Well, Do You?

I often feel silly thinking about this question. Everybody walks. Old, young, athletic, clumsy. Walking is so essential to much of our existence that most people just assume it is innate. However, how do I really know if I’m learning to walk correctly?

I am often shocked by how much effort it takes to walk properly. We think of walking as this basic system of movement that most people have mastered, but a careful examination shows how far this can be from the truth. Each step is a unique movement requiring us to consider our walking surface, speed, and angle, and can result in wildly different movement patterns without careful attention and training (Try it out if you don’t believe me! Go for a walk outside and think about each step you take. Are your feet hitting the ground at the same points? Do you drive through your toes? Are you leaning backwards, forwards, or standing upright? At what point do your legs lock out, if at all?).

Learning Walking Mechanics

Nobody really teaches you the nuances of how to walk. Your parents get you on your feet and teach one foot in front of the other, but I would venture out to say that we are generally not taught much beyond that. We may learn heel to toe movement and reducing vertical oscillation, but I urge you to regularly study what it feels like when you walk.

Do your feet move the same way? Do you notice any swinging in your hips? Do you notice a hard heel impact? What are your arms doing? We utilize muscles across our whole body in order to propel ourselves forward, yet we rarely even think about our walking form. Each step matters, providing an opportunity to improve our biomechanics and reduce injury risk.

Weighing Schools of Thought

What is most difficult about learning to walk (beyond the fact that there’s a societal expectation that we can do it well without much thought or training) is that there are competing schools of thought for proper mechanics. We are conventionally taught to walk with a heel-to-toe pattern, rolling from our heel to our midfoot and driving forward with our toes (see HERE or HERE). However, it is becoming evermore common to hear about striking the midfoot or forefoot and avoiding heel striking so that we can better absorb impact with our calves (For a general guide on foot striking, look HERE).

Between these two schools of foot striking exist many different recommendations on how to walk, including light heel striking, heel striking dependent upon the surface and demands, and forefoot/midfoot striking followed by heel contact as the forefoot compresses (I will not link to each recommendation, but look here HERE for a useful assessment of walking). With so many steps taken each day, should we aim for one technique to suit them all or vary each step to fit the occasion?

In general, I find that taking time to actively think about how my body moves when I walk helps me better understand how my body has been trained and where it wants to move. While I cannot offer you the ultimate guide on how to walk, I can assure you that your continued study of your own gait help you move more confidently and smoothly. We take thousands of steps daily, and while not all will be perfect, practice will lead to more good steps each day.

Any thoughts? Want to tell me how you walk? Let me know.

-G