Walking is the most sensible and available form of exercise.
You’d think that walking was an inherited skill that all able bodies received from their ancestors, a motor skill and technique that was common to everyone?
Not on your navicular! While we may all share 26 bones, more than 100 ligaments and 33 muscles in each foot, our manner of walking is an acquired skill, seldom formally taught, and so it is that we witness such a multiplicity of gaits.
There is a great deal involved in keeping the human creature upright and balanced on two limbs. It
wasn’t that many thousands of years ago that our predecessors took that giant step for humanity
and overcame gravity to raise their forelimbs from the ground and assume the two-legged posture
characteristic of our species.
Today, we watch the inheritors of this quantum leap in evolution amble, dart, dodge, drag, hike,
hoof-it, hobble, limp, meander, mince, perambulate, pace, ponce, ramble, sashay, stagger, saunter,
stride, stroll, shuffle, strut, trip, tread, traipse, tack, totter, tramp, trudge, toddle, undulate, weave
and waddle, and, amazingly, they’re all walking! So many postural differences, so many gaits, and
each announcing volumes about the states of physical fitness and mind, moods and self-image and
confidence of the mover.
Good dynamic posture is essential, not only during exercise but while we stand, sit or lie. Before we
move onto walking as an exercise with great potential for cardiovascular fitness, here are some hints
on practising good posture:
Stand tall, spine erect, but never rigidly tense, as in the military stance, where the lower back is
over-arched and the shoulders exaggeratedly pulled back. Imagine a thread rising through the crown
of the head (like a marionette suspended on a string) and running down through the middle of your
body, and you should keep your balance in relation to this mid line.
Legs should be hip distance apart with the knees soft, relaxed, never hyper-extended nor overly
bent. Locking the knees throws the body out of alignment, creating too exaggerated an arch in the
lumbar region of the spine and threatening wear to the discs between the vertebrae. Tuck your
bottom under you, with a slight pelvic tilt upwards so that the abdominal muscles are held in and
never allowed to slacken or sag.
Abdominal muscles should be kept in a slight state of tension to assist in maintaining good upright
posture. Shoulders should slope downwards and into your back, with no excessive military chest
lifting. The back of the neck should be long, without the chin thrusting forward, but at right angles to
the neck.
Remember, always, the six T’s of Posture–
Toosh Taut, Tummy Tucked Tight, Too, and you’ll be better prepared to use your body to its full
potential!
Armed with your postural principles and an awareness of the many gaits of wo/man, you should
consider walking as an excellent first step exercise for all ages.
Walking has many advantages. It is inexpensive, can be done at any time and allows the pleasure of
working outdoors. Exercise is one of the great social practices and it is most enjoyable to walk with
others. For safety, it is always best to walk accompanied and to select times and locations with care,
to place yourself at less risk (a massive Rottweiler makes an excellent walking companion!). Keep
away from major roads, as inhaling carbon monoxide and lead fumes from busy traffic is hardly
conducive to respiratory fitness.
By controlling the pace at which you fitness-walk (a stroll, sniffing the flowers or pricing the
neighbours’ houses is not the same), you govern the intensity level of work. As you grow fitter, this
can be increased progressively. Simultaneously, you can increase the duration of your walk and the
distance covered, to increase the workload as you become more able.
Increasing the speed will burn more energy, so aim to raise your pace slightly each week and vary
the pace during each walk. The Swedish fartlek principle of playful variation is a splendid practice to
follow. Continually surprise the body, force it to utilize more muscle fibres, by changing fixed
routines. Not only vary the terrain and pace, but, as the mood takes you, large-step sideways for 20
paces, change leg and repeat, walk on, add skips, hops, other gaits, walk backwards; introduce
variety to your movements, and you’ll surprise not only your companions and passers by, but your
body as well.