Walking Technique Fact Check 3-Do we really push off with the glutes when we are walking? This is a claim made by most walking technique videos and assumed by most people, but is it really correct. Walking technique is a complex subject, and you will find many opinions from people coaching walking technique on YouTube that conflict with one another. In this series of videos I will break down some facts about walking technique and present them in a way where you can hopefully see for yourself what the truth is. You may be looking for Fact Check #2, but I haven't posted it yet. I went out of order.
The glutes are used to extend the hip joint. People assume since the leg extends behind the body when walking that means the glutes are performing the action. We would assume the same thing about running. We use the powerful glutes to propel the body forward and off the ground, with the leg extending behind the body. But try running backwards. The leg moves in front of the body as we propel the body backward, yet we are still using the glutes. We can see from this example that whether the leg moves forward or back does not answer the question of what hip muscles are performing the action. It is much more complex than that. When we walk forward on level ground, we are not working against gravity. We are working with gravity. There is no need for the power of the gluteus maximus in this situation, We are really using the hip flexors, in front of the hip, not the glutes in the back . The sequence of rotation of the waist muscles determines whether or not we move forward or backward.
When people try to use the glutes to push the body forward in walking, it results in a forward lean and hard impact on the heel. You will see this happen in many people when they try to walk quickly. They start to pitch forward because they begin to use the wrong muscles, the glutes. Some people do this in their normal walk, and this can lead to a variety of medical problems, like back pain, hip pain, knee pain, and foot pain.
You will hear in many walking technique videos that we should try and squeeze the glutes, and this is proof that we are using them. But do this test. Flex your bicep to make your biceps tense. Now feel your triceps on the back side of the arm. They are also tensing. Squeezing a muscle simply means contracting it against the opposing muscle. In the case of squeezing the biceps, you are simply contracting the biceps and triceps against each other. There is no motion created. The same occurs when you "squeeze" your glutes when walking. You are simply contracting your hip extensors against your hip flexors, with no resulting motion. What motion you get is not the result of the squeezing, so you are not demonstrating anything other that the ability to create worthless tension. This is not how fluid movement works.
When you are standing on one leg during gait, you can feel tension build on the outside, back of you hip, This is not the gluteus maximus pushing. This is the gluteus medius counteracting the force of gravity that would otherwise cause the body to drop sideways. This should not be confused with a pushing action of the gluteus maximus.
YouTube video advocating squeezing the glutes and pushing off
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More details from me on the use of the glutes
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