Tweak to Improve Your Walking and Running

Springtime is here, or should be, and this is the time when many of us try to increase our walking and running mileage.  Some good Applied Functional Science (AFS) flexibility, mobility, and strength exercises can help you walk/run better, and prevent injuries.

A transformational zone is an important position for a particular activity.  Examples of common transformational zones are the backswing a follow through positions for golf or hitting a baseball, or the wind up and follow through of throwing a baseball.  The main transformational zones for walking and running are standing with your right foot forward with your left arm and torso rotating to the right, and standing with your left foot forward and right arm and torso rotating to the left.

A great AFS strategy to improve sports or activities is to position yourself in the transformational zones, and then drive or move your hips/pelvis and arms in all three planes of motion.  The three planes of motion are sagittal (forward/backward), frontal (left/right), and transverse (rotating left/right).  A great warm up and cool down before you walk or run would be to stand staggered left then right and drive your pelvis/hips and then your arms forward/back, left/right, then rotate left/right.

Another AFS strategy that could help your walking or running is tweaking.  Tweaking is changing a movement, activity, or load, to change the body's responses.  Walking and running can be very repetitive and overwork certain areas.  Walking or running tweaks can help you stay loose and help you walk/run farther with less wear and tear.  Walking and running tweaks help "get more friends working together".  They help wake up the muscles, proprioceptors (body sensors), and joints in all three planes of motion.

Next time you are out walking or running try to mix in some tweaks once in a while.  A good time to tweak is if you are feeling tight or tired.  Try a few long strides, then short choppy strides, try high steps, try wide steps, try narrow steps, try toeing in, try toeing out, try turning your torso left/right while still walking/running, try exaggerating your arm swing forward/backward, left/right, and rotating left/right.  Have some fun, and keep moving.  Let us know if you have any questions, and we'd love to here your feedback on your walking/running tweaks.