Escalator walkers and escalator standers are forever locked in struggle—they are like toilet paper over-the-roll installers and under-the-roll installers, or GIF pronouncers, or one-spacers and two-spacers, only brought head to head every day in the malls, airports, offices, train exits, and sundry moving staircases of the world.

And the real-world evidence, it seems, is on the side of the standers. Walkers are a bottleneck, and they’re slowing each other — and the standers — down.

They say any amount of walking is better than none at all. While that's true, a major health improvement requires more than the occasional five-minute stroll. So how much is enough? Here's what the experts think.

More exercise is better than less, but beyond that, there’s nothing special about taking 10,000 steps each day.

That goal may have started with a popular Japanese pedometer of the 1960s named manpo-kei, the “10,000-step meter.” It was just a catchy name, but it stuck because it’s a good goal for at least some of us. 10,000 steps is roughly five miles — challenging but not impossible to fit into a busy day.

A desire path is one worn into being by people walking the same route over and over, off the paved or “approved” path. Some of you will find them calming, some will find them infuriating. The latter should calmly walk away right now, on asphalt only.

It’s time to run (or walk, or otherwise locomote under your own power) one whole kilometre. Then take a break. And if you still have it in you, do it again. That’s right, we’re doing kilometre repeats this week in the Lifehacker Fitness Challenge.

It’s surprisingly easy to get stuck in a rut. Choose the same path two or three times when you start a running or walking habit, and suddenly that path becomes an unquestioned part of your workout. Or maybe you vary your location, but you always do a 5K at “oh my god I’m going to die” pace. Well, stop it.

The only time I was tempted to buy a shirt at a marathon expo, it bore the relatable phrase: “I love running ... except while I’m doing it.”

There's almost never a bad time to start running — or to get back into it, if you’ve taken a break. We just spent a month trying to stand on our heads, so a little plain old jogging is going to feel great by comparison.

If you already use Audible for audiobooks, you now have a new perk in your account: Access to three fitness programs from Aaptiv, with more in the works.

Zero exercise is not enough. Going for a walk every day is probably a good thing. And if you're training for a marathon, you'll be on your feet for a couple hours of hard workouts every week. But what is the benchmark for a human being just trying to squeeze enough healthy exercise into their life? Let's break it down.

I love long walks and runs, but I don't tend to go on many of them for one reason: I get bored. Walking 8km (or 16) is boring. My Pandora playlist and podcasts can only keep me so entertained, and after 3km I tend to get distracted enough about things I need or want to do at home that I call it quits. At the gym, I came up with a solution for this by watching a TV show or movie on my iPad. Outside, which is my preference, I started walking to destinations.

Walking is free, easy and can get you from A to B - but does it “count” in terms of how much exercise we need? Let's take a look at the science.

Video: Racewalking. It's like walking, but faster and funnier looking. It's an Olympic sport, though, so when you do this week's workout you will be a Serious Athlete.

Video: Laika animator Kevin Parry's "100 Walks" is a reference video for animators that's pretty fun for the rest of us, too. If you really want to use these walks as a reference, there's a straightforward version on YouTube, but this Twitter version moves faster and has a snappy soundtrack. Our favourites are "flower child" and "hot tea".

Walking through a crowded street, you can't help but notice the people paying more attention to the phone in front of their face than the fast-approaching dog poop on the footpath.

Walking your dog, it turns out, counts as legitimate exercise -- the kind that will help you live longer. Dogs really are man's best friend.

Shoe brand Hari Mari has released a new line of thongs in partnership with baseball glove maker Nokona. These aren't just any thongs, though. They have a special chip inside of them that makes them smart. Allegedly.

We've all heard the "walk 10,000 steps a day to be healthy" pitch, but new research says that, while 10,000 is better than nothing, it might not quite be enough.

A five-kilometre race, or 5K, is a good goal if you're beginning to get serious about running. But what if you're not sure you can run five whole kilometres? Don't worry - it's fine to take walking breaks.