1. Engage your belly and your back when walking.
Imagine you are a sandwich and you are pulling your belly toward your back and your back toward your abdomen. Feel your upper body up and over your pelvis.
Pilates help: Chest Expansion kneeling or standing w/roll back bar at the back of the Caddy, Knee Stretch series. There are tons more, but I’m just mentioning a few exercises which get you off your back and more accurately mirror your real-world experience.
Why it works: you want a lifted chest while walking. Also the challenge of balancing when you are kneeling or standing helps engage the whole power house: sides, back, front and pelvic floor (sandwich). In order to do knee stretches properly you have to really sandwich the body and keep it still while the legs shoot in and out.
- Use your feet:
Strike at the center of the heel and roll through the foot. Your feet should be pointing straight ahead. If you either heel strike on the inside or outside of the heel, you will probably end up pronating (allowing the instep to fall toward the floor). Push off with the ball of the foot
Pilates help: footwork on any of the equipment.
Why it works: There’s nothing like footwork on Pilates Equipment to address every part of the foot, especially if you are lucky enough to be working out on equipment that has a foot roll that stimulates your acupressure points.
- Allow your leg to swing through
Every step has 2 phases, a stance phase and a swing phase. The swing phase is what happens between push-off and heel strike on the same leg. You also need a strong, elastic hip flexor for foot clearance (but that’s a book in itself)
Pilates help: single leg circles on the mat, leg circles on the trap or reformer, side-lying leg series on the mat or the reformer.
Why it works: Leg circles on the Cadillac or Reformer are the best way I know of to create differentiation between the hip and the legs, essential for an unrestricted swing of the leg before heel strike.
- Get your glutes and hamstrings into your walk.
Squeeze glutes on heel strike, leave trailing leg behind you for an extra beat and feel your hamstring fire.
Pilates help: lunges on the reformer, butt-blaster
Why it works: lunges engage your glutes, work your sandwich system, and help you find your swing rhythm. Butt-blaster really targets your gluteus medius. Trust me, you can’t stand or walk if this muscle is weak.
- Move your hips laterally (slide your weight from one hip to the other) and your shoulders horizontally as you step
Pilates help: Swimming on the mat
Swimming creates strength and the development of cross-patterning co-ordination of the back extensors and hip extensors
Other useful tips:
Keep eye gaze level with chin pointed down and slightly pulled in
Your steps should be shorter rather than longer.
Make sure your arms are moving in a fluid cross-pattern
Most of all: go for a feeling of buoyancy.
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