The Wide World of Walking Equipment

In addition to having all the right walking equipment, establishing the a good walking route, and putting together a good walking plan, it’s important to develop a routine to properly prepare for body for  your daily walk.  Its’ not a good idea to simply put on your sneakers and hit the streets.  Although walking is a low impact exercise injuries can and do occur.  Most injuries associated with walking are repetitive use injuries such as ankle sprains, meniscus tear (knee), hip flexor strains, blisters, and quadriceps tendonitis. There are any number of strategies to help prevent them from occurring but one of the most helpful is an effective pre walk warm up procedure.

An effective pre walking warm up procedure is composed of two distinct elements:  1) a warming up process and 2) stretching exercises.  Conducting a proper pre walk procedure prior to walking helps eliminate stiffness, and prepare the muscles for exercise by lengthening them and increasing their flexibility.  It’s important to combine both steps to help minimize the potential for injury.

WARMING UP

The following is a list of exercised designed to ease your body into an exercising mode.  Moving directly into stretching exercises without warming up, especially in cold weather, could well result in their own set of injuries such as muscle tears.  So don’t shortcut the process.

Ankle Circles. Standing on one foot, lift the other leg off the ground in front of you.  Slowly flex that ankle making circles with the toes.  Do 10 circles then reverse the direction of your circle and do 10 more.  Switch feet and repeat.

Leg Swings. Standing on one leg, swing the other leg loosely from the hip in a front to back motion.  Keep it relaxed.  Your foot should swing no higher than a foot off the ground.  Do 20 swings with each leg.

Figure 8 leg swings.  Swing one leg from the hip in a front to back motion as you did above, but this time trace a figure 8 with your leg.  Your leg should trace a 8 in front of the body and another 8 behind.  Do 20 swings with each leg. 

Pelvic Circles. Stand with your hands on your hips, your knees gently bent and your feet hip width apart.  Keep your body upright and make 10 slow, continuous circles with your hips, pushing them gently forward to the back, left and then right.  Reverse directions and repeat 10 times.

Arm Circles.  Hold both arms out perpendicular to your sides, making the letter T.  Make 10 slow backward circles with your hands, starting small and finishing with large, using your entire arm.  Repeat the same process with 10 forward circles.

Twist Jumps. Begin hopping in place on both feet.  Keep your head and shoulders facing forward and begin to twist your feet and lower body left then right on successive hops. Do this 20 times.

Once you get the hang of it this series of exercises shouldn’t take longer than 3 or 4 minutes to complete.  After this you should notice greater overall flexibility and any muscle stiffness eliminated.  If not, repeat the warm ups as needed.  Let our body be your guide.

STRETCHING

There are any number of stretching exercises that can help you muscles get ready for a fitness walk.  They, at a minimum, should focus on the muscles of the legs and hips.  The Stretching Institute recommends a minimum of three basic exercises:

  Squatting Leg-out Adductor Stretch: Stand with your feet wide apart. Keep one leg straight and your toes pointing forward while bending the other leg and turning your toes out to the side. Lower your groin towards the ground and rest your hands on your bent knee or the ground.

  Kneeling Quad Stretch: Kneel on one foot and the other knee. If needed, hold on to something to keep your balance and then push your hips forward.

   Standing Toe-up Achilles Stretch: Stand upright and place the ball of your foot onto a step or raised object. Bend your knee and lean forward.

If you have muscle groups that you have a particular problem with you may want to research both warm up and stretching exercises that specifically address those areas.  Any stretching exercises should be done slowly without jerky motion, gradually stretching out the targeted muscle group.  Stretching should never be done without first warming the muscle up.  Once again let your body be your guide…never force, never ignore pain.

LATEX BANDS

One piece of walking equipment that I’ve found helpful in warm up and stretching are latex bands.  They are frequently used by physical therapist and are excellent  for low impact resistance for both your walking stretching and warm us exercises.

Injury is one of the most frequently given reasons for discontinuing an exercise regimen.  Don’t let it be yours.  Spend a small bit of time preparing for your walk.  A warm up and a stretch will increase your level of walking safety.

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