walking

April 30, 2009 6:38 PM

I've heard that there is a way, a method, of WALKING, that is more efficient, and more productive, than others. I love walking long distances; and am curious if I could find a better way. Any ideas?
posted by ebesan to health & fitness (24 comments total)

Maybe you're thinking of Chi Walking? I've tried out Chi running, which seemed alright, not sure if it made me a more effective runner or not, as I started doing it pretty early on.
posted by backwards guitar at 6:51 PM on April 30

What does "more productive" mean when it comes to walking?

As to efficiency, in one of Chuck Jones' books he spends some time talking about bioengineering (though he doesn't call it that). It's the section where he shows how he draws high-top tennis shoes on the hind legs of different kinds of animals, and what he's really doing is to show how the bones and joints are the same, although differently shaped.

He says that one important principle is that juveniles move inefficiently, and adults move efficiently. Which turns out to be true.

Which is to say, if you're not handicapped (e.g. cerebral palsy, or after effects of polio) and you're above age 10 then you're already moving efficiently. Millions of years of evolution amongst your ancestors have selected to make that so.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 6:55 PM on April 30

FWIW, I find I walk best if I imagine I am suspended by a rope attached to the top of my head. This turns the act of walking more into gliding if you get in the right frame of mind.
posted by mrt at 7:15 PM on April 30

In biomechanics, walking is best modeled as a system of inverted pendulums. All pendulums have a natural period of oscillation that is a function of the mass and the length of the pendulum (leg). So the most efficient way of walking is to stick with your natural pace, the way you'd walk without thinking about it. Going either faster or slower will be less efficient. Trust your body -- it has evolved toward near perfection in ways that your brain doesn't even understand yet.
posted by randomstriker at 7:24 PM on April 30 [1 favorite]

I used to walk a lot and discovered that propelling myself forward by pressing my heel to the ground and using my calf muscles to push off, allows me to walk more quickly with less wasted movement. It's a bit like race-walking, I guess (I used to push off from the balls of my feet).
posted by Piscean at 7:31 PM on April 30

There's Nordic Walking if you don't mind looking silly swinging ski-poles around while you walk. It allegedly "produces up to a 46% increase in energy consumption compared to walking without poles"
posted by slightlybewildered at 7:39 PM on April 30

It allegedly "produces up to a 46% increase in energy consumption compared to walking without poles"

Isn't that the exact opposite of what the poster is looking for?
posted by 0xFCAF at 7:47 PM on April 30

slightlybewildered, an increase in energy consumption is a reduction in efficiency.
posted by randomstriker at 7:48 PM on April 30

"Increased energy consumption" means it's less efficient; you get fewer miles per thousand calories.

If that's what the OP wants, then the easiest way to increase energy consumption is to carry half a dozen bricks in a backpack.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 7:48 PM on April 30 [2 favorites]

Do you mean more efficient at burning calories or more efficient at moving?
posted by reptile at 7:50 PM on April 30

FWIW, I find I walk best if I imagine I am suspended by a rope attached to the top of my head. This turns the act of walking more into gliding if you get in the right frame of mind.

I've heard it said about running that you're either a pounder or a floater.
posted by StickyCarpet at 8:09 PM on April 30

Terry Pratchett makes mention of an energy conserving style of walk in his Watch series. From Night Watch:

"I always have to teach people to walk. You swing the foot, like this. Get it right and you can keep going all day. You're not in a hurry. You don't want to miss things.'
'Yes sarge,' said young Sam.
It was called proceeding.

Unfortunately, he never really details the movements, but he's making reference to the way policeman walk, particularly beat cops. However, when I did a quick google for "policeman's walk" and similar terms, I couldn't find anything of great use. Perhaps your google-fu will be better. Or maybe there are policemen here on metafilter who know what he's talking about.
posted by kisch mokusch at 8:19 PM on April 30

Perhaps you are thinking of the most efficient biomechanical stride. From that search this article addresses walking, with others analyzing running motions. This footwear looks interesting too.
posted by TDIpod at 8:36 PM on April 30

Race walking is a competitive sport with certain rules (eg your back foot can't leave the ground until your front foot touches down) that make for a unique fastest stride. The stride is described a bit in that article, and googling "race walking" will get you other articles. I don't know that this stride is actually the most efficient/good all things considered, it's just the best given the constraints of the sport. If you've seen people exercising and they're walking fast with a weird stride, it could have been this.

Another possible thing people might be thinking of when they say this is the recent surge in different types of shoes for walking, some meant to mimic being barefoot, or the stride of primitive humans on the plains of Africa, etc. That is an article from New York Magazine from last year; this and related articles were discussed on Metafilter and there may be useful links in those discussions - here's one about "fox walking".
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:52 PM on April 30 [1 favorite]

Traditional Japan had a special kind of walk, the namba:

ALMOST any reference book on Japanese history includes the dates of the most obscure shogun or emperor. But then there are the more basic historical puzzles, like -- how did the Japanese walk?

Some scholars here argue that from ancient times until perhaps 150 years ago, virtually all Japanese learned to walk in a special style called the namba, in which the right arm and leg swing forward at the same time, and then the left arm and leg swing forward.

They even made their horses do it.
posted by jamjam at 9:02 PM on April 30 [1 favorite]

Most people seem to walk with their legs straight. It's an entirely different experience when you realize you can bend your leg at the knee while you walk. Gives you a more fluid motion. According to this article [PDF] from the 1908 New York Times, this was how Native Americans walked to cover long distances.
posted by exphysicist345 at 10:32 PM on April 30

^ Oops, a correct link to that 1908 article is here.
posted by exphysicist345 at 10:35 PM on April 30

Years ago, I read a guidebook in which the author claimed the best way to walk all day while sightseeing and not get tired was to walk by putting each foot flat on the ground, ie not heel first. Bent knees and Indians came into it somehow.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 4:43 AM on May 1

I was going to second Chi Walking as well.
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 6:41 AM on May 1

Maybe you're thinking of fox walking vs. cow walking.
posted by flabdablet at 8:35 AM on May 1

Youtube vid on Chi Walking.

As for Indian (Native American) walking, I have done this for years, particularly when wanting to walk silently (e.g. slipping into my son's nursery late at night to check on him). Bend the knees slightly and allowing most of the motion to come from the knee rather than the hip. The footfall is softer, the foot print lighter (the weight spread out more). The old tales were that Indians could tell a white man's tracks easily because whitey walked with his heel first.
posted by skypieces at 8:54 AM on May 1 [1 favorite]

Alexander technique. Most of this technique is about standing and walking.
posted by xammerboy at 9:52 PM on May 1

http://alexandervideo.net/online/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf2HMfBm6aw
posted by xammerboy at 10:54 PM on May 1

In my city walking, my trick is to propel myself with my thighs and use my feet and calves to just lightly touch the ground. I tend to only use this walk when I need to put on speed, such as zipping through a horde of commuters to the train station. My speed walk feels like I'm almost gliding. I learned it back in high school when this girl would consistently pass me on my twenty minute walk to school each day and was far ahead of me in no time, without breaking a sweat. She looked very graceful doing it. Not sure how I look :).

When I think about it, and watching people around me right now, the usual walk is one where you swing both your legs from your knees. Whereas when I want to put on speed I swing my my preferred (left) leg from my hip, keeping my knee slightly bent, powering myself with my thigh, and using it to pull myself forward. I then swing my right leg from my knee, but lifting and pushing off with my thigh. The motion feels similar to doing smallish steps on a stairmaster, but with longer strides.
posted by waterandrock at 11:43 AM on May 2