3 Walking Mistakes To Avoid (Do You Do These?)

Over-50s specialist physio Will Harlow walks us through it:

One step at a time

3 things to avoid:

• Problem 1: inadequate heel strike due to tight calves can reduce walking power and contribute to knee pain, trips, and falls.
  • Solution 1: test your ankle mobility with the knee-to-wall test, stretch your calves by bending your front knee while keeping your back leg straight and heel flat, and practice heel-toe rocking to reinforce the heel-strike pattern.
• Problem 2: collapsed foot arches can increase stress on your feet, ankles, knees, and hips.
  • Solution 2: practice standing inversion by keeping your heels and toes on the ground while lifting the inner borders of your feet; increase resistance with a loop band around your calves.
• Problem 3: weak calf muscles and inadequate push-off can reduce forward momentum and make walking less efficient.
  • Solution 3: do forward-lean calf raises by lifting your heels while leaning against a wall, progressing to single-leg raises when ready, and practice walking while mentally repeating “heel, toe” to reinforce the correct stride.

For more on all of this plus visual demonstrations, enjoy:

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Take care!