And Now For A Workout That's Completely Different

January 10, 2023 8:55 AM

A couple months ago, kinesiology researchers conducted some tests to see if the walks in Monty Python's "Silly Walks" sketch had any health benefits. Turns out they do.

Initially researchers intended this to be a tongue-in-cheek study for the British Medical Journal's Christmas Issue, which tends to feature more lighthearted fare. Working with American kinesiologists, they conducted a study with 13 subjects, asking them first to walk normally for 3 minutes, measuring heart rate and breathing on each subject as they did so. Then each subject was asked to copy the two silly walks featured in Monty Python's "Ministry of Silly Walks" sketch - the modestly silly one from "Mr. Putey" (Michael Palin), and then the one from "Mr. Teabag" (John Cleese).

Surprisingly, they discovered that the energy expended on Mr. Teabag's walk was equivalent to jogging for the same amount of time. In fact - just eleven minutes of silly walking on a daily basis could satisfy doctor's average recommendation for cardio-vascular exercise. (As for Mr. Putey's walk - not only was it "not that silly", its energy output was akin to regular walking.)

Researchers admitted that John Cleese's particularly long limbs and wide stride may not be achievable by everyone, and clarified that the "inefficiency" of his walk was the point. And if nothing else - researchers also pointed out that trying the silly walks can cause laughter, which is in itself a stress reliever.

posted by EmpressCallipygos (17 comments total)

Meanwhile, in Norway...
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 9:06 AM on January 10, 2023 [7 favorites]

Bridget Christie has a go [3min reddit]
posted by BobTheScientist at 9:43 AM on January 10, 2023 [3 favorites]

Would be interesting to see Silly Walking happening in public on a regular basis, but somehow I doubt this will happen.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:45 AM on January 10, 2023 [4 favorites]

Would be interesting to see Silly Walking happening in public on a regular basis

It happens at least once a year. This year, it made the news in Czechia.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 11:54 AM on January 10, 2023 [1 favorite]

Will someone please schedule a Silly Walk marathon, with thousands of people doing it together in some major city?
posted by njohnson23 at 12:40 PM on January 10, 2023 [5 favorites]

I cannot WAIT to show my new PCP how I'm gettin my elebenty mimuts in daily.
posted by winesong at 12:54 PM on January 10, 2023 [1 favorite]

Wasn't this pretty much the whole idea behind Prancercise?
posted by Fuego at 1:37 PM on January 10, 2023 [4 favorites]

I have never wanted something to catch on as much as I want this to.
posted by JaredSeth at 2:10 PM on January 10, 2023 [5 favorites]

I use the "Silly Walks" video in my lecture to neurology residents about phenomenology in movement disorders. Some of the silly walks actually correspond with specific neurological diagnoses! I do a fairly dry "circuitry of the basal ganglia" intro, and just when I've put them all to sleep, I go "Now for something completely different...."

Nobody expects the globus pallidus pars externa!
posted by basalganglia at 2:23 PM on January 10, 2023 [17 favorites]

We can make it a thing! You younguns may not know that when jogging became a thing in the 60s and 70s, it was HIGHLY ridiculed as a ridiculous-looking exercise that no red blooded American male would be caught doing. For example: When running for exercise was for weirdos (Vox).
posted by caviar2d2 at 3:22 PM on January 10, 2023 [2 favorites]

Nothing can compare to my lifting and throwing cannonballs in a singlet, with my bald head and Wario mustache.
posted by rhizome at 4:45 PM on January 10, 2023 [1 favorite]

I do this around the house when bored, so can confirm it's very aerobic. The spouse will see me and question my actions but the answer "walking around" usually suffices.
posted by fiercekitten at 5:32 PM on January 10, 2023 [2 favorites]

I can’t be the only one who tried the John Cleese silly walk. It is very taxing after only a few steps.
posted by AndrewStephens at 6:56 PM on January 10, 2023 [1 favorite]

It's a real pity the man who popularised silly walking turned out to be a transphobic jerk.
posted by neonamber at 8:41 PM on January 10, 2023 [3 favorites]

Ig Nobel Prize in the bag!
posted by lock robster at 11:04 PM on January 10, 2023 [2 favorites]

I'm also thinking of the people during the pandemic who set up "Silly Walk Zones" in the sidewalks out front of their houses to cheer people up.

Here's a story about the New Jersey one.

Here's the Michigan one.

....and I have just realized I forgot to include a link to the original sketch.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:28 AM on January 11, 2023

It's a real pity the man who popularised silly walking turned out to be a transphobic jerk.

Oh he is a much bigger jerk than that! He is almost every possible kind of jerk.
posted by srboisvert at 8:53 AM on January 11, 2023