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  1. #1
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    Default How should I walk ?

    What is the proper body machanics for walking faster?
    i know when I start out in the mornings, it's kinda of a slower pace than I would like. But I do finally settle into a pace that I like and move right along.
    but, I'd like to pick that pace up a little. That would help me knock off some miles before lunch.

    Should I push off with my toes as I walk?
    i have done this a really picked up the pass for a bit. But the my shins start fealing it...
    or
    Should I take smaller steps, longer steps,

    I realize an earlier start would help.
    id just looking for the ways to walk properly that would help me pick up the pace.
    Any info on how to walk properly at normal pace is welcome too.

  2. #2

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    You dont walk farther by walking faster
    You do it by walking longer

    If you change natural gait, you are begging for problems

    Walk a pace you can maintain without stopping for rests, especially uphill. You will lose way more by stopping than steady slower pace.
    Last edited by MuddyWaters; 06-09-2016 at 14:54.

  3. #3
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    Do you use trekking poles? I walk about 10% faster per mile with the trecking poles on level and gentle slopes that are not too rocky.

  4. #4
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    Yes, poles do help me pick it up quite a bit. They also help with my tarp or tent.

  5. #5

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    Walking longer is key #1.

    To walk faster, you need to improve form and technique.
    1: Walk tall. Try not to look at your feet (sometimes this is unavoidable, I know) look 10 to 20 feet ahead. Keep your shoulders back, while you rotate your body slightly forward at your hips (the forward lean you see with many marathoners)
    2: Work on activating your glutes, (yes, your butt), especially going on flat ground & uphill. It's amazing how many people do not do this.
    3: Take shorter, quicker steps, roll off your toes and push off. If you're feeling it in your shins (shin splints) that is usually from taking too long of strides -- which causes your heel to plant instead of roll, costing you momentum.
    Twitter: @mkehiker
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  6. #6

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    Well let me count the ways!...theres the

    uptown Mississippi half step
    glide in the stride and dip in the hip
    you could even shuffle off to buffalo
    but mostly I just put one foot in front of the other, and soon you'll be walkin' out the door.

    I use a short gate, with a bit of a shuffle if I need to get after it, it's pretty silly lookin I'm told.

  7. #7
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    How about this.

    Or this.
    I'm not lost. I'm exploring.

  8. #8
    Registered User Water Rat's Avatar
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    Is your goal to get to camp faster, or are you trying to accomplish more miles per day?

    It sounds like you have already naturally found a gait the does work for you and would like to be able to find this stride earlier and maintain it. Some tips for that are stretch in the morning, after breaks, and in the evening. Stay hydrated and snack throughout the day to maintain the "fuel" you need to maintain your energy levels.

    The stretching should help allow your muscles to warm up a bit sooner and help you to find your stride a little earlier in the day. If nothing else, they can also help you to avoid injury. The food and water will help you maintain your energy and hydration levels to keep you moving faster, farther.

  9. #9
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    I learned the hard way trying to push for more milage especially on the down hills. Finished an 80 mile section too quick and came off with shin splits. I was fighting the trail instead of enjoying it. Now I find my rhythm and stick to it. If I want more miles I walk longer into the evening or start out at before dawn.

  10. #10
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    If you are trying to increase you instantaneous speed on normal trail then I would suggest many options first.
    1) increase your fitness so you can walk uphills as fast as level.
    2) Minimize your time stopped. EAt on the move but don't pull a Skurka and piss into the wind. (THere is stupid fast.)
    3) Minimize your camp setup and breaks down.
    4) Practice moving swiftly downhills. There is technique to get better at that.
    5) Focus on Fueling, Water and Electrolytes. YOu can stay stronger longer.

    Do this and you will see your average speed go up significantly even without increasing your instantaneous speed on the flats.
    enemy of unnecessary but innovative trail invention gadgetry

  11. #11

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    Wow!
    So many different opinions here and most of them differ from my way of thinking.
    I used to walk 3 mph.
    Then I picked it up to 4 and even 5 in my prime.
    I did it by extending my steps longer, walking a little quicker, and swinging my arms a bit more.
    I am surprised someone said that trekking poles helped them to walk faster.
    Not for me.
    They slow me down.

    As for uphills, to me, it's important not to stop.
    Start slow, regulate my speed with my breathing and keep it one breath in and out ever 4 steps.
    Don't get out of breath.
    As the hill gets longer, I get faster.
    But DON'T STOP!

    As for downhills: I have two rules (different from many I know): Always walk and uphill and always run a downhill.
    I say run, but it's not really fast, just saves my knees.
    It's a technique I learned from the hut girls in the whites: Short steps, don't put all of your weight on any one step, (sort of like a Chinaman pulling a rickshaw with his quick little jogging steps, if you've ever ridden one of these)

    Anyway, that's my 2 cents on the subject.
    Don't let your fears stand in the way of your dreams

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Malto View Post
    If you are trying to increase you instantaneous speed on normal trail then I would suggest many options first.
    1) increase your fitness so you can walk uphills as fast as level.
    2) Minimize your time stopped. EAt on the move but don't pull a Skurka and piss into the wind. (THere is stupid fast.)
    3) Minimize your camp setup and breaks down.
    4) Practice moving swiftly downhills. There is technique to get better at that.
    5) Focus on Fueling, Water and Electrolytes. YOu can stay stronger longer.

    Do this and you will see your average speed go up significantly even without increasing your instantaneous speed on the flats.
    Can you expand on your downhill technique. I have been working on mine and find I am developing a more fluid stride by not trying to brake as much as let the terrain set the pace.

  13. #13
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    Easiest way to cover more miles is to get up early and get going. It's cooler and quieter, and it's awesome just to watch the early rays of the sun filtering through the trees. The only downside is that you're the first one one the trail and therefore catching all the spider webs strung across the trail while you were sleeping. But it is actually kinda cool to walk past camps where people are just getting up — or maybe even still snoozing in their tents — and you've already covered 5 or 6 easy miles.

    As per Malto, IMO breaking camp quickly is the tricky part, and the idea is to become efficient by doing things in an orderly fashion. Start by letting the air out of sleeping mat and rolling it up, and then place stuff to be packed outside the tent, put on shoes and get out of the tent which should have nothing remaining inside. At this point, fire up the alky stove and heat water for coffee and/or oatmeal, and take down the tent and put items in the pack while the water is heating. In no time flat you've had breakfast and are ready to hike.

    When starting out hiking, if you don't feel so fast, fine! Don't push it, and don't stress over it. You'll warm up to your natural pace in due time. For the first mile or so I often finish my coffee as I walk, so I go really slowly lest I stump a toe on a rock hidden in the rabbit grass.

  14. #14

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    Search for "Ministry of Silly Walks" it will give you all the instructions you need

    Seriously don't pattern downhills with hut crews It's a technique I learned from the hut girls in the whites: Short steps, don't put all of your weight on any one step, (sort of like a Chinaman pulling a rickshaw with his quick little jogging steps, if you've ever ridden one of these) A lot of former AMC hut crew members knees are toast in their forties. Running down slopes is hard on the knees, the cartilage damage is done long before a hiker feels it and by then its too late. Extend the length of hiking poles and walk down slopes, after awhile, your poles become a second set of legs and you transfer a lot of load off your knees.

    I am far more of an advocate of starting early and ending late. I met a thru hiker in this seventies once in Hanover. He came into camp near dusk and left at dawn. He admitted he was slow but inevitably he would pass the younger hikers who hiked faster but shorter days.

  15. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by REB View Post
    I learned the hard way trying to push for more milage especially on the down hills. Finished an 80 mile section too quick and came off with shin splits. I was fighting the trail instead of enjoying it. Now I find my rhythm and stick to it. If I want more miles I walk longer into the evening or start out at before dawn.
    I am convinced this is correct: HYOH in this instance means hike your own pace.

    I am really messed up, physically, if I try to match other's pace - especially a plodding pace of a group. If friendships are involved, agree to meet up at the campsite instead of arranging to walk together.

    My stride is that important. My strategy for uphill and down is that important.

    I described the "rest step" meaning shifting all weight to one side, the other side momentarily then having a "rest" for steep uphill, and, light on my feet "dancing" on the down slope elsewhere. It works for me. I even have a damaged knee (partially torn left lateral miniscus, treated by 6-months acupuncture - and the Good Feet MAX help) and never have a knee complaint hiking in the mountains.

    This works for me. I cover a lot of miles, by breaking camp with only one food item or only one hot drink from a slender small thermos, prepared the night before bed. I eat my "breakfast" on the trail, if at all, preferring to munch until supper before I set up camp. Others, if any, are surprised I show up so far distant, completely refreshed.

    In fact, I am getting the impression, from reading about food combinations, I am eating food in an optimum way for energy and for health on the trail, and so, I have gotten away from the idea of meals, at home, except one meal in a day, adding at most a light supper.

    Other people are breakfast people, but I am not starting the day with "hard work".

    I am starting my day with fresh air and all the beauty of the early morning.

    I suggest my "method" covers the miles faster, and as others have said, walk "more".
    Last edited by Connie; 06-10-2016 at 09:41.

  16. #16
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    light on my feet "dancing" on the down slope elsewhere.


    I really like that way of putting it.

  17. #17
    Some days, it's not worth chewing through the restraints.
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    The only advice I ever heard that made any sense at all was to go "like a monkey ballerina".

    Otherwise, at the risk of being snarky, it's one foot in front of the other. Like a monkey ballerina.

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by fiddlehead View Post
    sort of like a Chinaman pulling a rickshaw with his quick little jogging steps, if you've ever ridden one of these
    "Also, Dude, chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature. Asian-American, please"
    -Walter Sobchak

  19. #19
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    Thanks for the feedback everyone. It'll give me something to think about when I hike and start daydreaming.

  20. #20

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    This has been interesting. Thanks for all the discussion.

    As I get older I have to think about ways to be more efficient.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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