Walking is one of the most important activities people do every day.
Walking is not only a great means of transportation; it also helps keep us healthy, if we do it right.
Poor walking technique over time can lead to pain and eventually, disability.
It is critical that we preserve our ability to walk effectively, and without pain, for as long as possible.
That is why I am here in beautiful Balboa Park to share with you my top ten tips
to help you walk more fluidly, walk with more confidence, and walk with minimal impact on your joints.
- Tip Number One: Keep the Eyes Forward. When walking, the gaze should be directly
forward towards the horizon, not looking down at the ground.To make sure that
your eyes are gazing straight forward, practice this Tai Chi trick.Imagine a
string tied to the top of your head, elongating your spine, floating your head
upward.This is going to elongate your neck and all the way down through your
spine, and make sure your gaze is facing straight forward when you walk.
- Tip Number Two: Shoulders Back and Down.
When your shoulders are in the correct position, your palms should be facing
inward toward the outside of your thighs. You can see this in my walk from the
front position and also from the side position. When the shoulders are rolled
forward, which is a very common problem, you will see that the palms are facing
the front of the thighs, and not the side. Not only can this type of postural
problem lead to a walk that looks like it is lacking in confidence, it also can
be a cause of chronic shoulder pain. To practice keeping the shoulders back and
down, we need to engage the entire core, so practice this action. Place your
palms face up, directly in front of your upper abdomen, then begin to raise your
arms slowly, rolling your palms to the face up position, and then press them up
towards the sky. When your body is completely stretched upwards, pressing toward
the sky, then bring your arms down to the sides, keeping your palms facing
inwards toward the outside of your thighs. This is taken from a Tai Chi warmup
exercise called the Eight Pieces of Brocade, and it will help to get your
shoulders in the correct position using your entire core.
- Tip Number Three: Relaxed Arm Swing.
When we walk forward, the arms should swing naturally, in a relaxed manner. We
do not need to try and swing the arms. The arm swing in generated automatically
by the rotation of the core, that is a necessary part of walking, and all other
movement done while standing on two feet. The left arm should swing forward with
the right leg, and the right arm should swing forward with the left leg. That is
because the arms are connected to the upper part of the core, which turns
forward on the side of the standing leg when we walk forward. The arms should
not swing side to side. They should also not actively be pulled back. Instead,
they should naturally fall back to a neutral position after the active forward
swing. You will notice when I walk that as the arm drops back, it essentially
stays in the same position it was in at the end of the forward swing. It is a
good idea to practice your arm swing in coordination with your leg swing to make
sure you are moving with some conscious awareness. You should be able to take
that first step fluidly without getting thrown off. If I want to engage my right
leg to swing forward, I know that I can shift my weight to my left leg and begin
to move, and my left arm is going to swing forward with the right leg,
naturally. If I want to begin walking forward with my left leg, I am going to
begin with my weight on my left leg, shift the weight to my right leg, and you
can see the body start to shift forward because of that rotation, and then I can
engage the swing through part of the step. There is no need to lean forward,
because forward is not rotation. Forward is falling and letting gravity pitch
your body into your heel, so you end up landing with a very heavy heel strike.
- Tip Number Four: Move from the Core.
The next tip is to move from your core, or more precisely, be aware of how you
are moving from your core, because you can't really move unless you are moving
from your core. The old Tai Chi saying goes, "all movement is guided by waist
rotation. when the waist starts moving, the rest of the body should start
moving. When the waist stops moving, the rest of the body should stop moving."
When we walk, we are controlling the direction and flow of the movement from the
waist. What we are using is the rotation of the upper abdominal muscles, which
is reflected in the movement of the arms. And the lower abdominal muscles, which
is reflected in the rotation of the pelvis. When I am stepping forward with my
right leg, my left upper abdominal muscles are turning forwards, helping with
the forward progression of the body. And my left lower abdominal muscles are
turning backwards. They are helping to keep my spine lined up over the standing
leg, and they also serve to help push the body forward from the ground. When we
complete a step, with the swing leg still in the air, what we are going to do is
turn the upper torso to bring the heel down, and then turn the lower torso to
engage the standing leg again, shifting the weight forward, and then we swing
through.
Tip Number Five-Do Not Lean
Posture should be completely vertical at all points when we walk. There is no
need to lean forward. If you hear someone on YouTube tell you that it might be a
good idea to lean forward to get yourself moving, they are telling you bad
information. Forward progression is caused by torso rotation, not leaning into
gravity. If we lean forward to walk, this leads to a very hard and forceful
impact on the heel, and improper weight transfer, which can lead to damage in
the feet, the knees, the hips, and the back.
- Tip Number Six: Feet Facing Forward.
The feet should face forward, parallel to one another when we walk, facing in
the direction of travel. This keeps the feet, the knees, and the hips lined up
in the same direction, evenly distributing the weight throughout each of the
joints. One of the most common walking mistakes is walking with the feet turned
out, commonly referred to as duck feet. This is especially common in people who
wear flip flops as regular footwear. Walking with duck feet causes the joints to
face away from the direction of travel, placing uneven force over the inside
portions of the joints. When we walk with our feet turned out like this, it
causes our weight to transfer sideways over the knee instead of forward over the
knee. This is going to cause increased stress over the inside of the knee, and
the inside of your foot, leading to collapsed arches which can cause all types
of problems, such as plantar fasciitis. bunions and hammer toes, and functional
knee pain.
- Tip Number Seven: Level the Pelvis.
Make sure that your pelvis is in a level position, so it is not tilted back or
tilted forward. From the side view, a backward pelvic tilt would be like this. A
forward, or anterior pelvic tilt, would be like this. The difference between the
forward pitch when you walk, and what I call the compensated forward pitch, is
that I compensate for the forward lean by pulling back with the shoulder blades,
which gives me the impression of being vertical, at least with my gaze, rather
than looking down, but what happens is I get an exaggerated arch in the lower
back as the compensation. But I have a very exaggerated arch, causing stress on
the lower back as I walk. The pelvis is also tilted forward, just like with the
regular lean, but I've compensated again by pulling the shoulder blades back.
- Tip Number Eight: Gentle Heel Contact.
One of the most critical factors for good walking technique is a gentle initial
heel contact, followed by a controlled roll of the foot to the flat-foot
position. Impulsing forward to a hard heel contact and then a rapid,
uncontrolled lowering of the foot must be avoided. This is often caused by
pushing back with the glutes, rather than gliding forward with a more lifting
action from the hips. In the top video, here, you see a pushing action, causing
a heavy heel strike and a rapid lowering of the foot. On the lower video, you
will see a very controlled heel placement, following the forward swing, and then
a very controlled and gradual lowering of the forefoot to the flat position.
- Tip Number Nine: Proper Footwear.
If I have said it once, I have said it a thousand times, lose the flip flops. It
is essential for good health that we use proper footwear on our feet when we are
walking. That could include no footwear, walking barefoot or with minimalist
shoes, or with proper shoes with a good support on them. One of the biggest
footwear issues that I see on a regular basis is the use of flip flops as
everyday footwear. This tends to cause people to turn their feet out in the
attempt to keep the flip flops from flying forward off the foot. This is an
unconscious action and results in the duck foot walking when people are not even
aware they are doing it. Another common footwear issue is frequent use of heels.
Infrequent use of heels is probably not damaging, but people who wear heels as
their regular footwear tend to shorten their Achilles tendon and also alter
their walking style because of the heels, and then they may not be able to walk
normally, even when they are out of heels. A quick comment about arch supports-
if you walk with good technique, an arch support is not necessary, but if you
are having foot problems, you may need an arch support to compensate for the
issues you are having with your walking technique.
- Tip Number Ten: Walk for Exercise
Walking is one of the best exercises there is, and you can do it for your entire
life, without injuring yourself, if you follow my Top 10 Tips. 150 minutes of
moderate intensity exercise per week is recommended for everyone who is capable.
A brisk walk like I am doing here is a great moderate intensity exercise. So
look out world, here I come.
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