Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee is known to be a fitness enthusiast and does not shy away from showing that. A recent video of her walking backward during her visit to London has gone viral and is drawing praise. Also known as retro walking, it helps challenge balance and engage underutilised muscles, leading to increased caloric burn and improved joint health benefits.

According to experts, one of the best ways to lose weight easily, walking backward sharpens your alertness, thereby boosting your mental health as well.

While it is not easy to do so, walking backward is as natural as walking forward; however, it needs a little extra effort physically and the ability to concentrate more. This extra effort could deliver several benefits, including:

Doing the same workout repeatedly makes you use the same muscles, leaving others out; thereby, you may hit a plateau and get injured.

Since walking needs variation to avoid the overuse of a few muscles, doing it backward adds cross-training to your walking or jogging routine. And so, retro walking engages many of the same muscles as regular walking, including your hamstrings, calves, and quadriceps. It also uses more of your gluteal muscles, quadriceps, and hip flexors than forward walking.

Retro walking makes you work a little harder than normal walking, helping your body to adapt and adjust properly. As your muscles move in different ways, your heart rate increases, making you burn more calories. And so, walking backward requires a lot more energy — and therefore, it burns more calories.

According to experts, retro walking has a cross-training effect, which makes it good exercise for those who have problems with joint pain, inflammation, and arthritis. Walking backward uses a toe-heel movement engaging your quadriceps, which supports your knees and absorbs some of the impacts. It also increases the range of motion in your hip flexors.

Walking backward helps you increase concentration and keeps your senses more engaged. It helps boost your mood and combat depression and symptoms of anxiety.

Most people engaged in a desk job slouch while sitting for hours on their desk. And experts say the same poor posture is carried over to when you are walking. So, to have good posture both while sitting and standing, you need to practice backward walking.

Retrowalk forces you to stand more upright, which can help you be mindful of your posture. Working your gluteal muscles, quadriceps, and hip flexors can also help with posture.

Backward walking is riskier than traditional walking — mainly because we do not have eyes in the backs of our heads. But you can make it safer if you

Use a place to walk backward where there are no crowds. Make sure to be aware of your surroundings and turn down your music if people are around.

Do not try doing retro walking in places that have bumpy roads or uneven terrain; otherwise, you may lose balance and fall off, injuring yourself. A smooth and paved walking path or flat grass is ideal for backward walking.

Begin walking slowly

Always make sure to start walking backward slowly and treat it like a workout. Do not overdo it. Like any other activity, you can get injured if you do too much, too quickly, so start with one- to two-minute chunks of backward walking mixed in with traditional walking. Gradually increase the time as it gets easier.

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