I wanted to start this research topic with the following phrase, "As a short man..." but then I realised I am not particularly short. Also, that is not the topic of this research paper.
One of the things I have always wanted to achieve in life is the ability to walk faster, without straining. This was brought about by two things:
To gather data to enable me to come to the conclusions of this paper, I did the following two things:
You can call this methodology qualitative analysis: observation outside the lab in the real world.
I observed members of different communities walk in this manner, so you cannot say that itbis tribe x who walk faster; however, I think this is still inportant because of the influence of lifestyle: members of pastoral and nomadic communities seem to walk faster than traditional sedentary farmers because they walk more. Therefore, if members of a "traditionally" sedentary community walk (or run) a lot as part of their daily routine, then these people will also walk faster.
The people I observed walking fast came from the Maasai, Nandi, Gusii, Bukusu and some other 'Kalenjin' communities.
People who walked faster executed their walks the following ways:
Most people, when walking, hit the ground with their heels to brake, slap the soles of their feet on the ground and then rotate their fit using the balls of the feet as pivots. This is a time-consuming process.
What people who walk faster do with their feet goes like this:
a) Do that process but much faster. This I observed in my Gusii watchee. He also seemed to flap his arms more vigorously than other 'participants' in this exercise.
b)Bypass the heel-brake and the sole slap to just hit the ground with the balls of the feet. As a result, the achilles tendon acts more like a spring which lifts up the other leg far away from the ground to enable it to swing farther. This one is observable among the Nandi. To observe it yourself, travel in Uasin Gishu and Nandi counties of Kenya and observe the guys playing volleyball or high jump by the roadside in the evening.
c) Do (a) but spring at the toes. This makes you lean slightly forward and still has the effect of (b). You will not have to flap your arms around as much.
d) I have observed among Maasai herdsmen the tendency to brake with their heels and then spring using their toes immediately. This could be a consequence of my watching people walk with tyre sandals and failing to observe the sole slap.
People who walk faster seem to lean slightly forward when walking. This seems to produce a forward momentum and to reduce the amount of heel-braking required. They thus bounce on the ballf of their feet more. Their backs are of normal posture and are not hunched forwards in a "computer witch" position either.
Another important aspect of posture is relaxation. People whose walk has not been adjusted by lifestyle, disease or catastrophe generally have relaxed postures which allow for higher ranges of motion and therefore faster motion.
When walking, especially empty-handed, we generally tend to forget the presence of our arms until something happens, something happens to them or we need to use them.
However, they also perform three important functions when walking: coordination, retaining balance and propelling us forward. If you look at a marching person whose arm moves forward at the same time as the corresponding leg, they walk awkwardly and if you push them, they will easily fall backward. When swinging the arm in tandem with the opposite leg, however, they have better balance and movement control.
Now, because these arms also have some weight, they have the effect of pushing or pulling the body when applied while walking, running or jumping respectively. They push the body in the direction opposite to the direction of the swing thus, the more (vigorously) you swing your arm -especially backwards-, the faster you are able to walk*or run. But when running you will get fatigued faster.*
There is much to be said about this topic, but I would like to mention just one or two things.
First, footwear affects comfort in very many ways. When walking, the shoe should feel comfortable and should not hurt the foot or impede movement in any way.
Second, footwear affects how the foot turns, expands and contracts to meet the ground. A flatter heel therefore may increase the amount of braking the heel does and slow you down.
Third, footwear affects the bounce of your foot. A plastic sole has less bounce than a rubber sole.
Fourth, footwear modifies how you move. If you walk barefoot, the way your foot interacts with the ground necessarily changes with the type of surface you walk on. People who are used to walking barefoot as part of their day to day routines walk with more agility and grace than their counterparts who don't.
Lastly, footwear affects how your feet grip the ground, adjust to its contours and generate movement. The foot is designed like a hand, to adjust itself to the ground automatically. Harder soles reduce friction and conformity of the foot to the ground compared to softer soles such as rubber soles.
Is this section a must?
Naah, knock yourself out.