WAKE UP AND WALK BACKWARDS!!!

Walking backwards may be frowned upon by your fellow gym goers but that is because they are not armed with the following information that will save your joints, improve your posture, balance, cardiovascular endurance and muscle tone!  Too good to be true right? WRONG!!!

Professor George Canning a 10th Dan martial artist and healer known worldwide as being a pioneer in the martial arts as well as being the founder of the Mugendo Kickboxing system showed me this almost 9 years ago.  I remember sweating profusely and being amazed with how out of breath I felt after 90 minutes of walking in reverse holding a  medicine ball above my head.  Take into account I trained three hours per day in the gym or kickboxing in my early twenties 6 days per week!

Here are a few reasons why walking backwards is great for you young or old!

1. Walking backwards increases cardiovascular endurance significantly more than walking forward under the same conditions.
2.  You will expend more energy and burn 20% more calories than those who work out at the same pace consistently for a longer duration.
3. If you suffer with shin splints walking backwards is a great way to help you strengthen the muscles on the shin bone or the tibialis anterior.
4. Using different modalities of exercise stimulates metabolism and promotes weight loss.
5. It is important to vary your exercises to protect your ligaments and tendons from overuse.   Your knee joints will thank you for walking in reverse in particular the patella (the joint where the kneecap glides on the knee)
6. Your sense of awareness as well as your peripheral vision and all your senses will improve as there is a certain element of danger associated with walking backwards as you can not always see where you are going.  (please always cross the road going forwards) LOL!
7. Walking backwards is good for your posture as you have to try harder to balance while going in reverse therefore you naturally engage your core to stop yourself falling over.
8. While walking backwards you are strengthening your anterior kinetic chain (the front of your body) which takes the strain off the backs of the upper legs (hamstrings) and lower back.
9. You are promoting good circulation and reducing your risk of lumbago (chronic lower back pain)
10. Hey there is nothing boring about walking backwards.  Using this following sequence next time you are running or walking

    JOG BACKWARDS 30 SECONDS
    JOG FORWARDS 30 SECONDS

    Complete this 3 times and it will amount to 3 minutes.

    Rest for 1 minute or do some dynamic stretching then repeat.