What is 'silent walking'? The hilarious TikTok trend that's left people scratching their heads
As far as TikTok trends go – especially fitness-related ones – anything that encourages movement is certainly something we can get behind.
But this latest 'style' of walking making waves has plenty of people slightly bemused.
It's called "silent walking" and as the name suggests, it's basically walking in silence without any headphones in playing music or podcasts.
In order words, how people used to walk before smart devices became attached to everyone.
Watch the video above.
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Silent walking is the latest fitness trend on TikTok. TikTok
The 'trend' went viral after TikTok creator Mady Maio revealed she had started "silent walking" after her nutritionist advised her to take a 30-minute walk each day.
"My sweet boyfriend challenged me to walk without distractions," she shared.
Documenting her endeavour she was quickly thrilled with the effects.
According to Maio, after a few minutes you can actually "hear yourself."
"The universe and your intuition comes to you through whispers," she added.
The habit is also backed by science with a study published in PNASfinding that "participants who went on a 90-min walk through a natural environment reported lower levels of rumination and showed reduced neural activity in an area of the brain linked to risk for mental illness compared with those who walked through an urban environment."
Plenty of people on the social media platform shared their equal love for the trend.
"Nature walks (or 'silent walks') are my fav. I also do silent drives," one person commented.
"I've been doing this for two months daily. And it's GAME CHANGING," another agreed.
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Walking without distractions isn't really a foreign concept. Getty
However, plenty of people also joked about the discovery of the 'century-old' practice.
"Did we just discover thinking," one person quipped.
"Please tell me this is a joke... 'silent walking' is just walking. I do it everyday. Plenty of people do it everyday," another said.
It comes after another fitness and wellbeing trend blew up on TikTok called cozy cardio.
With over a million views of the hashtag 'cozycardio' on the social media platform, the term was coined by creator Hope Zuckerbrow.
The more relaxed form of cardio has cozy, comforting elements like candles, soft lighting. It's all about indoor walking on a walking pad, in the comfort of your favourite loungewear or dressing gown.
