Walking and Running Technique

Get Twisting! Improve your backs’ flexibility, your walking and running technique!

How does your back move when you are walking and running?

Get your twist on !

Next time you go for a run or even a brisk walk; from the corner of your eye- look out for the way your shoulders and arms move… do they move/swing very much at all? Can you see one jutting out further than the other as your body twists? Power for walking and running is generated from the back and from your upper body leaning forward- your legs just catch you from falling and propel you further along!

The twist is important, a lot of people these days have their hands in front of them; eating, texting, holding items, cultural habits etc. Losing the twist while you move means that your body is having to work harder from elsewhere to generate the energy to walk, move run, making it harder on you and potentially setting yourself to put too much pressure on one area in the lower limbs or back. So get twisting and swinging those arms!! It doesn’t have to look like the ministry of silly walks- just a little more twist is great. Remember that to create a better swing and twist from the back, ‘lengthening’ out the back really helps achieve this – see the balloon video for more on this.

So, back to noticing the shoulders- how’s your twist- is one side ‘twisting’ more? What can you do to even it out? Try to make it more even so that both sides are working equally, this helps performance and has a positive impact on the lower limbs too so long as it feels comfortable, it might feel like a nice stretch as you’ve not been moving one side as much as the other for some time!

Hope you find this an interesting self-experiment, see if you can spot others doling it and advise them on how to improve their ‘twist’ !

Thanks for reading and watching!

Michelle