Why Walking Is So Important
As the weather is getting nicer out I want to encourage everyone to go on more walks outside. Walking is one of the best things for the human body especially out in the sun. Here are some simple tips to help make walking more beneficial.
- Add a slight forward lean at the hip/torso. This will help activate your posterior chain (glutes and hamstring) waking them up from the sitting position during the day. It will also speed up the pace of the walk. The walks should be at a brisk pace, not like you're strolling through a mall. Think walking around New York City.
- Increase your arms swing. Having a slight exaggeration of your arms swing will help increase the heart rate. This will allow more blood to flow throughout the body and into the joints and other tissues.
- Focus on the feet. Try to maintain straight feet while walking, think of the big toe as headlights. When straightening the foot, move the heel in or out, not the toes. This will help the motion come from the hips and not the ankle. Having a straight foot will help reduce stress to the arch of the foot, ankle, knee, hip, and lower back. Along with the feet being straight, try to focus on pushing off with your big toe as you propel the body forward.
- Nasal breathing. This is how we should breathing normally, but doing it during a walk is even better. Nasal breathing helps increase oxygen uptake in the blood, reduces stress, improves lung health and diaphragmatic breathing. Nasal breathing will clean the air coming into the body. It might seem difficult at first, but it will become easier the more you practice. The more you nasal breathe during the day the easier it will be on the walks.
Try to aim for at least a 10 min walk. Even adding in a few minutes of hills, sideways or backwards walking is also a very good way to help the walks be more interesting and beneficial.
If you have any other questions about walking or proper ways of exercising, please book an appointment here!