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glidewalking confusion

lawrence82
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glidewalking confusion
hello esther, I am having some difficulties with glidewalking, I can not feel my gluteal muscles because I normally walk with my feet outward. When I turn my feet parrallel  I can feel my glute muscles somewhat and I am wondering if feet parrallel is what you mean when you say walk on a line on pg.186 ? Thank you
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Glidewalking is difficult to get - there are a lot of moving parts to keep track of! "I can not feel my gluteal muscles because I normally walk with my feet outward." Facing the feet outwards usually increases the chances of engaging the glutes, especially gluteus medius. My guess is you are not feeling your glutes because they are not used to working when you walk. Try taking just one step at a time and see if you can engage gluteus medius (or any gluteal muscle) in the back leg. If you can't locate it, make sure your pelvis is tipped forward (anteverted) and try again. Still not working? Try pointing your back foot out a little and try again. Still flummoxed? Try raising the back leg up of the ground with your back leg turned out somewhat. This should do it. Walk one step at a time until you can contract your glutes reliably. Then try to smooth it out into a walk. Walking on a line doesn't refer to walking with your feet parallel but rather that the inside of both heels touches the same imaginary line. Good luck! Keep us posted!
lawrence82
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Thanks for answering. I have one more question, In the foreword it mentions walking with weight on the heel bone. Will that be enough to bring the body in balance while walking?
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Necessary but not sufficient. You need to also learn about relaxing the leg in the swing phase, landing on a bent knee, etc. But it's an important piece. Keep adding to what you have figured out and you'll get there!
lawrence82
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Thanks for the encouragement Esther! I have gotten a little bit better with feeling my buttock muscles when I walk. My last (problem) is step 4 on pg.187 of the glidewalking lesson, which is using the feet to augment the push-off. How do you go about contracting the arch muscles while walking. I guess that this would be a big piece in getting that gliding sensation while walking. Thanks for all the help, dave
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Practice the inch worm exercise first (page page 211) and then integrate it into your walk. You only do a strong contraction at push off, but it helps if your feet are not too splayed to begin with (when they are very splayed / spread, the muscles at the bottom of your feet are not in a position of mechanical advantage and it is hard to engage them). For some people, this may mean your do a small amount of contraction at footfall too (or better, use a good arch support) so that you land with your foot in a good shape that puts your arch muscles in a position of mechanical advantage at pushoff.
lawrence82
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Hello Esther, it's me Dave again. I have another question, on step 6, page 182 of your book you say that the heel lands first. Does that mean land heel first with every step because when I try to do that it feels weird and I feel I lack the ankle flexibility to do this with each step. Thank you once again for your time. Your book is a godsend.
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It's normal to land your heel slightly (very slightly) before the rest of your foot unless the surface is unforgiving (e.g. cement, asphalt, etc.) This week I am on vacation in Tahoe and, having just read Born to Run, am trying out walking barefoot on some trails (I think going barefoot on natural surfaces is a good idea if you are paying attention) and am realizing that you also need to land on the midfoot when you may be landing on pebbles, poky objects, etc.
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Thank you for your answer.So I figured out that all of my walking problems come after the forward foot hits the ground. I guess that most of my walking difficulties come from my weak gluteal muscles, so I looked on youtube at people who live in natural societies  walking and I noticed that after their front foot lands they tense that buttock, so say right foot lands first they tightened that buttock, then left foot lands the same.  Is this the right technique?
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Yes. Please do share the url's of the youtube videos you have located!
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