Walk This Way

Rather than clocking up more steps, focus on good walking form, based on these tips

- Akshita Nanda

Low-impact and low-cost, walking is often considered the ideal exercise for beginners and older people.

Yet, experts say the simplicity of this exercise - just wear your shoes and start moving - means that people might ignore their walking form and move incorrectly.

At best, they will not get the most out of this activity. At worst, they might injure themselves in the long term.

Dr Nicholas Yeo, orthopaedic surgeon at Mount Elizabeth Hospital, describes the act of walking as a three-step process. The heel is placed on the ground first, followed by the balls of the feet and, finally, the toes.

"In biomechanical terms, this is known as heel strike, mid-stance and toe-off," he says.

"This rolling motion from heel to toe helps to better distribute the stress on one's lower body while walking. As opposed to this, if one were to land on the entire foot, the stress and impact on one's lower limb would be far greater."

Improper walking form results in increased stress on the entire lower limb, he says, which can lead to conditions such as plantar fasciitis, which manifests as a stabbing pain in the heel; stress fractures; knee pain; hip pain; or calluses.

Physiotherapist Calvin Goh at private practice MyPhysio says another common error while walking is bracing the core to compensate for back pain.

"The trunk feels more stable, but actually, you're holding your breath. At some point, you will have to breathe. What then?" he says. "If you walk in the correct way, your body will stabilise itself."

Here are tips from experts on how to walk and how to get the most from walking for exercise.

THE CORRECT STANCE

Mr Goh says proper walking form would be to fix your eyes on a point on the ground some distance away, rather than looking upwards or straight ahead. The gap between your feet should be narrow, not broad.