Backward walking may boost hamstring flexibility and balance

Try walking backward. Experts say adding brief segments of reverse walking to a regular walk or workout can increase hamstring flexibility, strengthen underused muscles, alter joint loading and serve as a form of crosstraining that may help prevent overuse injuries. Biomechanists, trainers and physical therapists recommend starting slowly and using controlled settings to reduce fall risk.

Janet Dufek, a biomechanist and faculty member at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who studies movement mechanics and has experience as a college basketball player, said reverse locomotion challenges the body and mind by asking different muscles and movement patterns to do work they do not typically perform. "I see a lot of people in my neighborhood and they walk, and that's good. But they are still stressing the same elements of their structure over and over again," Dufek said. She described backward walking as a micro form of crosstraining that introduces varied stresses without requiring a whole new sport.

Mechanically, backward walking differs from forward walking. Dufek explained that instead of striking the ground heel first, people usually land on the forefoot, often more gently, and...