I Hiked Wrong For 11000 Miles Here s How You re Supposed To Do It

Hey y'all, Dixie here. Today I want to tell you about my worst backpacking skill, which is apparently walking. Recently I've been thinking more and more about the mechanics of the body and how I have terrible posture and pelvic floor stuff because of, you know, having a baby probably made me think about that mostly, but it also made me wonder how backpacking and hiking may have negatively affected some of this stuff, specifically if I was walking incorrectly for thousands of miles. Well, it turns out that I was. For walking uphill or on a climb, I always put my head down, just kind of stared straight at the ground. That way I wasn't focusing ahead on how much more of a climb I had to go. I hate going up a slope and you can see forever and it feels like you're never going to get to the top. And not only did I just like put my head down, but I'd just all together bend at the hips, kind of like a meemaw using a walker or something. Almost as if I expected that gravity would pull me up the hill by doing that somehow. It doesn't really make sense, but it's what I've always done. And on top of that, I would try to take bigger steps to just get it over with. I've always completely hated the uphills. So anyway, it turns out that I pretty much should have been doing the opposite when walking uphill. So what's the proper way? Well, to start with, shorter, quicker steps. You should match the incline by shortening your steps to keep your feet under your center of gravity. And therefore you actually use less energy. Also, you should be engaging your glutes and your thighs. And I've never really specifically thought about that, but it makes sense because those are some powerful muscles in your legs. So instead of kind of getting up on your toes or using a flat footed shuffle, you should really think about pushing through the heel of that back leg while going uphill. And while you should lean slightly forward, not at the hip, like I've always done, where you look like a meemaw, it should actually be at the ankle. And that's supposed to help you maintain balance and reduce strain on your back. And last but not least, what I've always been terrible at, you should maintain a good posture, have what they call a proud chest with relaxed shoulders and your head upwards. So why should you avoid doing it the bad way like I've been doing it? Well, bending at the waist puts excessive strain on the back. Taking long strides is similar to doing lunges. So you're actually burning up more energy and just exhausting yourself faster. And then looking down at your feet so that you don't see how far you have to go can just kind of throw everything out of alignment. So of course, it's always better to have good posture. And if you want to practice this before you get out on the trail and you've got 11 things going on in your head and you're not focusing on that, you can actually do this on a treadmill that has a high incline setting so that you can actually specifically just focus on your gait and practice that. So what about when you're going downhill, which has always been my favorite? Well, first of all, you should keep your knees slightly bent and they will kind of act as a shock absorber. And I've actually always been pretty good about that one. Once again, you should shorten your stride because the shorter, quicker steps can help you maintain balance better. Stay upright. A lot of folks tend to lean back when they're going downhill, but that can actually cause you to lose your balance. Engage the core. I've never thought about that when backpacking. It's something that I actually think about when I'm lifting weights, but it makes sense because it gives you more stability. And so I'm going to work on that for sure on the downhills. Focus on a full foot plant to maximize stability. And a bonus tip here, watch your shoe fit to make sure that you don't end up losing a bunch of toenails. If you are going downhill and your toes are jamming up on the front of your shoe, you're gonna lose toenails. So make sure your shoes fit properly. There are some muscles that you can work on strengthening to be better at downhills. First, your quadriceps. These are the ones that really stabilize you as you're going downhill and make sure that your knees aren't being overloaded. And then of course your glutes and core are always good to work on and they're going to help stabilize you as well. Anyway, all of this has definitely given me something to think about. And I thought it would be a good thing to share because I bet a lot of people don't think about proper walking technique while they're just gallivanting around the woods. But it is a good idea for us to know this so that we can continue to use instead of abuse our bodies for years to come. And that is all I have for y'all today. Thank you so much for watching. If you found this video useful, don't forget to share it with a friend and we will see y'all next time.