ANALYSING THE WALKING ACTION CAN HELP YOU UNDERSTAND HOW YOU MOVE
Man’s natural walking stride.
- The trunk is like a vertical box balancing on the legs; keeping the spine vertical allows the rib cage to fully expand for easier breathing (whether walking on level ground or slopes).
- The legs are levers and move onto the forefoot, lifting the trunk (to instigate the stride) and move it forward as they “push-off”; you can feel them thrusting downwards and backwards against the ground each time.
Man’s natural walking stride enhanced using Pacerpoles.
- The arm lever at your side, pushes downwards and backwards against the handle – so the trunk is lifted upwards (to instigate the stride) and forwards, reinforcing the legs action underneath – keeping the trunk balanced vertically (core body posture) so we walk-tall, with optimum chest expansion for easier breathing.
- Note – if the arm was positioned more to the front of the trunk, its downward thrust would cause excess trunk rotation, instead of helping to lift the trunk and instigate the stride.
- Pacerpole’s unique contoured handles control the forearm pronation (the rolling inwards action) to keep it in its midline as an effective lever – without wasting effort, which would happen if it continues to pronate each stride ….just like the lower leg and foot continues to pronate (rolling inwards) when walking on soft sand; this is also tiring and wastes effort so you underperform.
Walking for fitness and health with Pacerpoles.
- Briskness is a personal speed – a slightly longer stride and quicker rate than you normally take.
- Pushing down harder (i.e. increased effort) against the contoured handles, will increase the thrust for brisker walking whilst retaining a vertical trunk for better core body posture and breathing.
When you see a crowd of people walking briskly you’ll notice that their heads are bobbing up and down. By increasing your stride length, the span between your legs is wider, so your trunk sinks …and then is raised when the trunk load is shifted onto one leg, freeing the other leg to move forward; this is man’s evolved bipedal walking gait.
(For more ‘gait’ details check the Overview page item “Arm and Leg Stride+Rate”)