How walking backwards can help strengthen your mind and body
The benefits of walking backwards can mean an increased quality of life and reduced pain for those suffering from osteoarthritis.
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For many people, walking is one of the easiest, low-impact forms of exercise. Every step can help increase one’s metabolism and, for some of us, help decrease our guilt about eating all those holiday cookies.
One form of walking, however, can reap some benefits that the traditional forward gait can’t provide: walking backwards. This non-traditional form of movement can help strengthen minds, muscles and joints.
The health benefits
Walking along a path. (Arek Adeoye / Unsplash / FOX Weather)
One of the benefits of walking backwards is that it can help strengthen your mind and coordination.
"Doing something like challenging the body to walk backwards requires actually quite a lot of coordination, quite a lot of effort, and it's asking your brain to do something it's not as used to doing," McNamara said.
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He noted how recovering stroke victims, who are re-learning how to walk, may benefit from rehabilitation exercises that include walking backwards. By mastering the challenging task of walking backwards, they are strengthening their coordination skills and can improve in a less challenging form of movement, walking forward.
At a clinic specializing in rehabilitation after a stroke of head injury, a patient undergoes rehabilitation. (BSIP / Universal Images Group / Getty Images)
Another benefit to walking backwards is the strengthening of muscles and joints.
According to McNamara, when you take a step back, two of the four major muscles in our thighs tend to work a bit harder than if you were taking a step forward. Because those two muscles are working a little bit more, they are becoming a little bit stronger, which helps bring stability to the knee and relieves the knee of some pressure.
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This can sometimes mean an increased quality of life and reduced pain for those suffering from osteoarthritis of the knee, noted McNamara.
Older man taking a stroll. (Education Images / Universal Images Group / Getty Images)
Walking backwards also burns more calories.
This is because walking backwards works out muscle groups that aren’t typically used when you walk forward. It also involves taking shorter strides and more of them, rather than the longer strides taken when walking forward. More muscles are also activated to keep you upright and prevent you from falling back.
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While walking backwards leads to greater energy expenditure, McNamara cautions that it might not be the best exercise choice for weight management. Instead, he said the exercise is better suited for strength and resistance training.
The best way to walk backwards
A young man walks backwards across the field below the school so he can see his footprints in the snow. (Paul Aiken / Digital First Media / Boulder Daily Camera / Getty Images)
Anyone interested in walking backwards should take into account the logistics involved.
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Unlike walking forward, which a person could do for hours or diverse types of terrain, walking backwards for an extended amount of time would require a path that’s even and level. To ensure the safest environment for walking backwards, McNamara advised walking backwards on a treadmill, as it provides a straight, level and unobstructed route.
Redskins offensive lineman Morgan Moses (76)pulls a wight sled during day 4 of the Washington Redskins summer training camp in Richmond VA, August 1, 2016. (John McDonnell / The Washington Post / Getty Images)
Instead of a long duration of walking backwards, however, he recommended that people walk backwards for shorter periods of time and that they create resistance by dragging something while they walk.
He noted how athletes, such as NFL players, may undergo strength training by weighing down a sled drag and then pulling it toward them as they walk backwards. This resistance training is a standard form of exercise for many teams.