A tiny bit early as I’m not sure I’ll have time in the next two days, but here we are for the last time, the 12th of our monthly explorations of chapters from Annabelle Tweed’s book “52 Ways to Walk”.
★★★ Walk backwards ★★★
Well, as some of you may know, I’ve already been practising to walk backwards. From the whole walk I did some weeks ago to embedding backwards walking into my jeffing sessions to integrating a one-minute backward walk at the halfway point on my out-and-back runs, backwards walking has become an integral part of my walking and running and their associated training plans. And I think my legs are the better for it, as is my back.
So yes, I’ve sort of jumped the gun on this chapter. I have tried some things out, which, I think, worked very well for me, so I was looking forward to sharing with everyone some of the tips contained in this chapter.
Annabel Street starts with a story of Plennie Wingo, who in 1931 set out to claim the world record for walking the world in reverse! He did have side mirrors attached to his glasses, which arguably made it easier. I don’t have those. But he managed to secure his place in the Guinness Book of World Records, clocking up more than 7000 miles and wearing more than 70 pairs of shoes. He lived to the ripe old age of 98, regularly walking backwards and always maintaining that it was good for his health.
So in this chapter, we hear that scientific evidence suggests that the best way to improve your forward walking is strangely to walk backwards. The story goes that we use a completely set of muscles from our core and lower body, and that strengthening those helps our entire lower body to work more effectively .
It also improves our balance and stability. And this makes somehow sense to me.
I remember trying out backwards walking way back when I was starting on my couch to 5K journey.
And at that time it felt awkward, out of balance and I couldn’t walk backwards for longer periods of time. three years on, and my backwards walking is solid, stable, and I feel very well balanced. So all that running has actually improved my backwards walking, and I’m hoping the reverse is true as well.
But Annabel suggests there’s something else at play as well. When we walk without our eyes to guide us, we have to rely on more of our proprioception and the multitude of smaller muscles that help keep us balanced. And this heightened sense of self, of one’s limbs and feet and toes, and ankles, and then add to this the sensing of the ground, the pebbles, the slight slants, all, without seeing it, without using one’s mighty visual senses, it trains your whole body to adapt without the help of sight.
Walking is physically more demanding, the chapter goes on to say, and yes, having walked a whole walk of around 30 minutes, I felt it in my glutes. It’s a workout, alright.
She mentions that when we walk backwards, we land on our toes, and we engage our shin muscles and glutes, as well as our quads, all working harder than when we walk forward. So, it’s an excellent workout.
Another benefit, she suggests, is that it makes our hamstrings more flexible, and with all of that, it improves our posture.
I don’t know for sure, but I get a sense that backwards walking has improved my back pain, which I normally get when I walk for more than 20 minutes. So, quite often now, when I walk for longer periods of time and when my back starts to hurt, I walk for a few minutes backwards. And this seems to minimise my backache; it often actually disappears.
Something about the realigning of the pelvis through the motion of backward walking might explain all this: “A 2011 study found that 10 minutes of reverse walking, four times a week, reduced lower back pain after only three weeks. “
There are also the suggested benefits of improving speed, stride, and gait. It also strengthens our joints, often used in physiotherapy, specifically on treadmills. So you will find it in rehabilitation training plans, specifically for people with impaired movement, including rheumatoid arthritis, strokes, Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy, Multiple Sclerosis, and spinal or knee injuries.
Even a study of children with ADHD found that walking backwards regularly for 10 minutes could help them focus longer.
And then there is just simply the joy of walking backwards. She mentions the fact that when we walk backwards, we actually walk out of the landscape; the vista widens rather than narrows.
So as we walk, the landscape around us expands, and unfolds, revealing itself slowly and mysteriously.
I thought that was a lovely way of describing what I experienced when I walked backwards.
Initially, I felt quite self-conscious, telling every passerby apologetically that I was walking back. As if they couldn’t see this with their own eyes.
But now I just do it as part of my walks, or as part of my run. it’s integral, and I laugh with passers-by confidently.
I enjoy the act of backwards walking; it does tend to focus you, and I’ll leave you with this quote contained in this chapter:
“When we walk forwards, we can forget our body and exist solely in our mind. But when we walk backwards, we abandon the mind and exist solely in our body. “
Some tips from her and me:
- Find a level path without traffic to try out your backward walking. Somewhere, you feel safe.
- Focus on each step; take smaller steps at first
- Land on your toes and roll back to your heels.
- See if you can include backward walking in all your runs or walks; even if it’s just a minute of backward walking, you’ll find that you might enjoy it.
- Once you have gotten used to it, try walking to music, which can encourage you to try out different types of gaits of walks, half dances or shuffles. Backwards walking gives you another set of options on how to move your body when you move your body. It’s fun!
Happy walking, everyone. And let us know how you get on when you try to ….
★★★ … walk backwards ★★★
And if you need a themed song playlist to get you in the mood for walking backwards, head to: open.spotify.com/playlist/4...
And here’s a little podcast-like music playlist with music for jeffing, with the walking intervals encouraging you to walk backwards: open.spotify.com/episode/30...
And for your reference, our prior THEMED CHALLENGES ARE:
★ January Challenge - Walk in the Cold healthunlocked.com/active10...
★ February Challenge - Take a 12-min walk healthunlocked.com/active10...
★ March Challenge - Take a City Smell Walk healthunlocked.com/active10...
★ April Challenge -Walk with your Ears healthunlocked.com/active10...
★ May Challenge - Follow a River healthunlocked.com/active10...
★ June Challenge - Walk with a Map healthunlocked.com/active10...
★ July Challenge - Sing as you Stride healthunlocked.com/active10...
★ August Challenge - walk like a nomad and breathe in rhythm to your stride healthunlocked.com/active10...
★ September Challenge - Take a Foraging Walk healthunlocked.com/active10...
★ October Challenge - Walk after Eating healthunlocked.com/active10...
★ November Challenge - Walk hungry healthunlocked.com/active10...
