The Foundation of Movement: Walking Right to Live Better
Walking is one of the foundational elements of health. The way we walk—our gait—impacts our entire well-being. However, our connection to this essential movement has been obscured, leading to a disconnection from our body’s natural mechanics. By realigning with these innate patterns, we can unlock a host of benefits, from improved physical health to enhanced mental and emotional health.
Over ten years of experience lifting weights in the gym have taught me to reinforce the importance of the fundamentals: walking, lifting, stepping, and rotating. In this blog post, let’s discuss how practicing perfecting your gait can open up opportunities for you to create a new life.
Rediscovering Our Natural Gait
Our lifestyles have pulled us away from the natural movements integral to human history. Our bodies, honed over generations to walk through diverse terrains, now face a world of flat surfaces and poor footwear choices, causing a rift from our evolutionary blueprint for efficient and resilient walking. This shift has brought about not just common physical issues but also a dip in our overall well-being.
The Mechanics of Movement
The ideal walking gait is a complex coordination of muscles, joints, and reflexes. By adopting a gait that emphasizes a midfoot or forefoot strike, we engage a broader spectrum of our musculature, including some of the biggest muscles in our body! Using the powerful gluteus maximus and the essential hip flexors minimizes impact and strain on our joints when we walk. And there’s room to fine-tune our stride even further by exploring bilateral movement and its positive ripple effects throughout our body.
This holistic engagement enhances walking efficiency and activates our body’s natural shock absorbers, reducing the risk of injury and wear.
Introducing – A Gait and Mental Health Expert
Elizabeth Broadbent: The Link Between Movement and Mind
https://profiles.auckland.ac.nz/e-broadbent/about
Meet Professor Elizabeth Broadbent, a distinguished figure in health psychology from the University of Auckland. With her research in the psychology behind our health and the effects of technology on healthcare, Broadbent’s work has illuminated the profound connection between our physical habits and mental wellness. Her collaboration with Karen Lin has culminated in a study that beautifully ties together posture, gait, and our psychological state, laying the groundwork for our deeper understanding of movement’s impact on well-being.
Beyond Walking: A Paradigm for Mental Health
Drawing from the comprehensive insights of Lin and Broadbent’s qualitative study on the embodied effects of posture, let us expand on our ongoing exploration of movement and its profound impact on our well-being. As we look further into the intricate relationship between posture, walking gait, and health, we’re able to see that the physical aspect of our gait is not the only important reason to work on improving it. Our gait also has a psychological effect on us. We can use our gait to change our mood, increase our confidence, and improve our overall mental well-being.
What we learned
In their paper, Karen Lin and Elizabeth Broadbent examine the nuanced ways our posture impacts our mental health. They find that how we carry ourselves—whether in power poses that spread out our body or in a slumped, closed-off stance—can significantly influence our emotions and perceptions.
Expansive postures might make us feel more powerful or assertive, but they can also be seen as aggressive or overconfident in certain contexts. On the flip side, slumping can signal a low mood or lack of control, echoing the adage that our body’s stance can mirror our inner state.
This research underscores a fascinating intersection of psychology and physiology, suggesting that by being mindful of our posture, we might change not only how others see us but also how we feel about ourselves. Let’s connect this idea back to our discussion on walking and gait — imagine the potential shifts in mood and confidence we might experience by simply adjusting how we walk.
A Personal Experiment: Insights Into Your Movement Patterns
Now that we know all the benefits of improving our movement patterns let’s look at a few practical steps you can take to start making changes.
First, walk around the room as you normally would, in your natural state. Pay attention to how you carry yourself — this is your baseline. It’s helpful to record yourself or do this exercise with another person so you can see some visual feedback.
Next, let your mind drift to something that brings a wave of sadness. It could be a memory, a piece of music, or anything that dims your spirit. Now, walk again. Notice any changes in how you move, your posture, and the pace of your steps.
Afterward, shake off that melancholy and focus on something that fills you with joy. This could be a happy memory, a future dream, or simply the thought of your favorite food. Walk around once more and observe. Does your stride become lighter? Do you hold yourself differently?
Finally, think about something that stirs up anger within you. Notice how this powerful emotion influences your walk and posture as you move around the room again.
This exercise can help us understand how closely linked our emotions and physical expressions are. By becoming more aware of this connection, we can start to see how our gait and posture are not just reflections of our physical state but powerful communicators of what we feel inside.
Envisioning Your Ideal Gait and Posture
Understanding the strong link between our mood and how we walk or stand opens an exciting avenue: we can shape our mood by tweaking our posture and the way we walk. To begin refining our ideal stride, imagine someone whose confidence and way of moving you truly look up to. Observe their demeanor, the firmness in their steps, and how their posture exudes balance and openness. Which elements of their movement strike a chord with you? Hold onto these insights as you take a closer look at your own way of walking.
Assessing Your Own Gait
Recording your normal walk can be incredibly revealing. Watch the video playback and observe:
- The rhythm and fluidity of your steps.
- How your feet land on the ground.
- The alignment of your knees, hips, and shoulders.
- The swing of your arms and their coordination with your steps.
Identify any noticeable deviations from the balanced gait you envision. Do you notice any muscles that seem under-engaged or areas of tension that might be affecting your movement?
Introducing – A Gait and Posture Expert
The creator of Grown and Healthy on YouTube skillfully explains the crucial roles of posture and gait in our overall health, offering numerous videos packed with exercises designed to enhance both.
This creator offers an extensive collection of videos focused on walking, along with excellent resources on footwear, posture, and exercises to enhance movement efficiency and foster healthy movement patterns. He’s a treasure trove of information, and I highly recommend setting aside an evening or several evenings to dive into his videos. It’s a great opportunity to reflect on your own movement patterns, foot health, and posture.
Practical Steps Towards Improvement
Now that we have assessed our starting point, let’s talk about the cues we can remember while walking that can help us make changes.
I. Hip Hinge and Ankle Flex: Begin with a slight hinge at the hips and a bend in the knees, ensuring your ankles are also flexed. This posture readies the body for a dynamic, balanced step.
2. Balance and Impact: Contact with the ground should distribute between the first ray of the foot and its outer edge, forming a supportive, shock-absorbing arc.
3. Engage and Propel: Utilize the psoas and hip flexors to lift the knee and the hamstring to bring the leg forward. Landing should then transition to the midfoot or forefoot beneath the hips, allowing for natural shock absorption and propulsion.
4. Direction and Momentum: Point your toes in the direction of movement, leveraging the forward momentum to engage the foot’s arch, locking the ankle into a position that supports efficient, powerful strides.
Tailoring Your Approach
Based on your observations, pinpoint the muscles that need strengthening and those that require stretching. For instance, if your hips appear tight, they might limit your gait’s fluidity. Conversely, if your core seems disengaged, strengthening these muscles could enhance your posture and stability.
We can start creating workout routines based on which muscles need to be strengthened and stretched to maximize the efficiency of our walking patterns.
Stretching Tight Muscles
- Hip Flexors: For those who spend a lot of time sitting down, tight hip flexors can hinder a natural gait. Incorporate lunges and hip flexor stretches into your routine. It’s important to work on hip flexor health by using both strengthening exercises and stretching exercises.
- Hamstrings and Calves: Tightness here can affect your step length and foot placement. Regular stretching, like forward bends and calf stretches, can help.
Strengthening Key Muscles
- Glutes: Strong glutes are essential for propelling the body forward with each step. Bridges and hip abduction exercises such as “clamshells” are excellent for glute strengthening.
Glute Bridges
https://runmechanics.in/workouts/glutebridge
Clamshells
https://runmechanics.in/workouts/clamshell
- Core: A strong core stabilizes your entire body, improving posture and balance. Incorporate “dead bugs” and “farmer carry” exercises into your workout regimen. The “core” means more than just our stomach area, it includes shoulders, back, glutes, and hips.
Dead Bugs
Farmer Carries
https://www.lyfta.app/jv/exercise/kettlebell-farmers-carry-8un
Seated Straight Leg Lifts
https://mover.tips/exercises/seated-l-sit-single-leg-raise-workout-exercise-02
Practical Tips for a Refined Gait and Posture
- Mindfulness in Motion: As you walk, remain mindful of your posture and gait. Imagine a string pulling you up from the top of your head, encouraging an upright, aligned posture.
- Balance and Coordination Exercises: Practice balance exercises, such as standing on one leg, to improve stability and coordination. This enhances the efficiency of your gait.
- Regular Movement Breaks: If you spend a lot of time sitting, take regular breaks to stretch and walk around. This prevents muscle stiffness and promotes a healthier gait.
- Footwear Choices: Wear supportive shoes that provide a solid foundation for your feet. Proper footwear can significantly impact your walking pattern and overall posture. Consider researching more about “Barefoot” shoes. Also check out my last blog on Tabi shoes here: Tabi Shoes: A Journey Towards Improved Foot Health
- Professional Guidance: Consider consulting a physical therapist or a personal trainer who can provide personalized advice and exercises based on your specific needs.
By thoughtfully assessing your gait and posture and committing to a targeted plan of stretching and strengthening, you can move toward the confident, effortless gait you envision. Remember, this journey is deeply personal and iterative. It’s about tuning into your body’s needs, celebrating progress, and embracing the continuous evolution of your movement. Dedicated practice will enhance your gait and posture and pave the way for a happier life and fluid, joyful movement for years to come.
Embrace a New Chapter in Your Journey
As we close this exploration of the profound link between our gait, posture, and well-being, let’s consider the practical steps toward embodying these insights into everyday life. Recognizing our movement’s impact on physical and mental health opens up transformative possibilities for personal growth and well-being.
I am excited to announce that I am opening slots for two more online clients and one more in-person for personalized training sessions. Together, we can work on strengthening and stretching the specific muscles you need to perfect your gait and make movement feel more effortless. Whether it’s enhancing your walking pattern, improving posture, or just gaining a better understanding of your body’s potential, I’m here to guide and support you every step of the way.
If you’re eager to enhance your physical health and its impact on your mental well-being, please feel free to get in touch with me directly at msangela@gmail.com. Let’s schedule some training sessions and begin our journey toward discovering the joy in movement together.
Supporting Mental Health Through Global Solidarity
Witnessing the atrocities being committed around the globe can make it challenging to prioritize our own mental and physical health, especially when we understand that there is a deep connection between the oppression being committed to others, and the oppression that we face here at home.
The realization that our freedom is intricately linked with that of people everywhere reminds us that the injustices happening abroad can and do just as easily occur closer to home. The same forces that oppress others have no issue with pointing their aim towards anyone, including us and our loved ones.
In these times, it’s vital to channel our energy into action, not only to aid those in need but also to fortify our collective mental and physical health. By standing in solidarity with others, we affirm our commitment to a global community that seeks peace and justice. Get involved and consider contributing to these causes here:
Urgent Evacuation-Journalist Ahmad Ghanim & Family
