How To Walk | From a Physical Therapist

Walking is something that seems so simple. It’s natural and built in. We do it without even thinking about it.

Here’s how to walk from a PT’s perspective.

disclaimer - everyone naturally walks a little differently. We’re all built differently. Some people have higher arches. Some people have shorter legs. More hip external rotation. Without diving too much into the weeds of anatomy - there’s no one size fits all style of walking!

When we talk about walking, there are 3 points of contact that I want you to think about.

the heel
the ball of your pinky toe
the ball of your big toe

Pronation happens when your arch collapses, and your ankle rolls in. The purpose of this movement is to shock absorb. It happens every time we take a step. Some people demonize pronation and try to “correct” it with orthotics and bulky shoes, but in reality, it’s a normal movement!
Supination refers to the opposite movement - when your foot and ankle is rolling out, and creating an arch. This creates some rigidity in your foot so you can push your body forward when you’re walking.

Think pronation = floppy foot to absorb shock, supination = rigid foot to produce force

Naturally some of us are more “toed out” and some of us are more “toed in.” It all depends on your anatomy. It could stem from your hips or from your knees. That’s okay. The body is adaptable and there is no one “perfect” way to walk.

For example, you could be a

Toe walker (show example)

I’ve seen patients who walk like this in practice. Could you walk like this and have no issues? Yes. But it’s probably not the most effective strategy. Walking like this puts a lot more demand on your ankle and calves. We want to be efficient and spend the least amount of energy.

Excessive toe in (show example)

This can be problematic sometimes because the angle may be too aggressive for the rest of your body. Having a lot of toe in can put abnormal stresses on your knees and hips. When you’re walking, you want to be going forward, if there is too much toe in, your knees would be coming in, and your hips would also rolled inwards. Might not be the most comfortable and efficient strategy.

Excessive toe out (show example)

The same goes for too much of a toe out. Remember we’re trying to go forward. When you have too much of a toe out, that can lead to suboptimal positions for the feet. Chances are, your whole foot would pronate (or roll in) too much.

Ok. Now that we’ve pointed out the extremes.

How do you determine what strategy is right for you?

One simple trick to find out what works for you is to simply - walk fast.

Yes. Just walk fast, like you’re late to a flight. The plane’s is about to leave.

Remember walking is a natural movement for our bodies. You can easily hyper analyze and get caught in the weeds of what is going on at each joint.

Your body will figure it out!

Then, simply just walk!

*this is not medical advice. seek a real physical therapist to get formally assessed*