Also - is this even worth my time?
Also - is this even worth my time?
My college cross country team did some backwards running. We were often D1 top ten.
Somewhat related anecdote wrote:
My college cross country team did some backwards running. We were often D1 top ten.
and the benefit is???
I was told that it would help strengthen opposing muscle groups (to what you use in running forward). I was further told that this would help prevent injury.
I take no stand on whether any of this is true.
Bob Schul did backwards running and he won a gold in the Olympics.
Backwards running is like doing the eccentric exercises for the achilles - the toe drops... but it does the same thing for the hamstrings.
Xfit does a workout (forget the name) with backward running. They do run 800m, run 400m backward. Repeat three times for time. Don't know what a good time is in the xfit world but I'd be curious to see what real runners could do it in.
I think Bruce Lee did a lot of backwards running as well although he wasn't an elite runner per say but well conditioned otherwise...
Sure, Hall has been going backwards for a few years now...
lol
Chuck Norris does backwards ultras every weekend.
Backwards running is great. I like to do a few of my 5 mile morning runs backwards every week. Be careful not to overdo it though. A good rule of thumb is that no more than 25% of your weekly mileage should be backwards running.
I thought this might add to the conversation: http://www.recordholders.org/en/list/backwards-running.html