Are You Walking Correctly? A Masterclass on Walking Form

 In this episode of Why Walking Matters: The Science Explained, we break down the fundamentals of proper walking form. Learn how posture, stride length, arm swing, and pace all impact how efficiently you move—and how small adjustments can help reduce strain, prevent injury, and make walking feel easier. Whether you're just starting out or looking to improve your routine, this episode will help you walk smarter and get more out of every step. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Welcome to Why Walking Matters, The Science Explained. I'm Tatiana, your host. Are you walking correctly? Most people walk every single day, but almost no one has ever been taught how to walk properly. From our conversation with kinesiologist John Ashiro last week, we learned that means you could be putting unnecessary strain on your joints, wasting energy, or even limiting the benefits of walking without realizing it. In today's episode, we're building on our conversation with John and breaking down the fundamentals of walking form so you can walk more efficiently, feel better, and get more out of every step. But first, as part of our why walking matters, why do you walk story series? We caught up with a walker in Jordan Creek Park, Lehigh County Parks in Pennsylvania, and we asked, Hey, why do you walk there?

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I walk for my health. Great, how often do you walk? I try every day. I try for an hour every day.

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I love that. So why does walking form matter? Walking is repetitive. You might take thousands of steps per day. So even small inefficiencies like slouching, over striding, poor posture can add up over time. Good walking form helps to reduce joint strain, improve endurance, make walking feel easier, and prevent injuries. Walking is simple, but it's not trivial. According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, proper walking mechanics can help reduce stress on joints and prevent injury. Let's start with posture. The Mayo Clinic recommends maintaining good posture during walking to improve balance and reduce strain. From MayoClinic.org, consider your technique. Turning your normal walk into a fitness stride requires good posture and purposeful movements. Ideally, here's how you look when you're walking. Your head is up, you're looking forward, not at the ground. Your neck, shoulders, and back are relaxed, not stiffly upright. You're swinging your arms freely with a slight bend in the elbows, a little pumping with your arms is okay. Your stomach muscles are slightly tightened and your back is straight, not arched forward or backward. You're walking smoothly, rolling your foot from heel to toe. Think tall, relaxed, and natural. Keep your head up and eyes forward. Let your shoulders relax. Don't tense or hunch. Keep your spine upright but not stiff. A good cue is stand tall but stay loose. Because it comes naturally, most people ignore this, but it matters. Let your arm swing naturally. Movement should come from your shoulders, opposite arm moves with opposite leg. Research in biomechanics shows that arm swing improves walking efficiency and stability. Your arms help to maintain balance, create rhythm, and improve efficiency. As John mentioned last week, one of the biggest mistakes people make is stride length. Avoid over striding. Over striding can increase impact forces and stress on the lower body. From Zcoil.com, why a shorter walking stride is better. Now that you've started to develop a walking habit, have the right walking gear, and have been working on the proper walking technique, let's talk about how to make the most of your time walking and reap the most health benefits. One of the biggest variables you can control is the length of your stride, and research has shown there are several significant benefits to walking with a shorter stride. First and most importantly, a shorter stride is gentler on your bones, joints, and tissues. The longer your stride is, the more time your foot and leg are airborne, meaning not touching the ground, and therefore the greater the impact felt with each step. Longer strides can be more taxing on your feet and legs and lead to orthopedic problems. When you walk on hard surfaces, the force of this impact moves up your heel, foot, leg, knee, and spine like a shockwave. Minimizing the force of this shock wave is critical to reducing foot, leg, and back pain. One way to reduce the force of impact is to take shorter strides. A lot of people think walking faster is better because you're exercising more, but this is only partially true. What really matters is the total distance you walk. Covering the same distance, but with shorter strides, can actually mean your body is working harder, which is a good thing. If your body is working harder, you're giving your cardiovascular system a better workout and you're burning more calories. One of the easiest ways to shorten your stride is to keep your back foot on the ground a little longer than usual. Also, if you have a walking companion and they naturally have a longer stride than you, don't over stride to try to keep up. Focus instead on shorter, more frequent strides. One research study found that shortening your stride by just 15% significantly decreased the incidence of knee pain among overweight walkers. It may seem awkward at first, but if you start deliberately shortening each step you take, over time it will become more natural and you'll feel better after each walk. A great cue, let your body move over your foot, not the other way around. John also mentioned foot strike. Your foot should land softly and naturally. Aim for a gentle heel to toe motion, avoid slamming your foot down, and keep your steps quiet and controlled. Smooth, controlled foot movement helps distribute force more evenly across the joints. From ctfoot.com, finding your stride, mastering proper walking and running form. Whether you're a seasoned marathoner or enjoy a leisurely stroll, proper walking and running form is crucial for efficiency, performance, and injury prevention. Heel strike versus forefoot strike. One of the most debated aspects of gait form is foot strike, heel striking versus forefoot striking. Traditionally, heel striking was considered the standard where the heel makes initial contact with the ground. Today, research is still deciding if forefoot striking where the ball of the foot lands first may be more efficient and reduce impact stress on the joints. Ultimately, the optimal foot strike varies depending on individual biomechanics and running style. Regardless of your foot strike, proper form involves distributing pressure evenly across your foot throughout the gait cycle. Avoid excessive pronation, that's inward rolling, or supination, outward rolling of the foot. Maintain a neutral posture with your head up, shoulders relaxed, and core engaged. Have a natural arm swing and comfortable stride length. Gate abnormalities such as limping, pronation, or uneven stride, can indicate underlying issues like muscle imbalances, foot problems, or neurological conditions. If you notice any irregularities in your gait, consult a trusted podiatrist. If you want to walk faster, don't take bigger steps. Take quicker steps. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends brisk walking as a form of moderate intensity exercise for health benefits. Speed comes from cadence, not stride length. According to AARP, speed and cadence are similar but not the same. Cadence is strictly steps per minute, while walking speed or gate speed is the amount of time it takes to get to a certain distance. Walking speed depends on cadence and stride length. The faster the cadence and the longer the stride, the faster the gate speed. Speed will increase if you walk at a faster cadence, assuming stride length does not decrease. So here are the biggest mistakes to watch for. Looking down at your phone, slouching, over striding, stiff or unmoving arms, and walking too aggressively too soon. Fixing just one of these can make a noticeable difference. The American Pediatric Medical Association emphasizes proper footwear to reduce injury risk. From apma.org, sports-specific shoes can really affect the way you play. If you participate in a certain sport at least two to three times a week, you should wear a sports-specific shoe. For running and brisk walking, the appropriate footwear should provide shock absorption to help runners or walkers avoid injury. Running shoes are made for high impact forward motion and should not be used for sports with lateral movement. Match your foot's arch type, high, medium, or low, a podiatric physician can measure your feet and let you know what type to look for. And footwear should be replaced after 600 to 800 miles of running or walking or every six to eight months. So listeners, on your next walk, remember this. Head up, shoulders relaxed, arms swinging, short, smooth steps, light foot strike. You don't have to fix everything at once. And you don't need to be in perfect form to benefit from walking. But small improvements can make walking feel easier, more natural, and more sustainable. So next time you go for a walk, pick just one thing to focus on. Because better walking doesn't mean harder walking, it just means walking smarter. And the most important thing, just keep walking. Before I go today, listeners, here's another walker sharing their walking story from Hassan Creek Trail in Pennsylvania.

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Okay, so what is your name and why do you walk? My name is Chris, and I walk for exercise basically, just to get clear my head. Wow. Yeah, yeah. Every day I walk every day. I was gonna ask you, and you look great, you look very sick. Um, what started you walking? Just I just I went up so early, nobody else is up. So I've been walking since I'm 64, and I've been walking on my since I've been 19. And do you feel different when you walk or I don't feel like I'm like welcome by myself? Welcome. Well, uh, you know, all right. Thank you so much. Okay, so first tell me your name. My name is Nicole. Hi Nicole. And tell me why do you walk? Well, this is my first time out in this type of um this state, so I really want to take it out and explore and not be in a hotel. Oh wow, you know, we're also visiting from New York. Um, why did you choose this place? It's close to the hotel and it looks like it has an easy trail and allows me to take pictures and just enjoy the birds and the trees and everything else. Okay, awesome. Thank you. What state are you visiting from? Texas. Oh, you're a long way from home. All right, well, thanks so much, Nicole. Enjoy. It's a little bit hilly going around, but it's nice to waterfall. Oh, the waterfall is going right now. Yeah, there's a waterfall at the end of the channel. Thank you so much for walking.

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I'd love to hear from you too, listeners, and how you're enjoying the podcast and why you walk. Share your walking story at why walking matters.com or check out our Instagram page, why underscore walking underscore matters, where I share videos of some of the beautiful walking trails we've explored. Remember listeners, consistency beats intensity. If you're trying to become a consistent walker, start small, pair walking with something enjoyable, walk after meals, schedule your walks, walk with a friend, track your steps. These all help to build consistency. And if you're new to the podcast, welcome. And be kind, share with a friend. Until next time, listeners, happy walking. As always, links to all articles used in this episode can be found in the podcast description or show notes.