Ascents: aim to ‘walk-tall’ - to stretch-up and free your lower ribs which will allow better chest expansion and easier breathing; this is especially important on an ascent. Leaning forward will only encourage a stoop and this poor posture makes it harder work for your muscle-and-bone levers, and harder work to breathe. Instead try to keep the top of your head and trunk pushing-upwards almost vertically towards the sky. The thrust is coming from your legs positioned almost directly underneath your trunk (rather than pushing-off from further behind as they did when you were walking on the flat). Similarly the vertical thrust down of your arm’s action wants to be at your side, parallel with your trunk -so your hands move like pistons at your side (not out in front) as they push down on the handles to thrust you upwards.

Descents: the habit of over-reaching the whole arm away from the body, with the shaft acting as a prop often stems from using conventional poles. Alternative actions better suited to using the whole of the body more effectively, can be controlled using Pacerpoles.
As a general picture, the trunk is lowered on a descent like an upended box. Aim to keep this box aligned over your feet and not lean back too far or arch too far forward. When the right shaft and left leg move down-slope, the left elbow and right knee bend to lower and off-load the trunk onto this new support base in front. These points in ground contact are alternating beneath your ‘upended box’ for each step of descent; your general stride length will affect how efficiently (and safely) this happens.

Descents/Stride length: taking longer strides on a descent increases the extent that the trailing knee/elbow has to bend in order to lower the trunk onto the advancing front supports. This increased range of movement at the joints, controlled by using ‘eccentric’ muscle work is tiring to sustain (safety factor) and potentially painful for a loaded knee joint having to transfer weight over a greater range of joint action.
Instead, taking smaller strides makes it easier for the body to keep a better alignment, with less stress. It can also mean a shorter phase for the foot/shaft to be off the ground (safety factor) as the swing through can be completed quicker before touching the ground (plus only needing a smaller range of joint movement is an additional benefit).
Keep the knees slightly bent. This shortens the stride, and the foot is placed a little flatter so there’s a bigger surface area in ground contact, which can help to avoid a heel skid...........(continue)