Being Fit – Walking Forwards & Backwards
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Being Fit – Walking Forwards & Backward
One of our most natural movements is walking. It improves our well-being at any pace. On an energetic walk, the body burns fat for energy and the heart beats faster to deliver needed oxygen to the muscles, brain, and other organs. In this way, walking maintains our cardiovascular system, relieves tension and anxiety, and promotes a positive state of mind. Photosynthesizing plants in deserts, meadows, forests, and other natural areas release an abundance of life-sustaining oxygen into the air, as they use sunlight to synthesize carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water for their nourishment. When sunshine lands on our skin, it enables the body to synthesize Vitamin D, the “sunshine vitamin.” Hill walking and mountaineering across beautiful landscapes engages the senses and enhances the enjoyment, challenge, and health benefits of walking.
Walking backwards has unique advantages, exercising less-used muscles and improving balance. Like bending the knees, once-in-awhile. to take far-reaching strides, walking backwards adds variety to a walking routine. Walking backwards can give the muscles that move you forward a break when they get tired. It is important to scope out the safety of the path ahead of you before turning your eyes away to walk backwards. Strengthening the muscles that are used in walking backwards protects the joints and can aid in healing knee injuries. Sports health advocate Ben Patrick explains how walking backwards “. . . takes away the usual heel-strike, requires less range of motion in your joints than walking forward and changes your pelvic alignment to open joints in your spine - potentially easing off back pain (Patrick, 2021). An ancient Chinese proverb states, “One hundred steps backward is worth one thousand steps forward” (The Knees Over Toes Guy, 2017).
One of our most natural movements is walking. It improves our well-being at any pace. On an energetic walk, the body burns fat for energy and the heart beats faster to deliver needed oxygen to the muscles, brain, and other organs. In this way, walking maintains our cardiovascular system, relieves tension and anxiety, and promotes a positive state of mind. Photosynthesizing plants in deserts, meadows, forests, and other natural areas release an abundance of life-sustaining oxygen into the air, as they use sunlight to synthesize carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water for their nourishment. When sunshine lands on our skin, it enables the body to synthesize Vitamin D, the “sunshine vitamin.” Hill walking and mountaineering across beautiful landscapes engages the senses and enhances the enjoyment, challenge, and health benefits of walking.
Walking backwards has unique advantages, exercising less-used muscles and improving balance. Like bending the knees, once-in-awhile. to take far-reaching strides, walking backwards adds variety to a walking routine. Walking backwards can give the muscles that move you forward a break when they get tired. It is important to scope out the safety of the path ahead of you before turning your eyes away to walk backwards. Strengthening the muscles that are used in walking backwards protects the joints and can aid in healing knee injuries. Sports health advocate Ben Patrick explains how walking backwards “. . . takes away the usual heel-strike, requires less range of motion in your joints than walking forward and changes your pelvic alignment to open joints in your spine - potentially easing off back pain (Patrick, 2021). An ancient Chinese proverb states, “One hundred steps backward is worth one thousand steps forward” (The Knees Over Toes Guy, 2017).
References
Patrick, B. (2021). ATG: backward walking progression. https://www.reddit.com/r/Kneesovertoes/comments/jkz3fe/atg_backward_walking_progression/.
The Knees Over Toes Guy. (2017). #1 Exercise for Longevity Ft. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZG1BBHKPMo.
Amy Wing, Holistic Health Educator,
Nature’s Hearth
Website: www.naturesheart.net
Email: ajw.habitat@gmail.com
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