Pulling Vs Pushing-Essential Understanding for Proper Walking and Posture

The hip muscles can create power by either pulling or pushing. Using the correct form of power can determine if you are walking with proper technique or not. Learn how to feel the difference between pulling and pushing and which you should be using to create fluid, confident, and low impact walking. I talk a lot about how to use the hips to pull the body forward, not push. In this video I will help you to feel this movement more clearly. You will see many YouTube videos telling you to push with your glutes when you walk, which is not correct. The glutes activate to briefly after your heel contacts the ground and then should deactivate after your foot hits the flat position. This is demonstrated in EMG studies of walking. The swing phase of gait up until the next heel placement is powered by eccentric contraction of the hip flexors, not the hip extensors. Doing it the wrong way will lead to forward leaning, over-striding, anterior pelvic tilt, and a host of other problems.

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[BlueValentin]

Even after watching so many of your videos on proper walking, they still give me new insight and I slowly embody these principles in my walking. Thank you for being such an awesome and reliable teacher.

[seancidy]

I did not understand what you meant by "pull" until I watched this. Very informative.

[muratatlantis]

Detailed explanation of walking cycles❤thank you

[TanverUlhassan-tydn]

Dr.Todd Martin, Amazing video appreciated!!!🍁May God bless you and yours (Aamin)!!!🌱

[barbarawarner]

I’ll need to be conscious of this and practice. I’ve been walking incorrectly all my life and have had trouble with gait since an otherwise very successful knee replacement.

[jossyitoyah]

Hi Dr Todd could you do a video on steppage gait, waddling gait and spastic gait

[fifthavenuegirl]

i had a stroke and foot drop. been using lokomat but bought a treadmill. the cane made me lean too far to right. i was very good walker before stroke very very strong before / horses ranch work will be 63 in june 17 months post stroke i want to run again ditched cane and brace. told need to strengthen hamstrings/quads just want to be normal

[jerryg]

What about running or sprinting? Do you always pull even during “explosive” athletic movements or is there every a scenario where pushing is advantageous?

[TheAndyshan]

I've watched quite a few of your videos and (as a layperson) I'm genuinely struggling to understand. Sorry if I'm being dumb. The demonstration of "normal" walking takes the leading foot well forward of the centre of mass, so this will, I guess require using extensors. Your demonstration of the alternative ways of walking doesn't seem to be a fair representation. Walking with more mid/fore foot landing close to the centre of mass with big toe push-off by engaging the larger muscle groups and tendons at the back of the leg seems to make much more sense to me. Assuming you are right, I'm left wondering why we have such big, glutes, hams, calves and Achilles yet they only have a secondary role in the fundamental activity of walking. Can you explain what they are for and why they are so large?