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How to Walk - Walking Stride

By Wendy Bumgardner, About.com Guide

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Overstriding© Wendy Bumgardner
Avoid overstriding - taking longer steps to increase speed. This is potentially harmful and is inefficient.

Take more, smaller steps rather than lengthening your stride.
Your stride should be longer behind your body, where your toe is pushing off, rather than out in front of your body.
Your forward leg has no power, while your back leg is what is driving you forward. Getting the full power out of the push from the back leg as it rolls from heel to toe is the key to powerful, efficient walking.
Fast walkers train themselves to increase the number of steps they take per second and to get full use out of the back part of the stride.
Above: The stick walker on the left is overstriding, on the right is better.

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