So I guess most people out there have their own technique for walking. And I guess most of us are still looking to improve this to make the miles more comfortable.
For a while now I’ve been running as well to try and increase my fitness and endurance for long milage days. I’ve always found that it just seems too taxing when doing lots of miles. So in an effort to try and find better styles to run I came across this website.
I did a lot of reading and read reviews of similar styles and eventually decided to buy the book and read into it I do realise at this point that I am talking about trail running and this is not the focus of this website. However, I emailed the author of the book and asked him if there was any way of converting this theory of running into a walk. He replied stating that soon there will be a release of a DVD showing the technique being transformed into walking called chiwalking.
I have done a little bit of t’ai chi in my time (being the hippy that I am) and I have no reason to doubt that it can’t be put into a walking and running form. For those of you who don’t feel like going to the site and reading away I will just write a brief summary of what the style entails.
The method that he describes is a way of positioning and holding the body so that the muscles in the legs can relax whilst the body tilts foward and lets gravity pull it along. This relieves the stress that heel striking and overly contracted and tense muscles cause.
In the email that I recieved from him he told me that he thought that it would be possible to incorporate the chi walking into a hiking walk. Once I have recieved the package and have practised it for a while I will report back on my findings. I feel confident that this method will be able to help make long days seem less stressful on the legs and help to prevent injuries that occur.
I am always interested in techniques to improve backcountry comfort. So if anyone else has any techniques they use whilst walking, bring it on.
