Photo: G A Gaesser et. al.; Monty Python
Monty Pythonwere pioneers in sketch comedy, but their impact on health — however silly it may be — is starting to get some attention!
A new study published in the holiday edition ofBritish medical journal, the BMJ, examined the “silly walks” ofMonty Python’sFlying Circuscharacters Mr. Teabag, the head of the Ministry of Silly Walks, as well as Mr. Putey, a silly walker who didn’t quite have the same finesse. The two were introduced in the 1970 sketch “The Ministry of Silly Walks,” whereJohn Cleese’s Mr. Teabag oddly strides with his leg kicked in the air and in a variety of other silly ways.
As it turns out, silly walking required 2.5 times as much energy as normal walking, and could qualify as a “vigorous exercise,” as Gaesser told thePost. He added that it could improve health and aerobic fitness if someone were to silly walk for 11 minutes a day — meeting the standard recommendation of weekly vigorous exercise (75 minutes).
University of Southern California Professor David Raichlen — who wasn’t involved in the study — told the publication that humans have developed a “very economical, bipedal walking gait,” which requires “50 percent less energy than our closest living relatives, chimpanzees.” So while walking generally doesn’t burn many calories, he explained, energy expenditure is increased “through biomechanical tweaks like those seen in the silly walks.”
“The inefficient walking techniques of Teabag and Putey have actually been analyzed biomechanically before. On the basis of gait variability scores, Teabag’s walk was judged to be up to 6.7 times more variable than typical walking, while that of Putey’s was only 3.3 times more variable,” the study read.
The study concluded that 50 years ago, Monty Python “unwittingly touched on a powerful way to enhance cardiovascular fitness in adults,” and that now, it can ultimately “promote regular physical activity in a joyful way.”
source: people.com
