Beginner

Backpedal

Backpedaling looks simple but teaches a skill most athletes never practice: moving fast while facing the opposite direction. The quads work hard eccentrically to keep you balanced as the glutes and hamstrings reach the legs behind you. Program it in agility warm-ups and defensive drills for anyone who has to retreat under control before breaking in another direction.

Equipment
Body Weight
Body part
Glutes, Quads
Type
Cardio, Functional
Browse by movement
Gait Drill
Muscles worked
Target
Rectus Femoris, Vastus Lateralis, Gluteus Maximus
Secondary
Biceps Femoris, Semitendinosus, Gluteus Medius, Gastrocnemius Lateral Head, Gastrocnemius Medial Head
Tertiary
Soleus Gastrocnemius, Tibialis Anterior, Erector Spinae, Abdominal External Oblique

How to do it

  1. 1

    Start in an athletic stance with a slight forward lean of the torso to keep your weight centered.

  2. 2

    Reach one leg behind you and push off the front foot to travel backward.

  3. 3

    Stay on the balls of your feet and take short, quick steps rather than long reaches.

  4. 4

    Pump the arms as you would in a forward run to keep rhythm and balance.

  5. 5

    Keep the hips low and the chest over the toes so you do not tip backward.

  6. 6

    Cover the set distance, then break forward or laterally to finish the rep.

Tips

  • Keep a soft forward lean the whole way; standing upright shifts your weight back and makes you stumble.
  • Reach with the toes and stay on the forefoot so you never plant a heel and jam the movement.
  • Take faster short steps instead of long strides to keep control as you speed up.

Variations

Common mistakes

  • Nobody checks the ground behind them, and backpedaling into a curb, a cone or another person is the most common way this drill hurts someone. Clear the lane and know where it ends.
  • The head turns to look behind and the shoulders follow it round, which spins the hips and stops the backpedal dead.
  • The feet cross behind each other as the pace picks up, and once they tangle there is nothing to catch yourself with while moving backward.
  • The rep finishes with a gradual slow-down instead of a break forward or sideways, which skips the part that makes retreating worth practicing.
  • Speed gets chased from the first rep, and a frantic backpedal is a fall waiting to happen. Own ten yards at a jog before you open it up.

Frequently asked

How much backpedaling should a beginner do?
Six to eight runs of 10 to 15 yards, walking back to the start between them, fits neatly into a movement preparation block or the front of an agility session. Keep the first two or three at a jog to find the feel, then push the pace on the rest. Total distance matters less than the quality of the last rep, so stop when your steps stretch out or you start feeling off balance. Twice a week is plenty, and finishing every rep by breaking forward makes each one worth more.
How do I make backpedaling easier or harder?
To make it easier, cover a shorter distance at a jog with your hands resting on your thighs, which forces the forward lean that keeps you balanced, and use flat open ground with nothing behind you. To make it harder, react to a partner's signal before you break out of the backpedal, retreat at an angle rather than straight back, or add a 5-yard forward sprint to the end of every rep. A gentle uphill slope works well too, since running backward up a small rise makes the position obvious.
What is backpedaling good for, and when is it not worth doing?
It is a sport skill first: defensive backs, basketball and tennis players and anyone who has to retreat then break in another direction all need it, and practicing it gives the quads honest eccentric work as a bonus. Outside of that it earns little, and if your training is general fitness or distance running your time goes further elsewhere. Leave it out if your balance is unreliable, if the ground is uneven or crowded, or if you cannot see and clear the space behind you. It is also poor conditioning, because coordination runs out long before your lungs do.

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