Why does it feel natural to take two steps at a time climbing up stairs sometimes but not while going down?
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Because when exerting the extra effort to climb two stairs at a time, the muscles you use to do it are at their maximum length, whereas when you have to control your descend going multiple stairs at once the muscles you use are already almost fully contracted and can’t easily maintain the same level of control and power output.
My theory would be that when you go up you (A) can see more clearly the steps ahead making navigation easier and (B) your weight is tending upwards so that were you to fall you’d likely just end up flat on the steps with recovery being simple. In contrast, going down two at a time you (A) cannot so easily see the second step ahead of you as it is partially obscured by the next step down and (B) your weight is tending downwards and were you to fall you would stand every chance of falling down the whole flight and injure yourself.
Cause you haven’t trained yourself to do it. I used to take 2 steps down and it felt just as natural to me back then. Now I dn’t do it anymore and neither feels natural
I don’t experience it that much, but if it’s something universal it’s probably because it’s easier to pull on your leg to lift yourself than it is to basically fall. The “pulling” movement is also the only one your leg can make, I don’t know if you’ve noticed but there’s no “reverse” movement, so walking downstairs doesn’t require any real muscles contraction. So it feel more natural
Because it feels much more natural to lean forward (going up) then lean back (going down) in order to keep your center of gravity in line.
When you go upwards, you are in a stable, controlled position, your muscles taut and directing your movements. Downwards you experience miniature falls unless you strain your butt and thigh muscles which most people don’t. Falling too much is uncomfortable for the knees and ankles which take the brunt of the hit.
Maybe if you walked backwards, or when your knees and hip could bend in both direction, taking two steps while descending would feel more safe an natural too.
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