Walking helps us stay young!

More evidence to support the health benefits of walking were recently published in the prestigious medical journal JAMA.

The article is a report of a study of over 1600 sedentary men and women aged 70-89, who were randomized into two groups: one group received health education but were also involved in a structured program at home that included walking and light, lower-body resistance weight training. They also attended a research center twice a week for supervised group walks on a track, with the walks growing progressively longer.


The control group attended a health education program where participants learned about nutrition, health care and other topics related to aging. That program also included upper extremity stretching exercises.

The participants were followed for over 2.5 years. The results showed that the group engaging in the moderate physical activity were significantly less likely to experience a disability episode than the control group and stayed more mobile.

We know that staying physically active reduces morbidity from physical conditions as well as helps to stave off cognitive decline.  And walking is the safest form of exercise, requiring no specialized equipment or a gym membership and an activity we can continue as we age.

However HOW we walk is important to our ability to walk comfortably, for endurance and for injury prevention.

Elegant, easy walking requires that the power come from the hips and pelvis and then connects through to the ribs, spine, shoulders and head. If we tense these areas we look and feel stiff.

When you walk notice where your feet hit the ground. If the front foot strides too far ahead of you, you tend to pull your body forward. Instead, think of creating more power from the leg behind you and the power it provides as it propels you forward instead of your front leg pulling you. Push off with the back foot and leg – feel that foot moving through the heel and onto the ball and front of your foot. When the front foot is fully loaded, then complete the push off the back foot.

Many of us keep our heads down and eyes fixed to the ground as we walk, and as we age we tend to be afraid of falling and tend to look down even more. Keep your neck soft, let your head rotate freely and your eyes gaze from side to side. This way you can shift your attention from what is directly in front of you to a distance beyond you and will be able to more easily look around yourself and at your surroundings.

While walking, feel your shoulders moving over your ribs to provide an anchor for free and easy movement of your arms. Notice the diagonal relationship between the arm going forward and the leg that is behind you.

One way to increase awareness in your feet and to promote flexibility is to walk on different surfaces such as sand, gravel, grass, trails and cement sidewalks. As you change surfaces, notice the sensation in your feet and how the rest of your body responds.

Build walking into your regular routines, look for errands you can do by foot rather than by car, especially during the beautiful spring and summer weather.