What Goes Up Must Come Down

Back To Health Wellness's Thought For The Day

Ever wondered why it feels like a struggle to walk uphill or downhill?

It is often due to the demand placed on weak leg muscles or tired stabiliser muscles of the pelvis and lower back, exerting themselves beyond their capacity to allow the body to carry out the activity.

So to help, here are a couple of tips.

First, pay attention to your posture walking uphill - you back should be straight and you should march heel to toe.

When walking downhill, it's generally best to remain upright, though avoid holding your back too straight as this can be counter intuitive and potentially lead to back pain. Keep your torso over your hips and knees and to assist, you can also lean slightly forward to improve stability and unload pressure off your abdomen and in particular one muscle -

The Transverse Abdominis.

This muscle is the deepest of the abdominal group and helps with breathing but more importantly it activates the core and stabilizes the pelvis and low back when walking uphill and downhill.

Therefore training this muscle to become stronger will go a long way in helping lower back and pelvic stability so you can walk or hike all sorts of inclines and declines without the struggle.