• Fitness & Health
• Sport & Exercise Science
• Physical Education
• Strength & Conditioning
• Sports Medicine
• Sport Management
• Dance

Optimal positioning while walking

This is an excerpt from Walk Your Way Fit by Sarah Zahab.

Alignment With Walking

As we move through our walking pattern, we want to maintain as much of this optimal positioning as pos­si­ble. Walking is a dynamic form of movement, and our postures ­will shift and change with each step. Jaime Sochasky Livingston, Certified Athletic Therapist and cofounder of Neuro Reconditioning and the educational com­pany ReconditioningHQ​.­com, shares this:

A good walking posture pre­sents as proper alignment through the foot/ankle, knee, hip on one side with the pelvis and torso/spine, and the opposite side upper limb swing providing an efficient body position in space and effective control and coordination of the center of gravity. On a single leg, the pelvis and spine can be said to be maintained as an inverted “T” (figure 4.6) when in an efficient walking posture. This allows for efficient limb dissociative movement, having a stacked trunk/cylinder positioning to provide anchors for our limbs, and helps to optimize good breathing and efficient joint motion.

The brain is a key component to consider when it comes to walking. Movement is governed by the brain, and walking posture is reflexive in nature. Sochasky Livingston explains:

Walking is a pattern that resides in the procedural memory area of our brain. That is to say that 99.9 ­percent of our standing and walking posture is controlled reflexively. To have efficient and effective standing and walking motion, our reflexes, and the centers that provide feedback to the brain, must be optimal as well. The areas to be maintained and optimized are ­those that control our brain’s sense of itself in space, its ability to coordinate the body relative to gravity, and the visual field and interpretation of the surrounding environment.

For example, as a person ages, they often begin to bend forward, which can be due less to a weakness or postural habit and due more to a lack of peripheral vision, as bending forward allows the visual field to cover the ground better in front of their feet. Hence, by improving their peripheral vision, their body ­will often no longer need to reflexively bend forward, their posture ­will improve and, by extension, so ­will their walking efficiency. By improving any of the feedback areas and reflexes you can help improve the overall pattern. An efficient ­walking motion ­will look smooth, with an upright torso, and has rhythmic, balanced, dynamic limb motion and smooth breath pattern.

Our brain and bodies need coordinated efforts to produce smooth, efficient motion. Most of the time, the signals and pathways are clear and connected. If ­we’re experiencing pain, discomfort, difficulties with balance, or changed walking patterns and symmetry, seeking professionals to assess and provide care, including visual and vestibular drills, may be helpful. Pay attention to alignment during strength exercises, which supports and reinforces optimal positioning. In chapter 9, ­we’ll explore vari­ous strength exercises to help support and strengthen our bodies. Setting up our alignment and posture well before we start ­will be key.

More Excerpts From Walk Your Way Fit

---