Why you should try running backwards

The longest way round, so the saying goes, is the shortest way home. But how do you tell which way you're going if you’re walking backwards? And if walking backwards sounds challenging, imagine running backwards.

Imagine running the Dublin City Marathon backwards. Garrett Doherty doesn’t have to imagine it because he’s done it.

Running backwards, or retro running, as Garrett prefers to call it, has, Ray D’Arcy tells us, has recently attracted attention for its potential health benefits. It is, seemingly, good for the knees and the back. Although your neck mightn’t feel great after five hours of trying to see what’s behind you.

Garrett is a four-time backwards running world champion. And did I mention he once ran the Dublin City Marathon backwards? That was in 2010, and it took him five-and-a-half hours:

"My father ran with me as a guide, and I managed to do it without stopping. I was delirious afterwards. I almost forgot to pick up my medal."

As Garrett says, it’s bad enough running for over five hours looking in the direction you’re facing, but doing it backwards can mess with your head. Enough about how running a marathon backwards can disorient a person – what about the benefits of backwards running? Garrett is effusive:

"It’s an ancient art. It will burn 30 per cent more calories than going forward."

Ray wonders how Garrett got started with retro running. He says he first did it in 2009 in Fairview Park when he turned to face the sun:

"It was kind of spiritual and I noticed a human fascination over it. People were fascinated and people loved it. And I said to myself I’m just going to keep going."

It was after that experience that Garrett Googled running backwards and discovered there was a world championship which he duly took part in and won gold. In his early days of running backwards, Ray wants to know, did Garrett feel any benefits? It was all about what was doing work and what was getting rest for Garrett:

"Different muscles were getting worked out and others were getting rested. My tummy was getting a workout and my back was getting a break. If you go uphill backwards – walking or running – your quads will get worked out straight away. And your calves will get worked out if you walk or run backwards because you’re constantly on your toes. They’re not easy muscles to work out."

(Is there an easy muscle to work out?)

According to Ray, retro running relieves back pain, knee problems and can help with arthritis. Garrett agrees:

"Bad back, walk back. When you walk back, your shoulders are drawn back, so your chin is up, your chest is out and your back is straight and you’re landing on your toes. It’s almost like how we should walk forward perfectly. It’s almost like a model walks forward."

There are cognitive benefits as well, Garrett says: "It engages the right brain. It works on the opposite side of the brain. It grows neural pathways in the brain because you’re using brain energy and you’re using the whole brain to think about the exercise that you’re doing. Your senses get engaged, unlike forward. You can see two thirds of what’s behind you by looking to the side."

Alas, the dog poo is probably lurking in the other third that you can’t see. But all that retro running must have an effect on the leg muscles and Ray wants to know if Garrett’s legs are shaped differently than those of someone who runs in the direction they’re looking. It’s something that he has seen, Garrett says:

"I’ve seen that in other retro runners at the world championships that have been doing it, like German retro runners that have been doing it for a long time. Your calves get worked out... and your quads get bigger if you’re doing it uphill."

Garrett’s advice if you want to get into retro running – and why wouldn’t you? – is to start slow, preferably with a forward-facing guide and do it on the beach or in the park:

"And just walk. You don’t need to do more than five minutes of it the first day. Your confidence will go through the roof. You’ll have a new perspective."

It seems there’s a lot of upside to retro walking or running. Just watch out for any unwelcome surprises along the way...

You can hear Ray’s full chat with Garrett by clicking above.