Find out how little time you really need to walk backwards on a treadmill to reap benefits.
You don’t need to spend a lot of time walking backwards on a treadmill to experience positive results.
I do this all the time. As a former personal trainer for a large gym, I fully endorse this type of movement.
Plus, only a few minutes once a week will yield a training effect — if done correctly, that is.
Why do I walk backwards on a treadmill?
It produces a different pattern of neuromuscular recruitment.
It shakes things up a little for my body.
It forces total core engagement and good posture when walking — as long as you’re NOT holding on (more of that coming up).
I’ll walk backwards on the treadmill at 4 mph and really pump my arms, and I do this for only a few minutes at the conclusion of a traditional workout on the machine.
A few minutes are all you need of backwards walking to promote growth of new neuro-connections.
This type of movement also improves balance and coordination, but only if you don’t hold on.
Obese Woman in Her 50’s Improves Walking by Walking Backwards on a Treadmill
I had an obese client in her 50s do slow backwards walking, without holding on, and over time, this improved her gait considerably.
If you feel as though you’ll fall off, start out very slowly. If this means 1 mph, then so be it.
Humble yourself and go very slowly instead of holding on and using the resulting unnatural gait at a faster speed.
Holding on causes bad and unnatural posture and gait pattern, from top to bottom.
Hands on the treadmill totally defeats the purpose and benefits of a backward walk.
- Observe someone walking backwards who’s holding on.
- Their posture is terrible. They may even appear as though they’re about to fall backwards on their fanny, because the holding on enables them to assume bad body positioning while still “walking.”
- Letting go makes you stand tall and square.
You might be thinking that walking backwards would be really awkward since we don’t have eyes in the back of our head.
However, we do have proprioception: the ability to know where our body is in space as we move it.
An awkward feel to an exercise is nothing new; lots of exercises feel awkward.
For example, who doesn’t feel “awkward” while doing a single-leg dumbbell deadlift, a barbell hip thrust, planks, mountain climbers or wall squats? What about yoga positions?
Awkwardness begets results. It forces your body to adapt and become more efficient.
Benefits of walking backward on treadmill: gets different muscle fibers involved; promotes improved balance; strengthens ankles; forces correct posture — all when you don’t hold on.
Drawbacks: I can’t think of any, quite frankly, other than some treadmills might spontaneously stop while you’re walking backwards because the machine can somehow sense that the user is moving the “wrong” way.
However, I’ve never actually heard of this happening, and the one and a million chance that it might, shouldn’t deter you.
There are many more conventional exercises that have higher built-in risks.
