WALKING TO WORK

New Zealand Listener, Volume 2, Issue 36, 1 March 1940, Page 43

WALKING TO WORK

. The A:C-E: Tells Us How To as Do It Properly. o person’s feet and legs are less efficient than they were in the good old days of Shanks’s mare. But now many people who formerly rolled off to work or play in their cars are going to have to walk, and it will do most of us a world of good. * But those who have made a study of the workings of human muscles and bones and the ideal posture of. the body at all times, tell us that to get the full benefits. from this new habit, we must walk in the right. way. of lack of. use the average modern It is a simple matter to understand the secret of good carriage. We ‘have three separate sections to our bodies-one of these is our skull, the next the cage made by our ribs and backbone, and the third is the ring made by our pelvis or hip bones and backbone. These parts are joined together, of course, by the neck and the lower part of the spine. The secret of good carriage and all that this bestows, is to hold oneself so that the skull is directly above the centre of the rib cage, and the rib cage directly above the. pelvic girdle or hip ring. A simple experiment will help us to see why. Suppose ‘three’ cotton reels represent our three sections. Put them one on top of the other. That corresponds to the ideal way to stand, so that an imaginary line drawn through the centre of the skull would go down through the centres of the rib cage, and the hip girdle, and strike the ground between the arches of the feet. » Now move your cotton reels so that the top one rests'more than: half-way across the second one, and you will find, unless you are using very squat, broadbased reels, that they will tip over unless you push the second one back a little. And that is exactly what happens to the line passing through the centre of skull, ribs and pelvis when someone stands and walks with his or her head jutting forward, ° ‘Next we come to the problem of how to balance the body on the legs. We want the hip girdle level and ‘the lower part of the back flat, not hollow, so the legs must walk along a little in front. of us. If you are hurrying down a slope and are not wearing terribly high heels, you will find that you keep your back well balanced and your head up but throw the legs and hips forward a little and take all the jar on the elastic, shock-absorbing thigh, knee, ankle and foot joints. If you do this, then try to get the feel of that hip position and of the position of the legs, and see if the way that you walk on the flat, is on the same principle. Of course, there is the question of feet, and how they. are shod. We can’t walk with a free swing and a well poised body if we are crippled with flat feet, corns or bunions, or if our heels are too high, our toes cramped, or the soles of our shoes so thin that the pavement or the stony roads bruise our feet. But one can have foot treatments, and one can buy attractive yet sensible shoes, that will be flat enough, wide enough, and thick-soled enough to make walking a pleasure-and water-proof enough to: give real protection in damp weather. Most women who walk to work will find that it pays well to buy an extra pair of shoes of this type if they have none already. They can change when they get to work. Those who do wear the same shoes all day, after walking to work in them, should be very careful to avoid patent leather, or wearing goloshes for longer than necessary, Patent leather or rubber keeps the moisture in, and after a brisk walk it is impossible for the feet not to have perspired to some extent. Feet, it seems, were intended to perspire a lot because we have more sweat glands to the square

AY inch on the sole of the foot than in any other part of the body, there being over 80,000 on the average-sized sole. Those whose feet need hardening can make a solution of camphor and methylated spirits: say sixpence worth of camphor in eight ounces of methylated spirits, and rub this into the feet at night. This is also good for the circulation and tends to check perspiration odours. Those who have studied the matter thoroughly tell us that to make a habit of this good carriage and smooth motion, when walking, will affect our poise, sporting skill, and dancing ability while we are young, and our figure, health, dignity, and authority as we get older. _ (From a talk prepared by .the A.C.E., Home Science Tutorial Section of the -University of Otago, and broadcast on February 26.)