The Top Ten Common Walking Mistakes*

1. Over-striding
Walking the right way can give you better health, fitness and attitude. It can help you walk faster and more smoothly. Walking the wrong way can lead to wasted effort or even injury.

When walkers try to walk faster, a natural inclination is to lengthen your stride in front, reaching out further with your forward foot. This leads to a clumsy, ungainly gait, striking hard with the feet and causing pain in the shins.

All of the power of your walk comes from pushing with the back leg and foot. If you are trying to walk fast, concentrate on taking shorter, quicker steps. Then think of really rolling through your step with your back foot and leg, getting a good push off. The result will be faster feet and lengthening your stride where it does you some good, in back.

2. Wearing the wrong shoes
Do not walk in shoes that are too heavy or too stiff. Get fit for the right shoes at a technical running shoe store in your area. The athletic shoe experts will make sure you get the right shoe — flexible enough for walking, sized right for the swelling everyone's feet have while walking.

3. Flapping, slapping feet
Your feet hit the ground with a slap as you land flat-footed with each step, getting no roll. You may develop shin pain. This means that instead of rolling through the step with your forward foot, it is flattening out prematurely. Either you are fighting stiff, heavy shoes or your shins are too weak to let you roll through the step.

4. No arm motion
A normal walking motion uses the arms to counterbalance the leg motion. A walker can add power and speed by using the arms effectively. Long, straight arms act like a long pendulum, slowing you down. Bend your arms 90 degrees and swing them naturally back and forth opposite the leg motion

5. Chicken winging your arms
Never swing your arms from side to side or cross the center of your body and extending out to endanger passersby. Keep your elbows close to your body and swing your arms mostly back and forward as if reaching for your wallet from a back pocket on the backstroke.

This motion lets you concentrate on power from your rear leg without wasting motion in front of your body.

6. Walking with your head down
Do not walk with your head down, staring at your feet. Look up! Be proud. Good posture for walking allows you to breathe well and provides a long bodyline to prevent problems with your back, neck and shoulders. Your chin should be parallel to the ground. Your eyes should focus on the street or track 10-20 feet ahead.

7. Leaning
Leaning forwards or backwards or holding your back swayed can all result in back pain and do not contribute to speed or good technique. Stand up straight but with relaxed shoulders, chin up and parallel to the ground. Think about walking tall. Think "suck in your gut, tuck in your butt."

Your back should have a natural curve; do not force it into an unnatural sway with behind out back and stomach out forward. (Strengthen your abdominal muscles through sit-ups and other exercises so you are able to hold yourself straighter.)

8. The wrong clothes
If you walk at or after dark, even in well-lighted areas, wear light colored clothing and reflective stripes or vests. Wear layered clothes so that you can adjust to the air temperature and your generated warmth. If you are sensitive to the sun, walk after sundown, or wear protective lotions.

[Note: Many running shoes have reflective elements, but studies show it is best to have several reflective elements on to be seen from all directions.]

9. Not drinking enough water
Drink a glass of water every hour throughout the day to stay hydrated. Ten minutes before your walk, drink a glass of water. During your walk, drink a cup or more of water every 20 minutes. After you finish, drink a glass or two of water.

Avoid beverages containing caffeine before your walk, they cause you to lose fluid, making you more thirsty as well as making you take inconvenient stops along the way.

On walks over two hours, use an electrolyte-replacement sports drink and drink when thirsty. On long distance walks, drink when thirsty and be sure to replenish salt with a sports drink rather than drinking only water.

10. Over-training
If you have lost your enthusiasm, feel tired, achy and irritable, you may be overdoing it. Take a day off now and then to let your body repair, build up muscle and store up some energy to get you back on the road again. If you just cannot stand a true day off, do some upper body weight training instead of walking and lower body work.

* Top Ten Common Walking Mistakes adapted from Wendy Bumgardner, Your Guide to Walking.

Other information included in this program was adapted from "Fit Facts" from the American Council of Exercise, Mayo Clinic's Fitness & Sports Medicine Center, Cleveland Clinic and the American Heart Association.