When you run downhill normally you're suppose to lean forward rather than back. Should I be leaning forward (head to toes) vs more upright posture as I'm running downhill backward to maximise speed?
When you run downhill normally you're suppose to lean forward rather than back. Should I be leaning forward (head to toes) vs more upright posture as I'm running downhill backward to maximise speed?
Wow, no downhill backward runners here?
Pretty sure it's forward as I tested it out again today and it seemed very effective.
gninnur wrote:
When you run downhill normally you're suppose to lean forward rather than back. Should I be leaning forward (head to toes) vs more upright posture as I'm running downhill backward to maximise speed?
You are not alone. I just discovered it a couple weeks ago. It's not the safest thing to do, but it definitely saves my bad knees from some additional pain. I also think it's giving my calves a savage workout. They have felt shredded both times I've run downhill backwards.
On the dangerous side, if you fell back wards, you could bonk your head pretty hard and who knows what that might do. Lean forward while running downhill backwards to avoid falling backwards. I would also worry about my achilles tendons. You could probably rupture them if not in good shape and flexibility.
Video?
This is fairly normal. Lydiard, Daniels, and hell, even Coach JS regularly instruct their pupils to run downhill backwards. Easy on the knees, builds incredible explosiveness in the Achilles...
And, to answer the OP, your posture should look the exact same as if you were running uphill forwards; if you took a still shot of yourself running downhill backwards and another running uphill normally, or "frontwards", as most great coaches call it, you should not be able to tell the difference between the two pictures. (Daniels talks about this at length, but most folks skip over all the words in the first part of the book and go straight to the workout plans...)
Yes, it is commonly referred to as the backward somersault.
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