How to Walk Correctly

In my years working in the emergency room, I have seen patients who got injured while doing exercises to get healthier.

I’m no exception. Ever since I posted this article, Walk After Meals to Prevent Sky High Blood Sugars, I have been walking on the treadmill for about 20 to 40 minutes daily.

However, I developed plantar fasciitis, which presents as pain at the bottom of the foot with walking. The plantar fasciitis later resulted in a partial plantar fascia tear, which happened during training.

A partially torn plantar fascia should not bear weight for at least nine to 12 weeks. I had to use crutches which was no fun. Good thing I know how to do Blood Flow Restriction Therapy which resulted in me being able to bear weight after two days.

I also took vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and got enough sleep to facilitate the healing. Adequate sleep allows the stem cells to mobilize and help repair damaged tissues. Vitamin C is needed for the repair of soft tissue injuries.

According to the Mayo Clinic, the risk factors for developing plantar fasciitis are the following:

Age. Plantar fasciitis is most common in people between the ages of 40 and 60.

Certain types of exercise. Activities that place a lot of stress on your heel and attached tissue — such as long-distance running, ballet dancing and aerobic dance — can contribute to the onset of plantar fasciitis.

Foot mechanics. Flat feet, a high arch or even an atypical pattern of walking can affect the way weight is distributed when you’re standing and can put added stress on the plantar fascia.

Obesity. Excess pounds put extra stress on your plantar fascia.

Occupations that keep you on your feet. Factory workers, teachers and others who spend most of their work hours walking or standing on hard surfaces can be at increased risk of plantar fasciitis.

Among the listed risk factors, age, and foot mechanics apply to me. To find out, I walked barefoot and discovered that my left foot walked differently than my right, which had plantar fasciitis.

My right foot tends to put the weight on the lateral or outside part of the heel and transfer it to the outer side of the midfoot and then to the big toe for the toe push.

Misalignment of the foot during walking can affect the knees, hips, lower back, and shoulders and even cause a headache due to pressure in the neck muscles. The headache is due to referred pain in the neck.

I wondered if this also explains why I sometimes have pain in the medial part of my right knee when I go up and down the stairs.

How to Walk Properly

In my YouTube search, I found Marian Barnick, a kinesiologist, and Dr. Joey Luo, a doctor of physical therapy who showed me how to walk correctly.

Kinesiology is the study of the anatomy, physiology, and mechanics of body movement, especially in humans, to evaluate and treat muscular imbalance or derangement.

The video below from Marian Barnick shows the four steps: Heel strike, stance phase, swing through, and toe-off. The bonus is arm swings.

Watch the video to learn the details of each step.

Physical therapy is the science of human movement applied to rehabilitation, injury, fitness, injury prevention, and overall health. They also use other treatment modalities like ultrasound, heat, cold application, etc.

In the following video, Dr. Luo shows four tips on how to walk correctly. Body rotation, heel to toe, push off, and stepping softly. Even though the concepts are the same, Dr. Luo presents them from a physical therapist’s perspective.

Walking, Diabetes, and Inflammation

Walking improves blood sugar levels by increasing insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion.

The randomized-controlled study, Effects of different doses of exercise and diet-induced weight loss on beta-cell function in type 2 diabetes (DOSE-EX), published by Nature Metabolism in May 2023, showed that physical activity and a 25% calorie-reduced diet resulted in greater insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion.

Insulin sensitivity measures how easy it is for the skeletal muscles and the liver to take in blood sugar. Higher insulin sensitivity results in lower blood sugar. It is the opposite of insulin resistance.

Insulin comes from the pancreas. Among prediabetics and those with type-2 or adult-onset diabetes, the pancreas’s beta cells don’t produce enough insulin in response to a blood sugar level. This results in high blood sugar, weight gain, and chronic inflammation.

The study found that more physical activity improves blood sugar control due to better insulin production and sensitivity.

Blood sugar control prevents the complications of diabetes from happening. The most common are heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, loss of blood supply to the legs, and many more.

More importantly, diabetes medications, including insulin, will not prevent the onset of diabetes complications.

Take Away Message

Before doing physical activities, even if they sound simple, like walking, take a moment to learn to do them correctly and prevent injuries.

It goes for push-ups, squats, weight-lifting, rowing, kettlebell training, or whatever you like. Look for videos produced by people with the right education and background. It also pays to look at other videos for consistency.

Walking can be a step (pardon the pun) to more intense exercises like brisk walking and running and, at the same time, result in lower blood sugars.

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How to Walk Properly

Walking, Diabetes, and Inflammation

Take Away Message

Related:

Blood Flow Restriction Therapy

Diabetes

Exercise