fairly flat terrain. I would not call any of what I do hiking. As I got older (70 now) I discovered that I would get knee pain. I found that pain would resolve itself with exercise, so I do those exercises regularly (leg lifts mostly) and I never get pain. The same is true for my hips (I have two resurfaced hips). Basically my takeaway is that walking is not enough to keep you walking; you need to supplement it with “physical therapy” exercises. Best is going to a physical therapist, but you aren’t likely to do that till something goes wrong, so check out Youtube for preventative measures. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-excessive-walking-ever-detrimental/839430.md?page=1)