Three times a week in the morning, regularly, like clockwork, I go for a run. With the autopilot on, I happily plod along the trails and fields, daydreaming or engrossed in a podcast.
I have minimal interaction with passers-by and I enjoy it. But not today. My running requires Herculean effort and concentration. My heart is racing and I am unsteady on my feet. I get a lot of attention. Dogs bark as I walk by, and their owners look puzzled.
Other runners avoid eye contact and avoid me. A group of schoolchildren chuckle as I nearly fall into a ditch.
I’m drunk? This may be preferable. I’m actually trying out the latest fitness fad: reverse running, also known as retro running. The theory isn’t hard – you’re just running backwards – and for middle-aged runners like me, this can be the perfect addition to your workout.
Kerry Potter, 46, (pictured) tried running backwards, also known as the retro trend, in her sleepy market town of Oxfordshire.
At 46, with normal wear and tear, I am well aware of how high-intensity exercise like jogging can affect my joints. However, running backwards puts much less pressure on your knees.
Reverse running is one of the top trends for 2022, according to gym chain Pure Gym, whose study showed a 50 percent increase in online searches for the term last year. There are amazing videos on social media of people running backwards on treadmills without killing themselves, with hundreds of thousands of views.
However, it is a difficult skill that should only be mastered if you are in good physical shape. Unfortunately, news of its trendiness has yet to reach my sleepy Oxfordshire market town. When I try to find friends in my Facebook group, someone expresses fear that I will get into dog shit, and another asks if today is April Fool’s Day.
But for Jamie Alderton, this is a very serious matter. The former soldier-turned-personal trainer business holds the world record for running backwards. In 2017, he ran 63 miles back in 24 hours for charity.
“I realized I was good at running in reverse when I was in the army,” he says. “They taunted us by making us run backwards up the hill in Salisbury. I was the only person who liked it. After I left the army, I discovered that there is a whole world of retro runners and various championships. And the benefits outweigh, well, the sheer stupidity of it, says Jamie.
“It puts less pressure on the knees and shins than regular running and increases endurance and strength in areas where many runners get injured.
“You have to run slower when you’re going backwards, which helps you recover, so you get faster when you turn.” I notice this when I alternate my regular 5k runs with short back-to-back intervals, and my recent times have only been a little slower than usual.
Kerry (pictured) said this running technique encourages men to say, “You’re going the wrong way, my love.”
Anya Lahiri, head coach at Barry’s, the gym the Beckhams frequent, is also a fan. “It can really help with posture as you need to keep yourself more upright,” she says.
“This is a fantastic way to align the muscles used in forward running and focus on the less used calves, quads and calves. In addition, it strengthens the buttocks and many core muscles are activated to maintain balance.”
It can be a more effective calorie burner than regular running. A study at Stellenbosch University in South Africa found that female students who ran backwards three times a week for six weeks improved and lost an average of 2.5% body fat.
Nicola Kennedy, a physiotherapist at the Powerhouse Performance Club in Oxfordshire, uses it for rehabilitation purposes. “It’s helpful when you’re recovering from things like torn ligaments, broken ankles, and Achilles tendon injuries,” she says.
That invites men to call, “You’re going the wrong way, love”
“It requires concentration, coordination and effort that help stimulate the cardiovascular and neuromuscular systems. It can give people a better understanding of their bodies.”
Nicola advises starting on a treadmill if you’re nervous, as it’s a flat, smooth surface, or running on the white lines of a soccer field so you don’t lose your way. I’m trying the latter and it makes it much easier. Headphones – no no – you can’t see, so you need to be able to hear – and she urges me to stick with interval training.
Unfortunately, all the benefits of running backwards are negated by one big drawback: it makes you look like a coward. As a lone runner, I am trained to avoid attracting the attention of passing men, and this technique positively encourages them to yell, “You’re going the wrong way, honey.”
Kerry (pictured) admits she panicked about permanently breaking her neck as she had to look over her shoulder while running in reverse.
Then there are the dogs. I am wary of them, having endured my share of harassment and yapping. “When you run backwards, the dogs think you are running towards them, so they get confused and go crazy,” warns Jamie. There is also the danger of falling. I was clumsy at the best of times, often landing on my face while running forward. I ruined two family holidays in a row by ending up in the hospital and on crutches after tripping in Cornwall and France.
On the back run, I have to look over my shoulder so often that I panic that I might break my neck forever. Jamie has an ingenious solution: “spy” rear-view sunglasses with built-in mirrors so you can see behind you. I wonder though if that might be (backward) too far for me.
I panic that I might break my neck forever
However, I endure. Next time I’ll get my friend Kate to come with me and it will be a revelation. It’s more fun, less humiliating, and there’s safety in the numbers.
Kate points out the potential mental health benefits – it makes you laugh and you have to focus so hard on not falling over to be fully immersed in the present moment.
She also finds it exhilarating doing something stupid, recalling an episode of Friends where Rachel is embarrassed to run around Central Park with Phoebe due to her outlandish walk before realizing just how liberating it is.
We run back down the trail before we are interrupted by the insistent call of a cyclist we are about to crash into. He looks furious before laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation.
A fitness technique that creates heartfelt harmony between cyclists and walkers? Maybe there is something in it after all.