How to Walk Properly -Top 10 Tips with Todd Martin MD

walking is one of the most important activities people do every day walking is not only a great means of transportation it also helps keep us healthy if we do it right poor walking technique over time can lead to pain and eventually disability it is critical that we preserve our ability to walk effectively and without pain for as long as possible that's why I'm here in beautiful Balboa Park to share with you my top 10 tips to help you walk more fluidly Welcome to our confidence and walk with minimal impact on your joints make sure to click the like button subscribe to the channel and click on the Bell to get notifications for my future videos also if you've been enjoying my content for a while and you want to provide some extra support for the channel then click on the join button and become a member [Music] tip number one keep the eyes forward when walking the Gaze should be directly forward towards the horizon not looking down at the ground in this clip we see the Gaze down at the ground which often accompanies a forward lean or stooped posture to make sure that your eyes are gazing straight forward practice this Tai Chi trick imagine a string tied to the top of your head elongating your spine floating your head upward this is going to elongate your neck and all the way down through your spine and make sure that your gaze is facing straight forward when you walk tip number two shoulders back and down when your shoulders are in the correct position your palm should be facing inwards towards the outside of your thighs you can see this in my walk from the front position and also from the side position when the shoulders are rolled forward which is a very common problem you'll see that the Palms are facing the front of the thighs and not the side not only can this type of postural problem lead to a walk that looks like it's lacking in confidence it also can be a cause of chronic shoulder pain to practice keeping your shoulders back and down we need to engage the entire core so practice this action place your palms face up directly in front of your upper abdomen then begin to raise your arms slowly rolling your palms to the face up position and then press them up towards the sky when your body is completely stretched upwards pressing Towards the Sky then bring your arms down to the sides keeping your palms facing inwards towards the outside of your thighs this is taken from a Tai Chi warm-up exercise called the eight pieces of brocade and it will help to get your shoulders in the correct position using your entire core tip number three relaxed arm swing when we walk forward the arms should swing naturally in a relaxed manner we do not need to try and swing the arms the arm swing is generated automatically by the rotation of the core that is a necessary part of walking and all other movement done while standing on two feet the left arm should swing forward with the right leg and the right arm should swing forward with the left leg that is because the arms are connected to the upper part of the core which turns forward on the side of the standing leg when we walk forward the arm should not swing side to side they should also not actively be pulled back instead they should naturally fall back to a neutral position after the active forward swing you will notice when I walk that as the arm drops back it essentially stays in the same position it was in at the end of the forward swing it's a good idea to practice your arm swing and coordination with your leg swing to make sure that you are moving with some conscious awareness you should be able to take that first step fluidly without getting thrown off if I want to engage my right leg to swing forward I know that I can shift my weight to my left leg and begin to move and my left arm is going to swing forward with the right leg naturally if I want to begin walking forward with my left leg I'm going to begin with my weight on my left leg shift the weight to my right leg and you can see the body start to shift forward because of that rotation and then I can engage the swing through part of the step there is no need to lean forward because forward is not rotation forward is falling and letting gravity pitch your body into your heel so you end up Landing with a very heavy heel strike tip number four move from the core the next tip is to move from your core or more precisely be aware of how you are moving from your core because you can't really move unless you're moving from your core the old Tai Chi saying goes all movement is Guided by waist rotation when the waist starts moving the rest of the body should start moving when the waste stops moving the rest of the body should stop moving when we walk we are controlling the direction and flow of the movement from the waist what we are using is the rotation of the upper abdominal muscles which is reflected in the movement of the arms and the lower abdominal muscles which is reflected in the rotation of the pelvis when I'm stepping forward with my right leg my left upper abdominal muscles are turning forward helping with the forward progression of the body and my left lower abdominal muscles are turning backwards they are helping to keep my spine lined up over the standing leg and they also serve to help push the body forward from the ground when we complete a step with the swing leg still in the air what we're going to do is turn the upper torso to bring the heel down and then turn the lower torso to engage the standing leg again Shifting the weight forward and then we swing through tip number five do not lean [Music] posture should be completely vertical at all points when we walk there is no need to lean forward if you hear someone on YouTube tell you that it might be a good idea to lean forward to get yourself moving they are telling you bad information forward progression is caused by torso rotation not leaning into gravity if we lean forward to walk this leads to a very hard and forceful impact on the heel and improper weight transfer which can lead to damage in the feet the knees the hips and the back foreign [Music] tip number six feet facing forward the feet should Face Forward parallel to one another when we walk facing in the direction of travel this keeps the feet the knees and the hips lined up in the same direction evenly Distributing the weight throughout each of the joints one of the most common walking mistakes is Walking with the feet turned out commonly referred to as duck feet this is especially common in people who wear flip-flops as regular Footwear walking with duck feet causes the joints to face away from the direction of travel placing uneven force over the inside portions of the joints when we walk with our feet turned out like this it causes our weight to transfer sideways over the knee instead of forward over the knee this is going to cause increased stress over the inside of the knee and the inside of your foot leading to collapsed arches which can cause all types of problems such as plantar fasciitis bunions and hammer toes and functional knee pain foreign level the pelvis make sure that your pelvis is in a level position so it's not tilted back or Tilted forward from the side view a backward pelvic tilt would be like this a forward or anterior pelvic tilt would be like this foreign the difference between the forward pitch when you walk and what I call the compensated forward pitch is that I compensate for the forward lean by pulling back with the shoulder blades which gives me the impression of being vertical at least with my gaze rather than looking down but what happens is I get an exaggerated arch in the lower back as the compensation but I have a very exaggerated Arch causing stress on the lower back as I walk the pelvis is also tilted forward just like with the regular lean but I've compensated Again by pulling the shoulder blades back tip number eight gentle heel contact one of the most critical factors for good walking technique is a gentle initial heel contact followed by a controlled roll of the foot to the flat foot position impulsing forward to a hard heel contact and then a rapid uncontrolled lowering of the foot must be avoided this is often caused by pushing back with the glutes rather than gliding forwards with a more lifting action from the hips in the top video here you see a pushing action causing a heavy heel strike and a rapid lowering of the foot on the lower video you'll see a very controlled heel placement following the forward swing and then a very controlled and gradual lowering of the forefoot to the flat position foreign tip number nine proper Footwear if I've said it once I've said it a thousand times lose the flip-flops it is essential for good health that we use proper Footwear on our feet when we're walking that could include no Footwear walking barefoot or with minimal issues or with proper shoes with a good support on them one of the biggest Footwear issues that I see on a regular basis is the use of flip-flops as everyday Footwear this tends to cause people to turn their feet out in the attempt to keep the flip-flops from flying forward off the foot this is an unconscious action and results in the duck foot and walking when people are not even aware they're doing it another common Footwear issue is frequent use of heels infrequent use of heels is probably not damaging but people who wear heels as their regular Footwear tend to shorten their Achilles tendon and also alter their walking style because of the heels and then they may not be able to walk normally even when they're out of heels a quick comment about arch supports if you walk with good technique and arch support is not necessary but if you're having foot problems you may need an arch support to compensate for the issues you're having with your walking technique [Music] tip number 10 walk for exercise walking is one of the best exercises there is and you can do it for your entire life without injuring yourself if you follow my top 10 tips 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per week is recommended for everyone who is capable a brisk walk like I'm doing here is a great modern intensity exercise so look out world here I come foreign

Channel: Todd Martin MD

Views: 1,392,038

Keywords: How to walk, how to walk properly, tips to walk properly, walking basic technique, walking heel strike, The Walking Code, Todd Martin MD, How to Walk Correctly, Balboa Park San Diego, Walking Technique Tips, walking, technique, heel strike, torso rotation, correct gait pattern, how to walk for men

Id: A1A9zwvvskw

Length: 13min 35sec (815 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 10 2021