Tips for healthy walking and running

Exercise is of great significance to our human body. People who exercise regularly can not only maintain their figure but also improve their immunity and disease resistance. However, we cannot choose exercise methods randomly. We must choose those that suit us. Many friends like to choose running as a daily exercise, but running is indeed a bit difficult at the beginning.

We might as well start with brisk walking, because brisk walking is indeed much easier than running. We can first learn how to brisk walking and then slowly transition to running. So what is the key to brisk walking to running? Let’s take a look at the introduction below.

Are you a beginner who wants to start running? Do you always feel out of breath and difficult to sustain after running for a short while? In fact, this is probably because you are running too fast. For beginners, you might as well start with alternating running and walking, gradually build up your running fitness, cultivate good movements, posture, and cardiopulmonary capacity, and prepare your body to start running.

In addition, walking and running are not just about physical strength, they also require skills. Humans are born to run, but we are affected by the modern lifestyle, lack of movement, poor posture, and even overly complex running shoes, which make us forget this original human instinct. Don't worry, you can actually run well. What you need to do now is just to awaken the memory in your body. Let's get started!

How to walk well and fast

When beginners do not have sufficient running ability, they can build up cardiopulmonary endurance and lower limb muscle strength, as well as the muscle endurance required for running through brisk walking and fast walking. Just like walking and running, to speed up, we must return to the principles of "stride length" and "cadence". By taking larger steps or a higher stride frequency, we can walk more efficiently.

Stride

Put your feet together, take a natural step forward as your body leans forward. If you want to increase your stride, push your pelvis forward. This will increase the range of your legs' swing backward, and your stride will naturally increase. It can also avoid the braking effect caused by excessive forward striding and reduce the impact on your knees.

Cadence

"Waving your hands" is the key to increasing your step frequency. The harder and faster you swing your hands, the faster your feet will move. Beginners may wish to use a "metronome" and walk to the rhythm of the metronome. You can start practicing by walking at 60 steps per minute.

Swing arm

Bend your arms to 90 degrees and lightly clench your fists. When swinging up, the height should be to the chest, with the four fingers of the fist parallel to the ground, and the angle of the arm should be about 90 degrees; keep swinging back and forth, avoid swaying sideways, and both hands should not cross the center line of the body.

Upper Body

The upper body should be straight, not bending forward or leaning backward, and the line of sight should look forward.

Mastering the running posture is the key to becoming a runner

Running can be described as "a series of smooth balances". To run well, in addition to regular physical training, a good running posture is the key to avoiding injuries, running with less effort, and running beautifully. If you haven't run for a long time, your body may have forgotten the running movements, but in fact, running can be said to be an extension of walking. Use the essentials of brisk walking and master the following running posture points. Practice step by step, and you can also become a runner:

Legs and Feet

Forget about your calves and feet first! Imagine that there is nothing below the knees. This can help you focus your mind on the more important arm swing, core and hamstring muscles; instead of your center of gravity getting lower and lower, your calves getting tighter, and your whole body collapsing as you run, and you end up using your calves and feet to pull your body forward.

Next, imagine your feet landing on the ground as light as a feather, then rolling toward the front of the foot and gently pulling up from the heel, like the tires of a car, with your feet alternating in graceful arcs.

pelvis

Looking at the many folk treatments for pelvic correction in the market, you will know that the pelvis plays a very important role in body balance and movement. Imagine that the pelvis is a large bowl that is nine-tenths full of water. When running, you have to try to prevent the water from splashing out, that is, keep the pelvis stable, and let the core (you can imagine using the lower abdomen to drive the legs) become the force center, and the core muscles are used to stabilize and guide the leg swing.

Upper Body

Did you know that running is not just about running with your legs? The stability and coordination of the upper body, as well as the continuity between the upper and lower body, have a key impact on running efficiency and running posture. When running, the upper body should be kept upright instead of hunching over. Standing upright does not mean that you have to stand straight like a military policeman. Your body and limbs should be relaxed. Imagine that your spine extends from the back to the top of your head and toward the sky to support your body, like a needle passing through cotton. Your core is strong and powerful, while your limbs and torso are soft and flexible.

Swing arm

When swinging your arms, you should swing them backwards to balance your body as it runs forward, instead of punching forward. Imagine that your arm is a pendulum, with your shoulder as the fulcrum, your upper arm as the swing arm, and your elbow as the hammer at the end. Swing your arms back and forth alternately with your elbow as the center. You will find that while one side swings backwards, the other side will swing forward as well. Master this rhythm and let your legs run in unison. This will save effort and make things easier as your legs will get support from your arms and will no longer have to fight alone.

In addition, remember the spine mentioned in the upper body, which is the center line running through the body. When swinging your arms, try to keep swinging back and forth and do not exceed the center line. Excessive lateral arm swing will also cause unnecessary lateral twisting of the body, wasting energy.

Three tips for walking and running, an advanced running life

Have you mastered the essentials of walking and running? Next, we can start with running and walking exercises. While becoming familiar with the techniques, we can also gradually build up our cardiopulmonary capacity. The secret of running and walking exercises is: "Run slowly and walk quickly." When running and walking, run slower and walk faster. The reason is that running slowly will keep your heart rate from being too high, and walking fast will prevent your heart rate from being too low. Only when the difference between the two is small can you switch freely, your breathing will be smoother, and you can last longer.

You can try jogging for 3 minutes, brisk walking for 1 minute, and then jogging for 3 minutes again. Repeat this pattern for a total of 50 minutes. When your body is used to this alternating frequency and you can switch between running and walking smoothly, you can gradually increase the running time. If you keep doing it, you can gradually build up your cardiopulmonary endurance and lower limb muscle strength and endurance.

There are also sports watches on the market that can be set to interval training mode (alternating between running and rest), or "walk/run function" designed specifically for entry-level runners. These can help users practice walking and running, set different exercise intensities and times according to personal conditions, understand and adapt to the body's rhythm, and slowly build up running ability.

Above we introduced the benefits of exercise for our body. Regular exercise can ensure our body's health. We must choose an exercise method that suits us. Many friends like to choose running as a sport. We suggest that these friends can start with brisk walking and then transition to running. The above article introduces the tips from brisk walking to running.