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Posted 08/31/2010

This may sound like a silly question, since we all started walking when we were toddlers, but I find that many of my patients do not know how to walk. Over the weekend, I took a course offered by Ron Hruska and he reminded me and several other therapists’ in the room that many people don’t know how to walk correctly. I see this everyday when I watch my patients walk up and down the hallway. Gait is a term for walking, and there are many phases in the gait cycle. The first phase of walking is heel strike, and many people have poor heel strike on one or both sides when they walk. If you avoid striking your heels while walking, you will alter the proper mechanics at your foot, ankle, hip, back, etc. Since heel strike is the first stage of the gait cycle, you have now altered the entire sequence of walking. Your body has to compensate for this, and will likely lead to pain or dysfunction.

I would recommend paying more attention to how you walk. When you take a step, do you hit your heels first? Your heel should hit the ground, and then you should feel the arch of your shoe, followed by pushing off your big toe. A simple exercise I would recommend to help you recognize heel strike is to first walk backwards, feeling your heels hit the ground first. This helps to stretch (or inhibit) your calf muscles. Walk up and down your hallway a couple times each morning backwards. Follow this up with walking forwards slowly and placing an emphasis on hitting your heels to the ground first.

If you don’t know how to walk, you will have difficulty running or doing other activities pain free. So, let’s go back to being a toddler and learn how to walk again!

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Posted August 31, 2010 at 9:55am by Jennifer Gloystein.
Tagged With: Cross Training • 0 Comments