How to walk

Walk as nature intended

In pre-history when we began walking on two legs, we walked barefoot. A walk with a shortish stride and midfoot/ forefoot strike. Walking this way, the muscles propelling you forward are the muscles of the foot and ankle, the hip flexors and the buttocks [but not the quadriceps on the front of the thigh]. This involves a high degree of ankle and midfoot flexibility. Much of the time the knee is slightly bent. This method is stable, the risk of falling is small and legs soak up the impact, rather than joints. When this transitions into a run it tends to become a pure forefoot strike, depending on speed. As you will see watching any competitive sprinter; they don't put their heels on the ground at any point.

Blow me down with a feather- where did all that muscle go?

You know the story: “Mum’s got a bit frail… Dad has difficulty getting up the stairs, now … my folks don’t seem to be able to do much for themselves these days, it’s very sad to see”

This is frailty – a combination of loss of muscle [sarcopaenia] and loss of strength [dynopaenia] that causes adverse outcomes, eg difficulties in all activities of daily living, likelihood of osteoporosis and falls, also meaning higher risk of hospitalisation, a longer hospital length of stay and risk of re-admission if there is an illness. The final consequences are loss of independence and death sooner than might be expected. The good news is you can prevent it or recover from it.