Apparently I walk on the outsides of my feet. This is something my mother noticed when I was younger (early teenager) because only the outside of the soles of my shoes were getting worn; in some cases the shoes you could actually see that the shoes leaned outward when I wasn’t wearing them. She started really watching me walk, and found that I sort of roll my foot outward as I walk - starting with the heel centered and rolling to my pinky toe. Hmmm.
I still walk on the outsides of my feet, but I’m not pigeon-toed. And it still drives mom up the wall.
This is giving me the giggles. I keep picturing people following me around like brave Sir Robin, doing commentary on my terrible running form. I bend my arms, but keep them relaxed. I do not pump though, maybe that’s the problem.
Everybody comments that I walk funny. I think this stems from someone making a rude and inappropriate observation when I was very young, and in an effort to try to walk ‘normal’ I acquired some unusual gait that I got into the habit of doing. I don’t know exactly what I’m doing wrong; the comments people made to me were far from helpful and now I have a complex about it :mad:
I tend to walk fast, partly because I don’t like to waste time, and partly because I’ve spent many years going around with long-legged skinny friends. I also walk on the front portion of my feet (not the toes so much as the ball of the foot) most of the time–this is partially the result of martial arts training, and partially because I just walk faster that way.
A number of people have commented that it seems strange to see a man my size move the way I do. I have decided to take it as a compliment.
I did something unpleasant to my left leg at the gym the other day, so lately walking is a very tedious, conscious exercise. I figure that even though I’m not limping, my gait must be obviously different from normal.
In normal times, I think I sort of sway side to side as I walk – at least that’s what the kids in high school looked like when they were teasing me. Even though they were obviously exaggerating, they must have gotten the idea somewhere.
Oh yeah… I think I have a hunched-over posture. It comes from being tall – sort of an unconscious response to not being at eye level with most folks, and avoiding hitting low-hanging obstacles. When I see myself on video, I am not pleased with this posture and I frequently attempt to stand straight and tall.
I walk fast as well; I’ve had friends tell me to stop so they can catch their breath. I think it started in college, when I’d have 15 minutes between classes to walk across the huge UGA campus. (I was way too cool to ride the bus. Also I could never figure out the bus schedule.)
I also walk (and stand) with a weird, leaning-backwards sort of posture. I’ve noticed lately that my lower back actually curves backward, and if I look in a mirror and try to stand with my back straight, I can’t. If I stand in what looks like some approximation of standing straight up, I feel like I’m leaning way over forward, as if chastising a dog or something. It’s very strange.
I should preface this by saying I am really short. So, whenever I am walking with others, I don’t “walk” at all - I move at a relatively stable pace, but it’s definitely a trot. My brother (6 feet tall) noticed that I take exactly two steps for each of his steps. As for any funniness to the walking itself, I know I am the opposite of pigeon-toed to some extent… so I kinda walk like a duck, I think.
The good side to all this is that no one really comments on my walking, because there are so many more OBVIOUS things to pick on me about.
I never realized that I walk funny until I got a dog this winter and started walking him. In the snow, when we’d backtrack when the dog got on a sniffing quest, all of a sudden my human companions and I noticed, hey my footprints point out at like 45 degrees! Assorted “helpful” co-walkers said, Can’t you walk straight? Well, no, doggone it! My dog has never commented and that’s why I keep him around.
Eeek! I have just noticed that I also sit at the computer with my feet in the same funny position. Now I’m scarred for SDMB too.
I walk pretty normally…I think. :dubious: However, one of my co-workers has a rather amusing gait. He swings his arms so high that they become parallel to the floor. At the same time, he leans slightly backwards. The overall effect is akin to the goose-stepping armies of old. (without the actual goose-stepping). Somehow I don’t think he’s conscious of this either.
I walk on my toes, well, the balls(quiet children please!) of my feet, as do both of my kids; I have been told that I have a very springy looking walk (somebody once said that they saw me in town, but recognised me from the legs upwards).
I don’t usually walk funny, except for times like this when I’m having a gout attack. Today I’m walking like the universe will end if my left big toe touches the ground. Dammit.
