Hot Girl Walks Are Hot

How Hot Girl Walks Are Making You a Better Person from the Inside Out

By Simone Giannosa

In 2023, mental health is more mainstream than ever. While most of us won’t and can’t give up our phones or social media for the benefit of our mental health, there are things we can add to our daily routine to help ease its negative impact.

In 2020, during the deepest days of quarantine, when I never had to leave my bed to get to school, my mental health was no doubt also at its lowest. If my mind wasn’t on Zoom, it was on my phone. I was accustomed to sitting inside all day, every day; something like a walk just didn’t cross my mind. Pre-quarantine, I wasn't by any means an avid walker, and quite frankly, I was lazy. I saw walking as a chore; if there were an option not to walk, I would take it. And now I was missing the simple 15-minute walk to school and back everyday, along with walking from class to class, up and down stairs, and to my after-school activities like cheer, which all kept me relatively active throughout the day. It wasn’t until I began to delve into "fitness" influencers that I became inspired to do some at-home movement or begin taking short walks. Soon, walks became a part of my routine. Every day after online classes, I went out for a walk. It was a time to finally escape and decompress. The more I took these walks, the more I saw them becoming a growing trend. Soon, the hashtag HGW (hot girl walks) took over my social media. This trend, which I first saw on TikTok, was a way to encourage the viewer to get active, tune into some music, and take a walk. The perspective changed from seeing walking as a burden to a fun and confidence-boosting activity. The popularization of this trend has inspired many to be active, and the benefits are outstanding.

Walking is often overlooked as an important exercise to implement. I never saw walking as a workout until discovering its substantial benefits. According to an article in Stylist magazine, "As one 2014 study showed, walking offered incredibly similar physical benefits to running when it came to reducing hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes.” A study from Science Daily adds, "Confirming a causal link between walking pace and leukocyte telomere length (LTL)—an indicator of biological age—the Leicester-based team of researchers estimate that a lifetime of brisk walking could lead to the equivalent of 16 years younger biological age by midlife." Just a 30-minute walk can significantly improve one's health and even extend their lifetime. And the best part is that walking is a low-impact, low-intensity form of exercise that almost everyone can incorporate into their fitness routine. These effects are made even better by their accompanying positive mental health effects.

It turns out that walking may be the key to better overall mental health. As one Stylist article puts it, "The hot girl walking trend goes beyond just the physical side of things. It's also about improving mental health and self-esteem through mindfulness and positive thinking—and, of course, an hour-long break from screens." The science behind walking and a better state of mind is quite simple: "Walking helps boost your mood because it increases blood flow and blood circulation to the brain," explains WebMD. “It has a positive influence on your hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which is your central nervous response system. This is good because the HPA axis is responsible for your stress response. When you exercise by walking, you calm your nerves, which can make you feel less stressed." It's known that TikTok is mostly a negative space when it comes to de-stressing. However, some trends like this one may be having the opposite effect of the app itself.

Walking alone or with friends is a great way to escape and also explore the places around you. These past two summers, I've discovered numerous unique spots in the city simply by walking without an exact location in mind. I've found new restaurants and shops and have explored the best parts of nature when I can escape from the city. If you find yourself bored on a walk, walk with a friend, and the time will fly by. Or walk to one of the hundreds of Spotify playlists titled "Hot Girl Walk," made specifically to motivate your walk, putting the "Hot Girl" into your walk.