How to walk properly, so as not to harm your health. Answered by a doctor

Olga Ivanova

doctor of preventive medicine, health mentor of the Nealth Buddy project

Is walking so useful? How to walk properly?

Literally everyone knows that it is important to walk at least 8-10 thousand steps a day. But how does walking actually affect our body? Is walking so useful for health and how to walk correctly – now we will tell you.

By the way, walking can be useful for weight loss. Why, read here.

Why walking is useful

Even minimal physical activity can prevent the risk of health problems. Our body needs to be in motion, and the sedentary lifestyle that we sin so much, does not allow us to move fully during the day. Walking will be a real lifeline for those who do not have time for the gym or jogging. However, if you don’t move enough during the day, it can lead to negative consequences.

Here’s what can suffer from a sedentary lifestyle.

• Musculoskeletal system and brain. In a sitting position, the spine is 1.5 times more stressed than when a person is standing. When leaning forward to the screen of gadgets and computer monitor, intervertebral discs are compressed. This creates a problem with the blood supply to the brain. For this reason, a person may experience frequent headaches, weakness, decreased concentration, memory impairment and lack of productivity.
• Heart and blood vessels. Lack of constant physical activity leads to a decrease in quality blood pumping. Because of which the weak muscular apparatus of the heart eventually loses its shape and under-loads with oxygen.
• Bones and muscles. Weakness of muscles increases in the absence of load. They lose shape and put pressure on adjacent joints. Because of this, the legs become weak, the muscles do not pump, and the bones become brittle.
• Digestion. Insufficient physical activity and a sedentary lifestyle lead to a decrease in digestive processes. First it manifests itself with constipation and prolonged absence of stools, then a violation in detoxification and diseases in the abdominal organs.

How to walk properly

You can choose the kind of walking that you like: sports walking, jogging, Nordic (the one with sticks, as taught in Moscow parks).

The basis of walking – setting the step: step on the heel and evenly transfer the center of gravity to the toe (roll), while working calf muscles, feet go parallel to each other.

While walking it is important to watch your posture: keep your shoulders in a relaxed state, straightening them, but do not overstretch, gently retract the abdomen without interfering with your breathing (it should be light and deep), in Nordic walking breathing should be abdominal.

It is worth starting from 120 minutes a week, gradually increasing the pace to 400-500 minutes a week (on average about an hour daily). In the beginning, be sure to do a warm-up to prepare the muscles for active work. It is useful to combine walking with swimming, light fitness and Pilates.

It is important not to use the phone while walking, do not look at the screen and do not add an extra 5-7 kg of load on the cervical spine. You can turn on music in headphones or an audiobook in advance, so that the walk is not boring.

You can fix the number of steps with the help of a pedometer installed in your phone, or with the help of special mobile applications. There are also professional gadgets that allow you to see an extended range of body indicators – pressure, pulse.

Can walking do harm

We have not for nothing told about the fact that you need to walk correctly. Despite all the pluses of this habitual activity, it can cause negative consequences. One of the main problems is the incorrect positioning of the feet when walking. This can harm the entire spine (musculoskeletal system), as shock absorption (softening the distribution of the load on the foot and reducing the force of impact and friction on the surface) will suffer.

In case of metabolic disorders and problems with the musculoskeletal system, the course of diseases such as arthritis, arthrosis, scoliosis and osteoporosis, hypertension can be aggravated.

To avoid this, it is important to follow the technique of the training process, to choose the optimal level of load. In this case you will be able to help diagnostics with a sports doctor, who will give recommendations and choose the right footwear.