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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (July 14, 1987)
Running backwards: new flexibility in exercising By Gary Henley of th# liamld Running backwards. and not just fur the fun of il. ran lie ef fective in the rehabilitation of leg. hip and back injuries, said Barry Bates, director of the Riomechanics/Sports medicine laboratory at the University. Running backwards as a measure of rehabilitation began more or less by accident. Bates said. In rehabilitating an injury, runners were looking for a new and better way to regain strength, but at the same time STEREO WORKSHOP Buy • Sail Rant • Rapair One Block Oil Campus 1621 E. 19th.344-3212 not aggravate the injury. Enter running backwards. Hates explained by running backwards, less stress is plac ed on the herd of the foot (impact with the ground is with the ball of the foot when going backwards, the heel when mov ing forward!, reducing pressure on the ankles, knees and even the lower back "Since your upj>er body re mains more upright when you run backwards, there's not as much stress on the lower back area. 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Kincatcf MF 830530 Closed Saturday •M 4331 further injury,” Hates said. "It's also very beneficial for hip pro blems. since there's less range (movement) in the hips when going bac kwards " Hates added running backwards is particularly helpful in post-surgical knot; operations. "In running forwards, the knee gets into a locked position when your foot hits the ground, but going backwards, the knee is more flexed when you touch down. "It also makes the supporting muscles around the knee con tract. and that makes the knee* mom stable,” he said. ''Of course, running huckwards can also be used as a training aid It's not necessarily done just for rehabilitation," Hates said. "It supplies a different range and motion as a warm-up exer cise It's good for the hamstr ings. so it can be used as a substitute! for stretching," ad ding that running backwards also is a good way to cool down after a work out. Running backwards is done in many sports which often re (jutr*- back-pedtiling and side to-side movement. "Soccer, tennis, basketball — all the court sports use it," Bates said. "Baseball pitchers also do it as a warm-up exercise." Bates points out running backwards also can be very beneficial to the elderly, people 50-70 years of age. "Sometimes older folks are limited in their forward movement. It gives them exercise and helps their cardiovascular system.” he said. Bates commented there's also people out there who take run ning backward more seriously. "The record for running a marathon backwards. I think, is under four hours; for the mile, it’s about six minutes; and the record for the 1(M) is 12.0 seconds, and that's pretty fast." "There haven't been too many studies done on running backwards, but they say that you’re HO percent as fast going backwards as you are running forwards.” he said. Bates has received nation wide publicity on running backwards, including coverage in publications such as Run ner's World, Newsweek, and the current issue of Self magazine. "Most of the people who I talk with are biomechanists like myself interested in the benefits and neurological possibilities of running backwards (it's been claimed that running backwards can help neurological disorders, par ticularly in the elderly). Very few of the people are track athletes," he said. "Rod Dixon (runner) has been doing it for nine years as a train ing method, and I think (Mary) Slaney does it also. With track athletes, it all started in the early 80s with the running boom fanatics." There can be health hazards to running backward, however, besides the obvious problem of running into things. All joking aside, Hates said a major part of running backwards "is finding a good, safe place to do it. Another potential problem is overloading,” or too much too soon in the rehabilitation pro cess. "It's important not to overstress yourself," Hates said. ^ y *r°m Mason agnail with l«wi>. He said that a sign in the area Mould more than likely lie torn down ami thrown in the river along with other debris there. Debris in the river under the Aut/.en l-'oothridge is another hazard in the area. At least one of the drownings in the area oc curred when a man was trapped under the water by a discarded bicycle. Mason, who has kayakmi all over the world, has only lost his paddle twice. Both times were in the rapids under the Autzen footbridge when his paddle got caught on debris in the water. latwis said the reason then* is so much dehris in the river is that |MH>pla throw garbage into the river from the footbridge. Because it’s not visible to the eye. it gives people the illusion that the river is clear, he said. Mason called this a dichotomy between appearance and reality. “Students don't have their guard up because they think it isn't dangerous." he said. Peter Brodkin. the aquatic director for the YMCA. teaches classes in Kugene on water safe ty. The YMCA has many classes I on water and boating safety ranging from t>asi(: life-saving techniques to a class called “Skippers" for children less than B years of age. "We feel that we should start by educating kids about the danger of the water when they’re still young." Brodkin said. The YMCA also publishes water safety tips that go into the newspapers of local middle and grade schools. But the high schools and colleges often don’t receive this information. Public education courses focus on three things. Brodkin said. The first is personal safety on and in the water, the second is rescue techniques for assisting others in the water, and the third is the importance of life jackets, he said. ”1 wouldn't be doing wha! I'm doing if I didn't believe educating people helps the pro blem. Brodkin said. “The material on safety is there, it's just that it's hard to get it out to the public." he said. "The best time for such a lec ture would be during freshman orientation when students first learn about the river," Brodkin said. Museum Continued from PdKt* b its publication would coincide with the opening of the anniver sary exhibit in November of 1080. budget problems nearly killed the protect though. When the museum did find enough money to complete the hook, it had to be produced within three weeks under a $20.o»o budget. Carty and the staff of Visual Arts Resources at the University worked around -1 Vi My lunch uaad lo conalat ol a gicaay aandwlch and a tlala baai Than a trland look ma lo tha HOUSE OF RECORDS Thay oftar a atd* aalactlon ol mualcal daltcactaa auch a* lht» nawaal anltaa HEART OVER MIND by Jannitai Ruth So tl you'ta not apandlng yout lunch hout in I ha bait anvlronmanl. atop by tha Houaa ol Racwda al 2SS E 1 Jlh Thay II dallghl yout mualcal laata bud a the dock as volunteers to make the book available halfway through exhibition last fall Carty. who had never before worked on such a book. said she felt astonishment when the AAM gave the museum the award. "It’s going to open people’s eyes to what the University of Oregon is capable of in certain respects." ('.arty said. STUDENTS EARN $90 AND MORE £J»ONTH 5,. month-) mi*. uau haallh ii i nwpiiiiy Undw m#dtc*i «upnrt«lcm to • r*gui*r donor i NEW DONORS: $5 Bonus with this ad EUGENE PLASMA 484-2241 • 1071 Oliva SI.
