Head into any gym, and you may find someone walking backward on a treadmill. While some may be employing reverse motion as part of a physical therapy regimen, others may be doing so to boost their physical fitness and overall health, according to CNN.
“I think it’s amazing to add in some backwards motion to your day. People are sitting way too much today, plus they lack varied movement,” said Grayson Wickham, a physical therapist at Lux Physical Therapy and Functional Medicine in New York City.
Quite a few studies have been done on the potential benefits of walking backward. Participants who walked backward on a treadmill for 30 minutes at a time over four weeks increased their balance, walking pace and cardiopulmonary fitness, according to a March 2021 study.
In addition, a group of women decreased their body fat and boosted their cardiorespiratory fitness after a six-week program of backward running and walking, according to a clinical trial, the results of which were published in an April 2005.
Other studies indicate backward motion may help those with knee osteoarthritis and chronic back pain, plus improve gait and balance.
Backward walking may even sharpen your mind and help you become more mindful, as your brain needs to be more alert when moving in this novel fashion. For this reason, plus the fact that backward motion helps with balance, older adults may especially benefit from incorporating some backward strolls into their routine, as one 2021 study of patients with chronic stroke indicates.
- Switch up the muscles you’re using
Why is backward motion so helpful? “When you’re propelling yourself forward, that’s a hamstring-dominant movement. If you’re walking backwards, it’s a role reversal, where your quads are firing and you’re doing knee extensions,” said Landry Estes, a certified strength and conditioning specialist in College Station, Texas.
As a result, you’re working different muscles, which is always beneficial, plus gaining strength. “Strength overcomes a lot of deficiencies,” Estes said.
You’re also moving your body in an atypical way. Most people spend their days living and moving in the sagittal plane (forward and backward motion), and almost exclusively in the forward sagittal plane, Wickham said.
“The body adapts to the positions and movements and postures you do most often. That can lead to tight muscles and joints, which leads to joint compensation, then to joint wear and tear, and then pain and injury. The more we can add in varied movement into our day-to-day activities or in the gym, it’s so much more beneficial for the body,” Wickham said.
