The Secrets of Running Back: Exploring Techniques and Benefits with the World Record Holder

The secrets of running with your back: we look at techniques and advantages together with the world record holder

Reverse-running will not only pump your muscles, it will also exercise your brain.

Has running become your usual cardio routine and you want something new? Then you should turn your back to the front and run like this. This will not only add variety, but also change the working muscle groups. However, before you start, it is worth studying the issue of walking and running backwards carefully.

World record holder for running backwards on a treadmill

“I have been training for a marathon backwards for two and a half years and I can say that if you are just starting to practice this way of moving, even 200-300 meters or 5-10 minutes of daily training will be a good help to practice a new skill. It will significantly strengthen the muscular apparatus and improve coordination.”

Benefits

There’s no doubt that humans are designed to move in the classic way – it’s more energy efficient and requires less effort. But running and walking with your back forward can activate muscles and brain areas that are left untapped in conventional training.

The fundamental difference between running and running is that in the first case there is no impact load on the knees – you always land on the toe, which is cushioned. In this regard, reverse-running is considered a safer type of exercise. After all, the inner surface of the thigh is included in the work, relieving the knee joint of the impact load and relieving it.

At the same time, according to research, the load on the cardiovascular and respiratory systems during running back is much higher than in classical running. This is also due to the shorter and more frequent steps. The amount of energy expended increases, which means that the process of burning extra pounds is also accelerated.

Nikolai Kotenkov: And at first I could not agree with it – the difference seemed too big. But when I ran for six hours, overcoming pain syndrome, I felt this load on myself.

Reverse-running strengthens your knees and engages parts of your body that are not used during normal running, including the muscles of the back and inner thigh, as well as stabilizer muscles. And most importantly, coordination is practiced because it’s an unconventional task for the brain.

Tips for running with your back

1. Practicing running and walking with your back, it is important to regularly look over your shoulder, this will allow you not to run into an obstacle. A very good “trick” is to practice on a track. At first, you can stick with one hand on the handrail. This way you can significantly reduce the risk of falling and work on your coordination more safely.
2. On the road or in the woods there are often roots, rocks, turns, and even a small hole can lead to a fall and cause muscle or ligament damage. If you choose to train outdoors, it is advisable to walk and run on flat surfaces where the risk of falling is minimized.
3. If you plan to run back-to-front for a long time, you should take care to rest, as this is a significant strain on the whole body. During a back-to-back marathon, participants rest every hour for 10 minutes, which allows them to recover well and maintain the necessary speed.
4. "(《世界人权宣言》)main mistake is not keeping your back straight and bending over a lot. This can lead to overstretching of the back muscles. In general, however, the technique should be each individual, depending on anthropometric and physiological features. Some people need to run “on the heel”, and many world champions and record holders run this way, while it is considered more correct to run “on the toe” or on the entire surface of the foot. When it comes to running and walking with your back to the front, you can only run on your toes – you just can’t do it any other way.

How to train running with my back?

You can use additional weights to improve your performance during training . When you walk or run back, put on a backpack weighing 5-10 kg. It will be more difficult during the exercise, but the muscles will strengthen faster, and then it will be easier to walk and run without the backpack.

A good exercise for practicing running and walking with your back is wide back lunges. Which are great for loading the leg muscles, especially the glutes and thighs.

Wide back lunges

Technique

• Stand up straight, straighten your shoulders, fix your feet on the width of the pelvis. Arms either down or extended in front of you.
• Transfer the body weight to the right leg.
• As you inhale, extend your left leg backward, taking a wide step, place it on the toe. At the same time, lower yourself down by bending your right leg.
• Make sure that the right knee does not go beyond the toe and the left knee does not touch the floor. Do not increase the deflection in the lower back.
• As you exhale, push off the floor with your left foot and lift yourself up.
• After the required number of repetitions, perform on the other side.

Include new interesting exercises in your workouts. They will help you to develop your body in a complex way, to become stronger and more enduring.