- Walking silly may be good for your health.
- That's according to a study designed by a Monty Python-loving professor from an Arizona university.
John Cleese and the Ministry of Silly Walks is what peak performance looks like.
Kind of.
A new study conducted by Arizona State University professor and Monty Python connoisseur Glenn Gaesser shows that regular walking is all well and fine, but if people replicated the inefficient movements popularized by Mr. Teabag and Mr. Putey from the iconic silly walks sketch of 1970, it could be conducive to a healthy lifestyle.
There's one glaring caveat, though, and that is the sample size of only 13 healthy adults (six women and seven men) who participated in the study, as per a report in the British Medical Journal.
But the results were dramatic — walking in a silly way can become a part of a healthy lifestyle as it could be deemed vigorous exercise.
Speaking to CNN, Gaesser — who studies the effects of exercise for a living — said, "I'm a big fan of Monty Python … and, of course, the 'Ministry of Silly Walks' was one of my favorite skits.
"Anyone who's seen the video knows that, wow, that looks like pretty good physical activity. My colleagues and I got this idea — basically, wouldn't it be fun to see how energetically costly those silly walks actually were. How many calories do they burn?"
The 13 volunteers in the study walked normally, and then copied the silly walk. During both walks, Gaesser and his team measured how much energy the volunteers used and how many calories they burned.
The way John Cleese walks in Monty Python, with his leg stretched out almost as high as his head, was two-and-a-half times as intense as walking normally.
"This is a humorous study," Gaesser said.
No kidding.
Watch the "Ministry of Silly Walks" sketch right here: