Viral Trends Make The Daily 10,000 Steps Fun

Trends like Weird Walk and Hot Girl Walk® have given a new glow up to walking, the most basic form of exercise. And everyone's joining in

- Mahalakshmi Prabhakaran and Jayant Madnukar

Hippocrates, the father of medicine, probably got it right when he said, ‘If you are in a bad mood, take a walk. If you are still in a bad mood, take another walk.’ What he wouldn’t have expected was that people in the 21st century would give walking a glow up by adding their own little tweaks to make it interesting and—because we live our lives on social media—viral.

In recent years, especially during the pandemic when gyms were shut, most people found recourse in walking. The simple act of stepping out of home to catch some fresh air brought major relief to lives in limbo. And then, somewhere along the way, people got creative with the exercise.

In 2020, University of South California student Mia Lind created the Hot Girl Walk®, to quote the official website, www.hotgirlwalk.com, “as a way to deal with the negative impacts of isolation”. Lind went on four -mile-long walks to ‘confront her negative self-talk and focus on positive, aspirational thoughts and ideas’. Lind’s spin to walking led her to experience benefits like increased confidence and happiness. Then, in 2021, encouraged by family and friends, she launched the now-trademarked walking style with a video on TikTok that explained the idea. Today, that video has racked up more than 3 million views, spawned a new hashtag: #hotgirlwalk, and become a movement that encourages participants to dress up in their coolest athleisure wear and walk like they own the world, while listening to empowering affirmations or music.