Fine-tuning Your Walking Technique - Therese Iknoian

By signing on for an ExperiencePlus! walking trip, your goal isn't likely to become a walking professional. Nevertheless, a few technique refinements can help your workouts feel better and easier, and almost as if you're floating rather than grinding along.

Arms -- If you don't already bend them at the elbow in a 90-degree angle, try it. There's a good reason for doing it, and it's not just to look funny. A bent arm becomes a shorter lever and therefore completes the forward and backward swing faster. When your arms swing faster, your feet will automatically move faster because arms and feet have to move in unison. Be sure to keep your elbows tucked in and not chicken-flapping outward. Try this: Standing in place, swing your arms as fast as you can while they hang straight. Now bend them at the elbow, and do the same. Easier, eh?

 

Stride length -- Usually, people take longer steps when they try to walk faster, turning their stride into a Groucho Marx look-alike with bouncing head and body. Think about it: Going up and down means you can't move forward as efficiently since you're wasting energy on the bob. Think gliding, fashion-model grace as you move forward, which will probably mean shorter steps than you're used to. Head, hair, scarves, hats or jackets shouldn't flop and flap.

 

Fast feet -- Now that you've eliminated bouncing steps, you'll have to move your feet faster to keep up with your arms. Imagine you are on wheels and rolling along. Or you're walking on hot coals and have to take quick, fast steps.

Pushoff -- This doesn't really start behind you, but actually starts at the front of the stride when you strike with your heel in front of your body, with toes lifted high. That allows the ankle to move through its full range of motion as it comes underneath you before moving behind you. Once behind you, the foot doesn't just pick up and sloosh forward again, though. The leg lengthens behind you; you should feel as if your toes are the last thing to leave the ground. You should feel the ball and toes of your foot pushing into the ground, causing a reaction against the ground that helps propel you forward.

Hips -- We aren't asking for the exaggerated race walker's hip roll. But for basic power walking, loosening up a little can make you more comfortable. Allow the leg to swing freely, using the hips to reach forward with each step. Feel a bit like a Raggedy Ann doll.

Try one or two pieces separately. Then combine them until you can manage all five at once without so much grim concentration that you forget to watch the flowers and birds.

 

Hills take an extra dose of technique

Uphills -- When headed uphill, learn slightly into the hill with your whole body (not just from the waist). The bent-arm swing of speed walking will also come in handy to power you up an incline. Feel your back muscles as the motor behind your arms as the momentum of their swing keeps you going. And be sure to keep the arms close to your body.

Going up hills will quickly pump up your heartrate, so be careful. Slow down a little if you need to -- but maintain the good technique -- to keep your effort within range and to keep you from huffing and puffing too hard.

The powerful pushoff used to propel walkers forward on flatlands is mandatory on hills. Take advantage of the INCLINE to feel your leg lengthening behind you as you roll through your entire foot and off the big toe.

Downhills -- A real cruise, right? Wrong. Don't be deluded to think the downhill is a piece of cake after that heart-pounding climb. All that soreness after a hilly walk or hike is usually due to a type of muscular contraction that the quadriceps muscles in your thighs are forced into on downhills.

You have two alternatives:

Zig-zag down the hills -- like a beginning skier down a slope -- to lessen the angle of the descent and therefore the contraction. Of course, that's only possible on wider trails or roads without traffic!

Better is to use gravity in your favor. Lean slightly forward into the hill from the angle, taking shorter steps and feel the gravity pull you into a slight acceleration even. Don't freak out! Keep your knees soft, not locked, and use your arms for some control.

Avoid leaning backward for two reasons: One, you'll add extra ouch-inducing impact to your knees by lengthening your stride. Two, you may throw your weight off-balance and if you're on loose terrain or a slippery surface, actually allow your feet to slip out forward from underneath you.

 

 

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