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SAYS ahoutyou
Do you walk quickly and confidently, or are you a dawdler? Your gait can tell you a lot about your health, discovers Bonnie Vaughan

he length of your stride, the pace of your wallg and you] proPensity to either swing your arms with abandon or leave them dangling like dead weights can all give clues about the state of your health. We talked to Australian gait experts to find out what your walking style could reveal about you.

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4itat

MINIMALARM SWING

If you barely swing your arms or

keep them locked at your sides

'4i..rt TAKING SMALI- SHORT STEPS

A short stride could indicate tightress in the hamstrings orhip flexors that could, warns Dr Sian Williams, research fellow inthe School of Physiotherapyat C\rrtin University, ultimately lead to knee problems due to addedpressure on that joint. Short, quicksteps can also suggest that you're having balancing issues. 'lthat couldbe from injury, pain or problems with the inner ear," says Toni Green, physiotherapy lecturer at the University of Canberra. "It can be neurological or musculoskeletal." 50

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TRIPPING & STUMBLING lose your footing,

Ifyou repeatedly

you're not clearing your feet offthe ground. "People who are always tripping don't have enough knee

when you walk, you may have a lack of lower back mobility resulting from a stiffthoracic spine or a tight psoas, our major walking muscle. "We sit a lot in our culture and that means our psoas muscle doesn't get stretched out sufficiently enough," says Green. To counteract

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flexion in their stride," says Williams. "As a result, they might

compensate by abducting their leg around from the hip. So rather than walking in more of a forward/ backrarardkind of motion, they're bringing their leg around from the side to clear the ground. And that can cause some knee problems."

this, she recommendsbreaking up all that sitting by standing up at your desk whenever you're on the phone.
Or, when you get home, try a gentle cobra pose (where you lie face down, palms flat on floor beneath shoulders and push your upper body off the floor, straightening arms and stretching upwards). )

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Your walk not only reveals the

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state of your health, it can also telegraph your state of mind. 'All body language is an outward refl ection of emotion," says body language expert Allan Pease. "Your walk reveals your personality and attitude." Pease has broken down the human gait into four basic types:

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The direct taalk

"This is demonstrated by a person who's going somewhere in a hurry

- you have places to

go, things

to

do, calls to make, deadlines to meet. You walk straight ahead and you expect other people

to get out of your wayl'

The expressiue

ualk

"You don't walk in a straight line,

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your arms tend to fling out, you look around a lot, and you might do a little dance in the middle of your walk. ltl a loud, freestyle type of walk, and it usually matches your personality as well: You're outgoing and looking for opportunitiesl'

The re lations hip -style

"You tend to hold hands with yourself or cross your arms when you walk. lf walking with other people, you have a tendency to walk right beside them. You tend to be a touchy-

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feely person - you're more interested in the person you're with, how they're feeling, where they're goingl'

The thinker utalk"You

obey all the rules. You drive at the right speed and you walk at the right speed. lf there's anything

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ur'reveN srRrDE LENGTH

Next time you walk barefoot in the wet sand, take a look at your footprints. If the distance between your left and right footstep is unequal, Green says this can be an early sign of arthritis symptoms in your hip, knee or ankle.

explains Green, "and it's the stimulation from the ground reaction force from brisk walking that helps us laydown more bones as we age. This is especially important for women, to he$ reduce the risk ofosteoporosis."
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FASTWALKING

Recent research by Associate Professor Gordon Waddington, a

phlsiotherapist from the University

of Canberra, found that brisk walking in seniors helps to build stronger bones. "We need to strcss ourselves to make things strong,"

Walking slowly may suggest problems with chronic pain and arthritis. According to new research, it can alsobe an early indicator of cognitive decline. "If you notice your mum or anyone
else you

knowwell startingto walk

more slowly you might want to make sure they get their brain health checked out," says Green.

t HoW To IMPRoVE YoUR GAIT ]

MAKE SURE
INJURIES ARE
"leading to balance problems, additional sprains or arthritis."

SWITCH UP
YOUR

them fall forward. They're at

a massive rlsk of injury.'

FULLY HEALED
"When walking, you get most of your power from around

FOOTWEAR

the ankle joint," explains Williams. "A single problem

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I(ICK OFF
VlFl.,5 i.lrl E t 1 ;11i-r[ L Flr](-:,Tl, Whether you favour loafers or Louboutins, wearing any one style of shoe day in and day out is going to result in complications. Serial heelwearers are continually contracting their calf muscles, effectively shortening that muscle so much that lowering their heels causes pain. Anyone who lives in ballet flats, thongs or ugg boots isn't getting adequate arch support, which can lead to
plantar fasciitis or arch pain. Weekend heel warriors should also beware. "Because they're novices, theyte wobbly and keep changing their gait
a

YOU

sHoFS
More than half the bones in our bodies are found in our hands and feet, each employing an intricate network of muscles all

with the ankle joint or the calf muscles can lead to hip
tightness or back pain or knee issues down the track.'That's why it's vital to deal with injuries in that region properly. In a pilot study conducted on people with sprained
ankles who used rest, ice and

Stand facing a wall, bend one knee until it touches the wall

and stretch the other leg out behind you as far as you can for a maximum stretch to your Achilles tendon while keeping your heel on the floor.
Measure from the wall to the

working in sync to keep them

moving. But because they're encased in shoes most ofthe time, our foot muscles don't get much of
a

elevation to heal compared to others who had physiotherapy,

Green found that those who

did the latter healed faster and more completely "Not getting it fixed properly can cause
subtle, tiny changes over time that can throw everything out of alignment,' she cautions,

big toe of the foot that is stretched out behind. Then swap legs and repeat. "lf the measurement isn't equal on both sides, that shows you're not walking or running
evenly," says Green. "And asymmetry's not good." See evening out your stride. physiotherapist for advice on

of those muscles has keep them strong

a fair

workout. "Each one a job," says

Green, "and the best way

is

to

to walk

bit without shoes. Go

barefoot on the sand or on pebbles

all

that stimulus will

help you with your balance.

Feet need good sensory input,

pafterns to take shorter steps," Williams says, "so their whole centre of mass shifts to make

and

if

youte always in a shoe

you're not getting that."

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