[Question] Backwards walking for sciatica?

allenbr4 · 26-01-2012, 05:42 PM

I've seen a few references on SS over the years to backwards walking, including in Parkinson's patients using it as a trick to allow normal forward gait. I also see a number of people at the gym doing it on the treadmills, for whatever purpose, probably to as a recommendation from trainers to strengthen/tone the "glutes".

I've been thinking of it as an exercise for, for instance, a mild lumbosacral radiculopathy. I guess it'd be similar to other "glute strengthening" exercises, providing a brief compression and then reduction of pressure of the LS nerves, creating a pumping effect in the IVF. Maybe a more fun, novel, reduced-threat version of bridges or bird dog?

Does anyone recommend backwards walking for patients? For what conditions?

Thanks!

**zimney3pt** · 26-01-2012, 05:54 PM

I do not use backward walking on any regular basis. But I don't see anything wrong with your reasoning.

Quote:

I've been thinking of it as an exercise for, for instance, a mild lumbosacral radiculopathy. I guess it'd be similar to other "glute strengthening" exercises, providing a brief compression and then reduction of pressure of the LS nerves, creating a pumping effect in the IVF. Maybe a more fun, novel, reduced-threat version of bridges or bird dog?

Heck, I would stand on my head if I could just get some patients to get some more general activity in.

**Josh** · 26-01-2012, 06:07 PM

Typically retrowalking is recommended for a quad exercise and to promote terminal knee extension. For LBP, it would be fine, but no better than walking or elliptical or nustep, in my opinion.

advantage1 · 26-01-2012, 08:06 PM

I wouldn't bother recommending this. I would encourage your patients to walk forwards as often as possible.

**nari** · 26-01-2012, 08:25 PM

The only advantage for backwards walking is that it's a novel movement for the brain - which could be interesting to try in certain cases, particularly in a safe environment with longer strides than ususal.
I don't see it as a "strengthening" thing at all.

Nari

smith · 26-01-2012, 09:30 PM

Back in the day I used to reccommed it for patella femoral pain syndrome. Less patella pressure you know. Now use neurodynamics, ideomotion etc. much better.

Through millions of years of evoution we evolved walking forward. Less tension throughout the knee walking foward. If any arthritis, walking backward will certainly aggrevate it. So for general population, why bother?

In sport, you may have to use, for instance; basketball and defensive backs backpedalling on defense.

Go New England Patriots

**nari** · 26-01-2012, 10:28 PM

Years ago David Butler advocated backwards walking to improve gluteals as we are losing our gluts due to lack of walking and lots of sitting.

I still support the idea in certain circumstances; especially for those who take small steps and no arm swing (as in Parkinsons and the elderly).

Nari

gollygosh · 26-01-2012, 11:02 PM

I frequently have patient's walk backwards. I do this mostly as a novel input. From a biomechanical perspective, we are asking the patient to use muscle in reverse fashion--concentric versus eccentric.

I would like my patients to learn to think of their body as something that was designed to move, and feel free to explore motion in a variety of ways. I 'm not that worried about how strong they are, but rather that they use the body they've got.

Personally I have been dealing with Left heel pain for a while, and I find that if I change up my gait periodically--backward walking, side step, and braiding--that my tolerance to standing, and ambulation has improved.

Geralyn

willynilly · 27-01-2012, 01:04 AM

I could see where this would increase lumbar extension with repetition and could be a helpful activity if the pt's radiculopathy appeared to lessen with extension activities..

**Diane** · 27-01-2012, 01:11 AM

Hi willynillly,
Please start a thread in our welcome forum, so we can welcome you there, and tell us a bit about you.

willynilly · 27-01-2012, 02:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diane

Hi willynillly,
Please start a thread in our welcome forum, so we can welcome you there, and tell us a bit about you.

Done!

**ste5e** · 27-01-2012, 09:59 AM

Backwards walking came up in dsicussion yesterday at work as a way of distinguishing between a gait which is an overt pain behaviour and one which is more mechanically antalgic.
Back in the ortho rehab days we used it with ACL reconstruction folk to get closed chain extension at the knee - especially if walking backwards up a treadmill on an incline. My thought at the time was that it was really pushing the patient out of a comfort zone and increasing their trust by stretching their experience....

**Milehigh** · 27-01-2012, 05:26 PM

Apparently backwards running is a common form of fitness in China fyi.

From:Running on Fumes in Beijing

Quote:

Joseph Kahn, a deputy foreign editor for The Times who just returned from five years as Beijing bureau chief, said athletics in China was mostly confined to sports academies that train young people to be Olympians. Otherwise, exercise takes place in the morning in parks, where people do yoga and tai chi and run backward, which they think helps with balance.

26-01-2012, 05:42 PM	#1
allenbr4 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Chicago, IL Age: 34 Posts: 125 Thanks: 3 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Backwards walking for sciatica? I've seen a few references on SS over the years to backwards walking, including in Parkinson's patients using it as a trick to allow normal forward gait. I also see a number of people at the gym doing it on the treadmills, for whatever purpose, probably to as a recommendation from trainers to strengthen/tone the "glutes". I've been thinking of it as an exercise for, for instance, a mild lumbosacral radiculopathy. I guess it'd be similar to other "glute strengthening" exercises, providing a brief compression and then reduction of pressure of the LS nerves, creating a pumping effect in the IVF. Maybe a more fun, novel, reduced-threat version of bridges or bird dog? Does anyone recommend backwards walking for patients? For what conditions? Thanks! __________________ Brian Allen, DC, ART, CSCS

27-01-2012, 01:11 AM	#10
Diane Human Primate Social Groomer and Neuroelastician Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Weyburn Sask. Posts: 19,673 Thanks: 1,490 Thanked 3,190 Times in 1,568 Posts	Hi willynillly, Please start a thread in our welcome forum, so we can welcome you there, and tell us a bit about you. __________________ Diane www.dermoneuromodulation.com SensibleSolutionsPhysiotherapy HumanAntiGravitySuit blog Neurotonics PT Teamblog Diane Jacobs.com (personal website) Canadian Physiotherapy Pain Science Division (Archived newsletters) Canadian Physiotherapy Association Pain Science Division Facebook page @PainPhysiosCan WCPT PhysiotherapyPainNetwork on Facebook @WCPTPTPN Neuroscience and Pain Science for Manual PTs Facebook page @dfjpt SomaSimple on Facebook @somasimple "Rene Descartes was very very smart, but as it turned out, he was wrong." ~Lorimer Moseley “Comment is free, but the facts are sacred.” ~Charles Prestwich Scott, nephew of founder and editor (1872-1929) of The Guardian , in a 1921 Centenary editorial “If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you, but if you really make them think, they'll hate you." ~Don Marquis "In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists" ~Roland Barth "Doubt is not a pleasant mental state, but certainty is a ridiculous one."~Voltaire

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26-01-2012, 06:07 PM	#3
Josh SomaSimpler Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 60 Thanks: 1 Thanked 5 Times in 2 Posts	Typically retrowalking is recommended for a quad exercise and to promote terminal knee extension. For LBP, it would be fine, but no better than walking or elliptical or nustep, in my opinion.

26-01-2012, 08:06 PM	#4
advantage1 Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 628 Thanks: 162 Thanked 191 Times in 108 Posts	I wouldn't bother recommending this. I would encourage your patients to walk forwards as often as possible.

26-01-2012, 08:25 PM	#5
nari NeuroNut Evangelist Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: ACT Aust Posts: 7,679 Thanks: 706 Thanked 233 Times in 167 Posts	The only advantage for backwards walking is that it's a novel movement for the brain - which could be interesting to try in certain cases, particularly in a safe environment with longer strides than ususal. I don't see it as a "strengthening" thing at all. Nari

26-01-2012, 09:30 PM	#6
smith Senior Member Join Date: May 2008 Age: 55 Posts: 539 Thanks: 0 Thanked 7 Times in 6 Posts	Back in the day I used to reccommed it for patella femoral pain syndrome. Less patella pressure you know. Now use neurodynamics, ideomotion etc. much better. Through millions of years of evoution we evolved walking forward. Less tension throughout the knee walking foward. If any arthritis, walking backward will certainly aggrevate it. So for general population, why bother? In sport, you may have to use, for instance; basketball and defensive backs backpedalling on defense. Go New England Patriots

26-01-2012, 10:28 PM	#7
nari NeuroNut Evangelist Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: ACT Aust Posts: 7,679 Thanks: 706 Thanked 233 Times in 167 Posts	Years ago David Butler advocated backwards walking to improve gluteals as we are losing our gluts due to lack of walking and lots of sitting. I still support the idea in certain circumstances; especially for those who take small steps and no arm swing (as in Parkinsons and the elderly). Nari

26-01-2012, 11:02 PM	#8
gollygosh Geralyn Giuffrida PT Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 375 Thanks: 137 Thanked 124 Times in 62 Posts	I frequently have patient's walk backwards. I do this mostly as a novel input. From a biomechanical perspective, we are asking the patient to use muscle in reverse fashion--concentric versus eccentric. I would like my patients to learn to think of their body as something that was designed to move, and feel free to explore motion in a variety of ways. I 'm not that worried about how strong they are, but rather that they use the body they've got. Personally I have been dealing with Left heel pain for a while, and I find that if I change up my gait periodically--backward walking, side step, and braiding--that my tolerance to standing, and ambulation has improved. Geralyn

27-01-2012, 01:04 AM	#9
willynilly Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Washington State, USA Posts: 8 Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	I could see where this would increase lumbar extension with repetition and could be a helpful activity if the pt's radiculopathy appeared to lessen with extension activities..

27-01-2012, 09:59 AM	#12
ste5e SomaSimpler Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Harrogate UK Age: 45 Posts: 433 Thanks: 267 Thanked 262 Times in 117 Posts	Backwards walking came up in dsicussion yesterday at work as a way of distinguishing between a gait which is an overt pain behaviour and one which is more mechanically antalgic. Back in the ortho rehab days we used it with ACL reconstruction folk to get closed chain extension at the knee - especially if walking backwards up a treadmill on an incline. My thought at the time was that it was really pushing the patient out of a comfort zone and increasing their trust by stretching their experience....