Why on earth do I need to learn to walk?

I have to admit sometimes when I am asked about what is WalkActive – the story of Hans Christensen Anderson’s The Emperor’s New Clothes flashes across my mind. Do you know the one?… Where two charming silver-tongued men trick the proud Emperor into wearing nothing but his birthday suit as he parades in front of his people. The Emperor, however, believes, much to the amusement of his kingdom, that he is wearing the most exquisite new outfit created by highly talented designers! So as you read this – perhaps you are thinking…

Why on earth would I need to learn how to walk?

But let’s look at this another way..
Suppose you wanted to improve your tennis serve, golf drive or even running gait you’d appreciate that these activities involve specific motor skills and techniques to allow progression and improvement. When it comes to walking, however, we completely take for granted how we put one foot in front of the other and since most of us have been walking from the age of 14 months – it may seem a logical train of thought to assume that we’d be pretty good at it. However, the vast majority of us don’t walk as effectively as we could – lifestyle, the ageing process, as well as muscular imbalances, mean when we go to put one foot in front of the other, we are just not doing it as well as we could. One’s current walking technique could be detrimental to posture, joint health and importantly limit the results from the walking efforts one invests in enhancing physical health, fitness and mental wellbeing.

“WalkActive definitely makes a massive difference to how I feel when I walk, it’s been a revelation actually!”
— Jane G – Get Started with WalkActive Participant

So if this has piqued your interest here is a little about what WalkActive is;

WalkActive – The EffectiveWalking System is an educational process to walk better, allowing you to positively connect with the way the body should walk as opposed to the way the body has learnt to walk, through bad habits such as sitting at desks, watching screens and devices, hours in the car or even through leaning over and being involved in a caring profession. The technique allows every step to be more effective, improving how you look, feel and perform all through walking.

WalkActive is about moving your body in correct postural alignment and making sure that every step you take counts. It’s not about joining the John Cleese’s Ministry of Silly Walks – though as with any new movement skill when you do start to learn, the nature of acquiring new movement patterns may feel a little odd.

WalkActive is more than just walking. It’s a whole system for your health, fitness and wellbeing helping you LEARN, ACHIEVE & THRIVE all through walking. It’s educational, effective, enjoyable. LEARN the building blocks of the WalkActive System to improve your technique, health and enjoyment of walking. Progress and ACHIEVE great results for whole body fitness with results driven programmes for cardiovascular, body tone, flexibility, balance, mobility and mental wellbeing benefits. Connect and THRIVE in a community that encourages and supports, sharing WalkActive experiences and stories for motivation in your everyday WalkActive living or your next WalkActive adventure.

The WalkActive Technique has been scientifically verified to improve posture, reduce joint strain and increase walking speed by up to 24%. Sports & Exercise Science and Nutrition Research Centre, London South Bank University.

WalkActive is for anyone and everyone.
Whatever stage, age or phase of life.

As a Sports Scientist, I created WalkActive to help individuals get real results from walking. I like to think of this correct way of moving as ‘intelligent Exercise’ that can be beneficial for anyone. Whether you are a weekend recreational rambler, seasoned power walker, walk as part of a commute to work, daily dog walker, recovering from injury or someone who just wants to start to exercise. The net result is a movement pattern that is smooth, fluid and highly effective. It will improve how your body looks, feels and performs, and it will help you’ll look younger and anti ages your movement. Think of WalkActive as the foundation of every single movement pattern on two feet – why wouldn’t you want to do it to the best of your ability?