Do you know how to walk properly? Here are some dos and dont's.

@kgwat70 (13388)
United States
December 24, 2006 4:28pm CST
I had no idea that there were correct and incorrect ways to walk. Did you? I figured walking was just walking and not much else but there is more to walking than I thought based on an article I was reading. Here are the mistakes in walking; 1. Not maintaining proper posture. Poor posture puts extra stress on joints, vertebrae, and muscles, causing pain. 2. Keeping your arms still. You lose almost half the exercise value of walking-increasing your heart rate and working your shoulder, back, and arm muscles-by not moving your arms. 3. Walking duck-footed (with the knees pointed out) or pigeon toed (with the knees pointed in). This puts stress on the knees and ankles. They are hinge joints-made for forward, not side-to-side, motion. Stress causes knee and ankle pain. 4. Walking with your feet too close together. This makes it easy to trip and fall. 5. Taking short steps. This also reduces the exercise value of walking, and it causes the leg and hip muscles to tighten. Correct ways to walk are: 1. Tuck your chin into your neck so your ear, shoulder, hip, and ankle form for straight line perpendicular to the ground when you're standing still. Avoid arching your back. 2. Do a pelvic tilt. Tuck your buttocks under your body and hold in your stomach while you walk. 3. Pump your arms. Bend your elbows slightly for regular walking, and 90 degrees for aerobic walking. 4. Walk with your feet parallel and use the heel-toe roll. 5. Keep your feet hip-width to shoulder width apart. They said that longer steps burn more calories, work leg muscles, raise heart rate, increase circulation, make you feel more energetic and increase walking speed. I was amazed from reading this article and will have to try doing this the next time I go walking. This information was provided in the Big Black Book by Gary Yanker. Did anybody know about this information. Hope this is useful information.
9 people like this
43 responses
@disvachic (10117)
• United States
26 Dec 06
Thankyou for the valuable information.Have a Happy New Year!!
2 people like this
• Philippines
25 Dec 06
Thank you for sharing this article with us. I myself am being scolded most of the times for not walking the right away. Walking the right away I believe though is not just about your health, it is also about showing people that you are confident. There are walks that would tell people Im shy and there are walks that would tell people move aside.
1 person likes this
@kgwat70 (13388)
• United States
25 Dec 06
You are welcome and I try to share things that I feel are important. Sometimes I can be a bit silly with my posts too. Who scolds you for not walking right? You are right about the types of walking.
• Philippines
25 Dec 06
Usually my friends do. But its all good since I know they are just concerned about me.
1 person likes this
• United States
25 Dec 06
Well if I have to read all that before I walk, I will never get going..I am not going to follow directions..You are my very good friend but such requirements are too much for me;)+
@kgwat70 (13388)
• United States
25 Dec 06
I certainly umderstand my dear friend. I know not everyone is able or wanting to do things that are talked about on here. That is why we are all different and makes life more interesting that we all have our own views about things. :-) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you.
@brokentia (10389)
• United States
24 Dec 06
This seems like an instruction on how to walk properly when one is using it as a form of excercise. But it is still good to have proper posture, walk with ong strides, walk heesl to toe, and not walk duck footed in everyday walk. ha ha So I guess it is good for everyday walk also...but there is no way you are going to see me pump my arms for maximum calorie burning when I an shopping at the local grocery store. ha ha Great article!
1 person likes this
@kgwat70 (13388)
• United States
24 Dec 06
That was funny as I would not be pumping my arms while shopping either, just when I am at the park getting my workout in. :-) After the holidays are over, we will all probably need to do some walking to burn off the fat and weight we will gain. LOL
@kpisgod (994)
• India
24 Dec 06
Thanks boss i have this problem with my ankles.
1 person likes this
@kgwat70 (13388)
• United States
24 Dec 06
You are very welcome. I thought this information might be useful since many of us probably go walking. There was much more information but too much to post.
@kpisgod (994)
• India
24 Dec 06
U could post as comments
1 person likes this
@shinuak (116)
• India
24 Dec 06
I never knew walking was this tough lol..anyway good info mate...
1 person likes this
@kgwat70 (13388)
• United States
24 Dec 06
I had no idea that walking was this tough either. It makes me wonder what else is tough that we think is easy. :-)
@KrauseHome (36449)
• United States
25 Dec 06
This is some useful information to know. Thanks for sharing it. This would be worth printing out as well.
@FraYFaN09 (1558)
• United States
25 Dec 06
Wow... I never realized that there was a proper way to walk! Thanks for posting these tips and bringing these tips to my attention... I'm definitely going to have to try and walk the right now!
1 person likes this
@birthlady (5609)
• United States
1 Jan 07
Yep, I knew about this, its "power walking" and I've done it for years, feels great, too.
1 person likes this
@deebomb (15307)
• United States
24 Dec 06
proper walking -  The proper way to walk is to Tuck your chin into your neck so your ear, shoulder, hip, and ankle form for straight line.
This artical on walking is very interesting. I always thought that the way our bones were shaped made us walk the way we do. I didn't know we could chose to walk differently. Thank you for this health informantion.
@kgwat70 (13388)
• United States
24 Dec 06
I did not know this information either and was surprised when i read it. You are welcome for the information. Hope that it will help everyone that enjoys walking or does a lot of walking at work or at home.
@Lydia1901 (16351)
• United States
1 Jan 07
Thanks for sharing that, it is a useful information. I didn't know I was walking wrong all these years. That's really something. Now I know how to walk correctly.
1 person likes this
• United States
25 Dec 06
I have read things about walking correctly and sitting and lifting and things like that as well but I am guitly most likely of not following any of that lol. I slouch when I sit and probably dont walk straight but I guess thats just me. Its hard to try to swtich the way you do things when you have been doing it for so long.
1 person likes this
• India
25 Dec 06
The best way to walk is to see how a child does it. Carefree and stressless. I think if we had to think about so many things just to walk, we'd spend more time in thinking how to walk than actully walking.
1 person likes this
@emskoneko (805)
• United States
25 Dec 06
My mom used to get mad at me for tippy toeing when I walked. I sometimes still do... just not in front of my mom.
1 person likes this
• Singapore
25 Dec 06
Thanks for sharing this!! i wish i read this earlier...sigh..i was walking around singapore the whole day with my bf and i was feeling as if i wanna die from the muscle cramp now...i think i lost all feeling on my leg..thanks for sharing!
1 person likes this
• India
25 Dec 06
Oh god i never thought theres so much in walking... vr never thought abt walking... v get it frm childhood.... this is gr88
1 person likes this
• China
25 Dec 06
Thank you for your information, I hope i could follow these advice, good luck to me.
1 person likes this
@keencom (16)
• China
25 Dec 06
yeah,it is useful info for me.
1 person likes this
@gkvasan (201)
• India
25 Dec 06
these informations are really useful to me. i understand i too have something to correct on...thanks.
1 person likes this
@shekruse (677)
• India
25 Dec 06
Thanks for the Useful info.. I have had a real Bad ache at the Calf Muscles, couple of years now..