Walking is a low-impact form of cardiovascular exercise that benefits your body a number of ways. Aside from the fact that it burns calories, walking enhances mood, and reduces the risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes. Walking also works multiple muscles, especially in the lower body. When you walk on your toes, you emphasize a particular area.
Calves
The ankle is a mobile joint that moves the foot up, down and side to side. Plantar flexion takes place when you bend your ankle and point your toes downward. You perform plantar flexion repetitively every time you push off the ground while walking normally. By walking on your toes, your calf muscles stay in a contracted state so they get more work. The two parts of the calves are the gastrocnemius and soleus. The gastroc has a lateral and medial head and it sits posterior to, or in back of, the soleus.
Gluteals
The gluteus maximus, medius and minimus are known collectively as the gluteals and they sit in the buttock region. This muscle group is one of the largest in the body and it gets activated when you move your thigh into hip extension. While walking on your toes, you perform hip extension when your leg moves behind your body.
Quadriceps
Hip flexion is the opposite movement pattern to hip extension. Every time you move your thigh forward, you perform hip flexion. During toe walking, this works the large quadriceps muscles on the anterior side of the thighs. Anterior means in the front. The quads also get worked when you perform knee extension. You extend your knee when you move it from a bent to straight position. This movement is more subtle when you walk on your toes than when walking regularly. The main parts of the quads are the rectus femoris, vastus medialis, vastus intermedius and vastus lateralis.
Hamstrings
The hamstrings consist of the semitendinosus, semimembranosus and biceps femoris. These muscles get activated when you perform hip extension. The biceps femoris has a long and short head. You also work your hamstrings during knee flexion, the motion where your heel moves toward your butt when bending your knee. In similar fashion to knee extension, this motion is limited while walking on your toes.
Hip Flexors
The hip flexors, consisting of the iliacus and psoas major, get activated when you perform hip flexion. This muscle group runs from the pelvic bone down to the top of the femur which is the largest bone in the human body.
Abs
The abdominal muscles consist of the rectus abdominis, inner and and outer obliques and transverse abdominis. All parts of the abs contract when you walk on your toes to stabilize your body and help produce force. The transverse abdominis is an internal muscle that allows you to suck your stomach in. Every time you breathe, you work this muscle. The more intensely you walk, the more work the abs will get.
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