POSE walking

I am still thinking through the material for the Hillfit series I am writing for TGO.  One of the topics is the skill of walking.  For this I think there is a lot to learn from POSE.  We know of POSE mainly from running style  but they also have an approach to walking:

Walking in this case is no different from running. Despite the fact that in walking we always have a ground contact with one or two feet we still need to fall forward in order to move forward and change the support during falling from one leg to the other. So our speed of walking depends on the degree of falling (leaning forward, which is the degree of deviation of the GCM of the body from the point of support) and the frequency of changing supports (stride frequency).

The following premises basically define the major requirements to efficient walking technique.

• Fall forward only from the ball of the foot.
• Don’t push off with the support leg or foot.
• Keep knees very slightly bent or just not locked.
• Touch the ground with the rear part of the foot, but then quickly transfer the body weight on the ball of the foot.
• Pull the support foot from the ground and bring the swing leg to midstance (Walking Pose) to fall forward again.

Increase your walking speed by leaning forward more and more often by changing support quicker.
Keep your body straight, arms bent in elbows according to your speed and stride frequency.
Avoid efforts beyond necessary to keep your body on support and to change support.
Do not bend in your hips. Strong and formed hips (position and strength) are the base of efficient falling and changing support.
Do not worry about stride length – it is a function of leaning forward.
In walking, even at the fastest speed, you can’t bring your cardio-vascular system to the level of exhaustion as in running, but it gives a good load on the body and could be a good base for your further conditioning. The PW technique allows you to avoid an unnecessary load on your joints and muscles, but gives you all the benefits of an aerobic exercise.