The zen of walking backward

Like a lot of people my age, I occasionally have lower back pain, and I’d heard about studies showing that walking backward on a treadmill significantly reduced discomfort among participants.

     I figured it might be kind of like turning back the odometer on a car – make the model appear a little newer than it actually is.

     So yesterday, I tried it for the first time.

     One study, at the University of Nevada, found positive results among participants who walked backward for 15 minutes three times a week because the activity increased flexibility of the low back, “resulting in greater sagittal (from front to back) and coronal (frontal) range of motion.” And who doesn’t want better sagittals and coronals?

     One proviso: The scientists said this backward walking should be done without hanging on to the railings on the treadmill – a challenge for this walker, who’s a white-knuckled rail-clutcher even when walking forward.

     Another proviso: If you try it, start at a really slow speed, because walking backward on a treadmill is harder than you think.

     It feels weird. Instead of striking the belt with your heel first, you’re stepping on the ball of your foot and rolling it backward. But you’re also not “loading” the knee joint, which is the cause of pain among a lot of hikers and climbers.

     It’s also hard to keep your balance, or at least it was for someone like me without a great sense of balance (no flamingo yoga poses for this kid).

     But I learned that, by focusing on a spot across the room, I could get into a kind of meditative mindset that allowed me to hit a rhythm and almost forget about what I was doing. This, despite the discomfort I felt almost immediately at the top of both legs, where they meet the body.

     The first five minutes of backward walking went by really slowly; for the other 10, I nearly forgot I was there.

     Did it work? Well, I’ve only done it once so far and the studies I researched were among subjects who practiced backward walking for weeks. I plan to keep at it.

     And this morning, when Rick asked me how my sore back was doing, I told him I’d forgotten I had one.