One of the most overlooked (and often forgotten) sprint training modality is backwards running, cycling, skipping, and marching. There is something about the backwards mechanics that help correct a lot of inefficiencies in foot strike, leg fold mechanics, and ankle positioning. Needless to say, when I came across this study covering forward and backward sprint training in adolescents, I couldn’t have clicked the link any faster!
If you’re new to these reviews, here’s how these research reviews are going to break down. I am going to read the research and summarize the contents into 3 parts.
Part 1: What we know.
This is going to explain what the research was looking to study, how they studied it, and why you should care.
Part 2: Any comments or concerns about what the study is showing?
Sometimes the best research study looks so good on paper, but then when you dive in you see that it was done on olympic athletes, or was sponsored by a specific company, or something else that can throw a major red flag on its effectiveness in practical use. Alas, that is what we are for here at Parisi HQ
Part 3: How can I use this?
This part is going to explain practical applications of the research. Typically research is lab based and can be hard to replicate when you’re a Performance Coach on a budget. I’m going to do my best to break down how you can actually apply this research to you coaching
Here’s the article of note, in MLA citation format for you grammar nerds out there…
Part 1: What we know.
We know this study rocked. All blunt comments aside, this study looked at over 40 young males – ages 13-15 – and compared three groups. Group 1 was a population who took a regular ‘gym class’. Group 2 performed forward sprint training. Group 3 performed backwards sprint training. It should also be noted that both sprint groups performed the same training volume, with the only differences in the program being the direction they ran.
It’s pretty rare to see a study focus on this age group- it’s pretty awesome they were able to test this all during a kids physical education class at school. I wish more studies were done like this.
We also know this, unsurprisingly, both sprint training groups dominated the results compared to the regular gym class training. We know sprinting is incredibly skill specific, so it is expected that the outcomes were favorable relative to general training. What stands out is that BOTH forward and backwards running showed significant results. When looking at backwards training, the athlete mechanically cannot produce the same force as forward running, yet it provides a significant training response. This study goes a long way in breaking ground on backwards sprint training being a very effective tool in speed training.
Part 2: Any comments or concerns about what the study is showing?
If you’ve ever coached kids then you know their attention wonders from session to session. I always wonder how accurate the data collection is with kids, given that sometimes subjective measures are used or the kids have so many outside factors playing a role in their performance outcome. All in all, given the novice population studied, I think the results are valid in proving/demonstrating that backwards running/movements have a strong validity in teaching speed mechanics.
Part 3: How can I use this?
Backwards mechanics should 100% be utilized in linear speed active dynamic warm ups (ADWs). I would include forward and backward marches, skips, and running in the ADW early and often in the training block. The other avenue that I see backwards movements being implemented is in non-fatiguing fillers between maximum effort sprints. If an athlete is sprinting 20-30 yards and resting 2 to 3 minutes, backwards marching (specifically) would be an awesome filler movement to reinforce linear speed mechanics between efforts.
