June 26, 2024
Want to take your fitness and health to the next level? Consider walking backwards as a novel exercise method to step up your fitness routine beyond the traditional jogging style.
The benefits of walking backwards are suggested by scientific evidence and phenomena, and here we take a closer look at its benefits as recommended by Dr Surender Pal Singh, Head of Physiotherapy, CK Birla Hospital, Delhi. He outlines the various benefits that this simple habit can bring:
- Strengthen your core and glutes: Walking backwards strengthens these muscles, improving your posture, increasing stability and reducing back pain.
- Improves neuromuscular control: Strengthening your proprioception improves your body awareness and coordination, ultimately allowing for more controlled and efficient body movements in any activity.
- Reduce strain on your knees: Walking backwards minimizes the impact on the knee joint compared to jogging, so people with knee problems, especially the elderly, can practice walking backwards to improve their health.
- Boosts metabolism: Increases resting metabolic heart rate and helps burn calories.
- Treating Arthritis: Arthritis literally means inflammation of the joints. Joints are the various places where two bones join together. There are different types of arthritis, with different causes and treatments. Depending on the type, other organs like eyes, ears, and skin may also be affected. Therefore, walking backwards can be used to treat arthritis.
- Improves cardiovascular fitness: Provides more oxygen to the heart and lungs during exercise.
- Prevent injuries and improve sports performance: Scientifically recommended to improve athletes’ training, especially rugby players, who run backwards an average of 3.6-5.4m after every tackle, which acts as an injury prevention tool. Reports show that professional handball players run backwards 3.4% of their total distance, and even elite soccer players run backwards 3-4% of their total match distance.
While walking backwards has many benefits, it is very important to be aware of who can do this practice and who should seek psychological and physiological advice. Dr. Singh advises caution for people with neuromuscular disorders that affect balance and coordination, such as cough perception disorders and sensory integration disorders. It is easy to consult a medical professional before starting, especially if you have health concerns.
Overall, walking backwards is a new vibe in the modern fitness routine and can give great strength and power to the average fitness enthusiast and professional athletes, however, you should seriously consider the health precautions and medical equipment to ensure the health of yourself and those around you.
