# Strolling

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{{Short description|Walking for recreation}}
{{Other uses}}
'''Strolling''' is walking along or through at a leisurely pace.  Strolling is a pastime and activity enjoyed worldwide as a leisure activity.  The object of strolling is to walk at a slightly slower pace in an attempt to absorb the surroundings.

Works featuring the ''[flâneur](/source/fl%C3%A2neur)'', French for a “strolling urban observer”, have appeared in European and American literature since the late 18th century.<ref name="Werner2004">{{cite book|author=James Werner|title=American Flaneur: The Cosmic Physiognomy of Edgar Allan Poe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zj6TAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA1|date=15 April 2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-87985-3|page=1}}</ref>

[[File:Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida - Strolling along the Seashore - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|[Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida](/source/Joaqu%C3%ADn_Sorolla_y_Bastida), ''Strolling along the Seashore'', 1909 ([Sorolla Museum](/source/Sorolla_Museum))]]
[[File:2019-11-30-Marienallee Dahlem-7978.jpg|thumb|A wooded area is an ideal locale for an evening stroll ([Dahlem](/source/Dahlem%2C_North_Rhine-Westphalia))]]
[[File:Park zamkowy w Pszczynie 03promykjck.jpg|thumb|Strolling over a bridge in [Pszczyna](/source/Pszczyna)]]

==Etymology==
The verb form of "stroll" may have originated from a c.1600 [Cant](/source/Cant_(language)) word. This word may have been derived from the German word ''strollen'', which in itself is a derivative of the German word ''strolchen'', which means "to roam, travel about aimlessly, drift, rove."<ref name="strolchen">{{cite web |url=http://www.dictionarist.com/strolchen |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710123505/http://www.dictionarist.com/strolchen |url-status=usurped |archive-date=July 10, 2011 |title = strolchen - Meaning and definition - Dictionarist.com}}</ref> The German noun ''strolch'' refers to any sort of vagabond or rogue.

Before the American Revolution, a stroller was the British word for a vagabond.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Phillips|first1=Kevin|title=1775:A Good Year for Revolution|date=2012|publisher=Viking|location=New York|isbn=978-0-670-02512-1|page=152}}</ref>

The noun stroll came from the verb in 1814. The term "stroller" was coined in the 1920s as a "child’s push-chair".<ref name="stroll">{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=stroller&searchmode=none|title=Online Etymology Dictionary|work=etymonline.com}}</ref> The modern-day usage of the word "stroll" does not differ greatly from its older derivatives.

thumb|Technological advances in strolling.

==Health outcomes==
Strolling is not an [aerobic exercise](/source/aerobic_exercise).  The body's energy demands whilst strolling do not require extra oxygen.<ref name=FleuryMilfort2004 />  Physicians therefore do not recommend strolling, but rather recommend more vigorous and aerobic forms of exercise.  The [American Medical Association](/source/American_Medical_Association)'s committee on Exercise and Physical Fitness has stated that "walking briskly, not just strolling, is the simplest and also one of the best forms of exercise".<ref name=ReillyBrod2004 />

Researchers investigating the cognitive benefits to exercise have also concluded that strolling results in no significant gains to cognitive health as people age.  Brisk walking and other everyday activities, such as house work or gardening, have demonstrated significant benefits to prevention of cognitive decline as the population ages.<ref name = "Butler">Butler, R., Foreete, F., and Greengross, B.S. (2004) Maintaining Cognitive Health in an Aging Society. ''The Journal of The Royal Society for the Promotion of Health''. Vol 124 No3. 119-121.</ref>

Other researchers at the Mayo Clinic posit that all activity that is not sleeping, eating, or sports activity still contributes to overall health.  This has been named "Non-exercise activity thermogenesis" (NEAT) and includes everything from strolling to fidgeting in the analysis of energy consumption.  Utilizing NEAT research has generated many ideas about social design of offices, schools, and living spaces to promote any physical activity, such as removing places to sit to promote standing and pacing.<ref name = "NEAT">James A. Levine, Mark W. Vander Weg, James O. Hill, Robert C. Klesges. (2006) Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis
The Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon of Societal Weight Gain. ''Arterioscler Thrombosis and Vascular Biology''. 26:729-736.</ref> The body operates at a more balanced  level when strolling.  The heart beat is more balanced.  The blood pressure is well balanced.

==International traditions==
In Spain, a stroll is called a ''Paseo'' and is a popular after-dinner pastime. The participants, whose membership is egalitarian, wear their best clothing. Activities include chatting with neighbors and acquaintances, flirting, and gossiping.<ref name="Kerr2004">{{cite book|author=Peter Kerr|title=Manana, Manana: One Mallorcan Summer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=48EJVX0jMY0C&pg=PA47|date=1 May 2004|publisher=Globe Pequot Press|isbn=978-1-59228-407-8|page=47}}</ref> Several streets in countries with a Spanish cultural history incorporate the word: [Paseo de la Reforma](/source/Paseo_de_la_Reforma) in Mexico City, [Paseo del Prado, Havana](/source/Paseo_del_Prado%2C_Havana), [Paseo de Roxas](/source/Paseo_de_Roxas) in the Philippines, and Buenos Aires's [Paseo La Plaza](/source/Paseo_La_Plaza).

The similar, and widespread custom in Italy for an evening walk is called ''la passeggiata''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Del Negro|first=Giovanna|title=The Passeggiata and Popular Culture in an Italian Town: Folklore and the Performance of Modernity|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press|year=2004|isbn=9780773527225|location=Montreal}}</ref>

Strolling or walking ([Russian](/source/Russian_language): гулять, ''gulyat''<nowiki/>') is very common in the Russian society. In contrast to many western countries strolling is very common among young people in Russia. Young people often arrange just to go for a walk.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://matadornetwork.com/read/biggest-culture-shocks-americans-face-russia/|title=The biggest culture shocks Americans face in Russia|website=Matador Network|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-08}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.transparent.com/russian/what-do-russians-like-doing/|title=What Do Russians Like Doing?|date=27 April 2017 |access-date=2019-08-08}}</ref> Besides the verb, the experience itself, which describes the time span of the walk, is called ''progulka'' (Russian: прогулка).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.russlandjournal.de/en/learn-russian/verb-conjugation/gulyat/|title=гулять - Russian Verb Conjugation|date=2016-01-13|website=RusslandJournal.de English|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-08}}</ref> Walking is so important in Russian culture that ''gulyat''<nowiki/>' also is a synonym for "to party".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://seelrc-iis.trinity.duke.edu/russdict/word.aspx?nWordID=215458|title=Russian Word: гулять|website=seelrc-iis.trinity.duke.edu|access-date=2019-08-08}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=RUSSIAN, BOOK 1 : russian through propaganda.|last=PETTUS, MARK.|date=2017|publisher=LULU COM|isbn=978-1387423521|location=[Place of publication not identified]|pages=202|oclc=1021096626}}</ref>

The 19th-century Russian literary critic [Vissarion Belinsky](/source/Vissarion_Belinsky) described [St. Petersburg](/source/St._Petersburg) as the center of urban strolling in that country, by contrast with Moscow.<ref name="Matich2010">{{cite book|author=Olga Matich|title=Petersburg/Petersburg: Novel and City, 1900–1921|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fT5PiEry0H8C&pg=PA198|date=18 November 2010|publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press|isbn=978-0-299-23603-8|page=198}}</ref> Rural strolls have long been a staple of Russian fiction and songs; [Tchaikovsky](/source/Tchaikovsky) composed a musical accompaniment to the [Nikolay Grekov](/source/Nikolay_Grekov) poem “We haven’t long to stroll”.<ref>{{cite book|title=Tchaikovsky's Complete Songs: A Companion with Texts and Translations|url=https://archive.org/details/islandatendofwor00tayl|url-access=registration|date=October 2003|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=0-253-21676-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/islandatendofwor00tayl/page/77 77]–78}}</ref>

==See also==
*[Strolling players](/source/Strolling_players)

==References==
<references>
<ref name=FleuryMilfort2004>{{cite book|author=Evelyne Fleury-Milfort|chapter=Diabetes self-management education|title=Davidson's diabetes mellitus: diagnosis and treatment|editor1=Anne Peters Harmel |editor2=Ruchi Mathur |editor3=Mayer B. Davidson |edition=5th|publisher=Elsevier Health Sciences|year=2004|isbn=978-0-7216-9596-9|pages=389}}</ref>
<ref name=ReillyBrod2004>{{cite book|title=The Edgar Cayce handbook for health through drugless therapy|author1=Harold J. Reilly  |author2=Ruth Hagy Brod |name-list-style=amp |publisher=A.R.E Press|year=2004|isbn=978-0-87604-482-7|pages=104}}</ref>
</references>

== External links ==
* [http://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/out_and_about/312098/will_modernday_flaneurs_help_rebuild_fragmented_communities.html Will modern-day flaneurs help rebuild fragmented communities?] (essay on http://www.theecologist.org)

{{Walking}}
{{Authority control}}

Category:Walking
Category:Leisure

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Strolling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strolling) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strolling?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.
