Walking to Race Walking Step 2

Last week we discussed the benefits of having good posture when you walk.  Another advantage of keeping that back straight and chin up and level is that you don't get a lot of the aches and pains from exercise.  When you walk or run with your head down, the force of gravity is pushing on the back of your neck instead of on top of your head.  When you lean forward the gravity force hits you somewhere in the lower back.  So along with this weeks step to concentrate continue to keep that posture straight up and walk proud.

As Tracy mentioned our core, center of strength and where the power for fast and efficient walking comes from is a few inches below the navel.  So, for this week imagine that you have rope tied around your waist and you are being pulled forward.  The rope is pulling you forward from that core area so you are leading with your hips.  Straight up posture and you are being pulled forward by the rope around your hips.  Concentrate on each hip going forward and starting your walk step from right there in the hip as it moves forward.

A big part of big successful with fast efficient walking is how you perceive a motion.  What has worked well for me is concentrating on driving the hip forward.  I used to think swinging the leg forward and that was impeding my efficiency, thinking driving the hip forward helped me get the motion right.

Dave