When can walking hurt you???

Walking checks a lot of boxes: cardio workout, low impact, inside on a treadmill or outside on a trail, alone or with others, any time of day.

For these reasons, walking is often the recommended form of exercise to improve your fitness or recover from a surgery or illness.

But be careful about “forcing a square peg in a round hole.”

If walking aggravates your joint surfaces, you must somehow reduce the stress. Joints can’t adapt and heal like muscles, so they need special attention.

Unfortunately, many people take a pain or anti-inflammatory pill and ignore this irritation…causing more erosion of these vulnerable tissues.

Here are a few ways to reduce joint stress:

1. Wear appropriate shoes; consult a shoe expert

2. Avoid concrete walking surfaces

3. Improve flexibility and strength around the joint

4. Reduce walking speed

5. Shorten stride length

6. Consider alternative exercise: swimming, cycling

Tune into your body as you exercise. Differentiate between healthy and unhealthy responses. Be willing to change up your program.

Walking should always be a mind-body-spirit experience.