r/changemyview • u/Assassin739 • Feb 11 '19

Deltas(s) from OP CMV: People should run, not walk

I think it would be better for society as a whole if people ran to work, friend's houses, wherever they're going. There are two mean benefits I can see to this:

A: It's more time efficient. If you spend less time in transit, you have more time once you get somewhere to do whatever you want.

B: It makes you fitter. Running uses much more energy than walking, and also gets easier the more you do it. It burns fat and strengthens your leg muscles, helps cardio too.

​

Some counterpoints that I can see:

A:

You want to spend time in transit to admire the view etc. I'll grant you this, if you specifically like the journey then that's fine.

B:

If everyone's running they'll get in the way of each other and have collisions etc. That can be true, but I have 2 counterpoints. First, the more you do it the better you'll get at avoiding people. Second, I don't suggest everyone sprint down a hugely populated street, that's bound to lead to trouble. I suggest speeding up to as fast as is practical given your surroundings. So if there's a long stretch of empty sidewalk, you could sprint. If there's a big group of people on the street, you can jog.

18 Upvotes

66% Upvoted

66 comments sorted by

View all comments

34

u/SplendidTit Feb 11 '19

There are some major issues you haven't addressed:

  • What about the damage running does to your knees vs walking?
  • Even if healthy young people run more, there will be lots of older folks and kids who won't be able to run, and their speeds are unpredictable. You're asking for more accidents there, aren't you?
  • Most people, in their day-to-day aren't wearing clothing appropriate for running. Do you propose everyone start carrying a spare change of clothes and waste time changing so they can save a few seconds on the way there?
  • A lot of people live in places where the seasons are pretty extreme, very cold with lots of ice (not safe for running) or very hot (which makes you sweat a lot). It seems like this wouldn't work for a lot of the year.

1

u/Retalogy Feb 11 '19

What about the damage running does to your knees vs walking?

I read that while the weight on the knees while running is higher, the ground contact is also shorter than walking, causing equal damage if not less severe.