Training guide
To do a backward sled drag, face a lightly loaded sled with the straps in your hands, sit your hips down a little, and walk backwards with short steps, pushing through the front of each foot. For a forward drag, clip the sled to a harness or belt, or hold the straps, and lean into it. Start with 4 to 6 drags of 20 to 30 metres, and check the lane behind you every time.
Sled drags are hard work with little soreness, because the sled only resists: there's almost no lowering. Walking backwards eased knee arthritis pain as part of rehabilitation in trials, though no better than walking forwards, and no study has tested sled drags for knee pain. The floor changes how heavy a sled feels more than the plates do.
This guide covers backward, forward and harness drags and the rope sled pull step by step on the 3D figure, what they work, how heavy, your knees, soreness, the Hyrox sled pull, and a first session.
Backward: face the sled, hold the straps and walk backwards. Forward: a harness or belt, or the straps in your hands, with the sled behind you. The rope pull: stand still and pull the sled to you hand over hand, as in the Hyrox race. Sled rows and reverse flys use your arms. Pushing a sled is a different exercise with its own guide.
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Going backwards, the thigh muscles work mostly by squeezing and shortening, with little braking, and walking backwards roughly doubled front-thigh activity against walking forwards at the same slow speed. The sled adds the load.
Running backwards cut the force behind the kneecap by about a quarter at the same speed, though not in 3 of 17 people, and no study has measured the knee in a loaded drag. Added to knee arthritis rehabilitation, backward walking eased pain across 13 trials, but it was no better than walking forwards when the two were compared.
A hard session of backward drags (5 sets of two 20 m drags at 75% of body weight) sent blood lactate to 12.4 mmol/L in strength-trained men, but didn't raise a blood marker of muscle damage, and their jumping power was back within 3 hours. Soreness comes mainly from lowering work, which sleds lack.
Sled friction ranged from 0.21 to 0.58 across four sports surfaces, so the same sled can feel nearly three times as heavy on one floor as another, and the researchers advise trial and error. By our arithmetic, keeping a sled sliding takes a pull of about a third of its weight in one test, and more than half on a grippy athletics track.
4 to 6 drags of 20 to 30 metres with a light to moderate load, resting 1 to 2 minutes: the backward sled drag move page's dose, our editorial starting point. Once or twice a week, when your legs are fresh, as our sled workout advises, and clear the lane behind you before every backward drag.
Our backward sled drag move page's steps, cues ("Short steps, soft knees, a steady pace"; "Your legs move the sled; your arms only hold on") and caution ("Clear the lane behind you before every drag"), with the lane check made a step of its own (editorial). The fast backward drag is the same with short, quick steps and a load you can move briskly.
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The movement on the figure: Backward sled drag
Our harness sled drag move page's steps, cues ("Lean into the strap"; "Push the ground back, not down"; "Avoid: bending at the waist; lean with the whole body") and caution.
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The movement on the figure: Harness sled drag
The sled row steps are our move page's ("Row with the arms and back; don't lean back to drag it"). The figure shows the row; the hand-over-hand rope pull has no 3D demo, and its cues are coaching practice (our editorial wording). In Hyrox, "the racer must remain standing"; kneeling or sitting to pull isn't allowed.
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The movement on the figure: Sled row
A weighted sled (often the same sled you'd push) dragged by a strap, rope or harness. Backward drags face the sled; forward and harness drags have it behind you, and heavy ones look like a sprint start; the rope pull, as in the Hyrox race, has you stand still and haul the sled in. Rows, reverse flys, overhead walks and bear crawl drags are variations on the figure. "Prowler" usually means the push.
In backward running, the thigh muscles worked "largely eccentric and concentric during FR and isometric and concentric during BR" (eccentric means lengthening under load, isometric holding, concentric shortening), and in backward walking their activity shifted into the stance. Walking backwards at 3 km/h raised front-thigh (VMO) activity from about 25% to 51% of maximum in women with kneecap pain, and from about 28% to 43% in healthy women. Unloaded, the ankle does most of the pushing; with a sled, your knee straightens against the load as you drive.
A heavy forward sled pull (171 kg, 6 trained people) looked like the acceleration phase of sprinting, with shorter steps, longer foot contacts and a flatter trunk; in 33 athletes, heavier sleds bent the hips, knees and ankles more and leaned them further forward.
They work your upper back, arms and grip, with your legs bracing. We found no muscle-activity or training study of them; the only study of a hand-over-hand sled pull filmed 3 wheelchair athletes.
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The move pages ask for comfortable walking backwards without a load before the backward drag, a light backward drag before the fast one, a steady bear crawl before the crawl drag, and a comfortable overhead reach before the overhead walk. The harness drag needs nothing but a light sled.
The load that slows each person by a set amount varies a lot: in 70 schoolboys on artificial turf, slowing them by 10% took 14 to 21% of their body weight, and by half took 71 to 107%. Kneecap force fell running backwards in most people but not in all.
In 5 joggers at their own chosen speeds, peak force behind the kneecap was 3.0 times body weight running backwards against 5.6 forwards, though they ran backwards more slowly. At matched speeds in 17 adults it was 3.4 against 4.5 times body weight, 27% lower, but "Results were not consistent in all subjects": 3 didn't drop.
In 24 young adults, the knee did far less work walking backwards than forwards. In 32 people with knee arthritis, walking backwards lowered the first peak of the twisting load on the inner knee (0.26 against 0.39 Nm/kg) but asked more of the thigh muscles than walking forwards at the same speed.
In 68 adults with knee arthritis, 6 weeks of backward walking (10 minutes building towards 30, 3 days a week) on top of physiotherapy beat physiotherapy alone for pain, function and thigh strength, but it was no better than forward walking. Across 13 trials, adding backward walking to rehabilitation eased pain and disability; the authors want more trials of it on its own. In 34 adults over 12 weeks, it matched forward walking.
In 52 people after an ACL reconstruction, 4 weeks of treadmill backward walking improved their sense of the knee's position more than rehabilitation alone. Follow your surgical team's plan.
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We found no study of knee forces or thigh muscle activity in a loaded backward sled drag, and no trial of sled drags for knee pain. So "kinder to the knee" is our reading of the unloaded studies, not a tested fact, and it doesn't hold for everyone.
Start with backward walking, then a light backward drag with short steps, and keep within our knee guides' pain rule: up to 5 out of 10 if your knee is back to normal by the next morning, and 3 or less for tendon pain just below or above the kneecap. Sharp, catching or giving-way pain, or new swelling, means stop.
11 strength-trained men did 5 sets of two 20 m maximal backward drags at 75% of body weight. Blood lactate rose from 1.7 to 12.4 mmol/L, jumping power fell from 4,445 to 3,464 watts and was back within 3 hours, and "No changes in CK levels were seen at any time point" (creatine kinase, a blood marker of muscle damage).
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In 115 boys aged 13 to 15, 8 weeks of backward or forward sled towing (20 to 55% of body weight, twice a week) improved jump height and leg stiffness against PE lessons, and backward towing also improved 10 and 20 m sprints. Six weeks of uphill backward walking and running improved leg strength and power in 37 recreational athletes, with no active comparison group.
In 9 men towing a sled forwards, backwards and sideways, low-back compression reached 4,378 newtons and rose with the load. Build loads up gradually.
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Across 13 studies, sled training improved acceleration but wasn't better than the same sprints without a sled. Across 49 studies (1,281 people, 90% of them men), moderate (20 to 50% of body weight) and very heavy (80% or more) sleds beat plain sprints, mainly in trained athletes, and the authors say light sleds or none are probably enough for recreational players. Our sprint guide covers sleds for speed.
Very heavy sleds (80% of body weight) improved horizontal pushing force more than plain sprints in a pilot trial of 16 amateur footballers; 30% body weight sleds matched plain sprints in 13 professionals; and light sleds (12.6% of body weight) beat plain sprints over 10 and 30 m in 26 rugby players. A 2026 analysis of 12 studies found a small benefit and no clear effect of load, distance or surface.
In 18 trained men, backward or forward sled tows didn't make the next 5 m sprints faster.
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A strongman session with a 200% body weight harness drag over 12 m used about as much energy as a traditional weights session in 10 men (8.9 against 9.1 kcal a minute), and 7 weeks of strongman training worked about as well as traditional training in 30 rugby players. In a simulated Hyrox race, the sled pull took 11 recreational racers a median of 155 seconds.
We found no study counting sled injuries. In 213 strongman athletes, 82% reported an injury in a year, and training with strongman implements was 1.9 times more likely to injure, allowing for time spent; weight-training sports have low injury rates compared with team sports. In 89 Hyrox athletes followed for 12 weeks there were 14.4 injuries per 1,000 hours, mostly overuse and most often the knee; the authors wondered whether gripping stations such as the sled pull played a part in elbow problems, from 2 people. No injury at two fitness racing events was put down to a sled, though the paper doesn't say which events used them, and a survey of 418 Hyrox athletes (a preprint, not yet peer reviewed) found half had an injury in a year, the knee most often.
We found no study of standing sled rows, reverse flys or rope pulls. A coaching article in the journal of the NSCA (the US National Strength and Conditioning Association) uses handles on a 6 to 8 foot rope for sled drills, backward-walking pulls among them.
Friction was 0.58 on a rubber-crumb athletics track, 0.45 on grass, 0.35 on artificial football turf and 0.21 on a hockey pitch, and closer to 0.6 in practice on bumpy pitches, the researchers estimated. They "recommend that coaches use a trial-and-error approach to finding the most appropriate sled weight". On an athletics track, friction also changed with speed.
The pull needed is roughly the friction times the sled's total weight. In one test, starting a sled took about 0.43 of its weight and keeping it sliding 0.33, so a 100 kg sled needs about 33 kg of pull to keep moving there, and anything from about 21 to 58 kg across the four surfaces above. Compare loads only on the same floor.
In 70 schoolboys, "the load required to cause a given Vdec is highly individualized" (Vdec is the drop in top speed). The sled load that gave the most power in 27 athletes was about 80% of body weight, far heavier than old sprint guidelines.
Light enough that you can walk steadily with short steps and your chest up (backward), or keep a straight line from head to heels (forward). Add load when 20 to 30 m feels smooth. For speed, keep it light enough that you still move fast, as our sprint guide says. Some pages suggest half your body weight to start; on a grippy floor that's a heavy drag.
In the 2026/27 singles rulebook: 50 m as 4 lanes of 12.5 m, pulled in by rope from a box, at 78 kg including the sled for women, 103 kg for Women Pro and men, and 153 kg for Men Pro; "it is not permitted to pull the sled from a seated or kneeling position". The sled in the race study differed from the race sled. Our Hyrox page has the whole race.
In a classic study, "Pain and tenderness developed only in the muscle which had contracted eccentrically", peaking at about 48 hours, and unfamiliar lowering work is the known cause of delayed soreness. Flat sled drags are almost all shortening work, which is why the backward drag session above didn't raise the damage marker.
An hour of walking backwards downhill (lowering work) caused soreness, a damage-marker rise and about a 25% loss of strength in 20 adults.
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After 8 sprints of 20 m at 0 to 80% of body weight, creatine kinase rose moderately at 24 hours at every load, including no sled, with no difference between loads. After 12 sprints with light or heavy sleds, power and speed were back within 24 hours.
Clear the lane behind you before every backward drag, as the move page says, and don't twist round once you're moving.
"Short, quick steps beat long, reaching ones", as our fast drag move page says.
In backward drags, your legs move the sled and your arms only hold on. In rows, row with your arms and back rather than leaning back to drag it.
Lean with your whole body from the ankles, as the harness drag move page cues.
Use one long enough that the sled can't catch your heels.
"Start much lighter than you think you need": rushing the load is the usual cause of sore knees the next day, as our sled workout's tip says.
Keep breathing: heavy efforts against a held breath sent blood pressure very high in a lab study.
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Stay standing, as the Hyrox rules require, and keep the rope from tangling round your feet.
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Backward drags: 4 to 6 drags of 20 to 30 metres with a light to moderate load, resting 1 to 2 minutes. Fast backward and harness drags: 4 to 6 drags of 20 metres with a load you can move briskly, resting 1 to 2 minutes. Sled rows: 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12, stopping with 2 or 3 reps in reserve. Each is its move page's dose, our editorial starting point.
Once or twice a week, when your legs are fresh, as our sled workout advises. The sled-towing trial trained twice a week for 8 weeks; the knee arthritis trial walked backwards 3 days a week.
Add load, distance or speed, or cut the rest, one at a time, as our sled push guide advises.
No study has measured the energy cost of a sled drag on its own. The Compendium's nearest activity, moving or pushing heavy objects, is 7.5 METs, about 9 kcal a minute of active time for a 70 kg person (our arithmetic). Judge it by effort: if you can say only a few words, it's vigorous.
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Walk backwards on flat ground or a treadmill set slow, 5 to 10 minutes most days (our backward walking move page's dose); do step-ups, 2 sets of 8 to 10 each leg, for the thighs, as our sled workout swaps them in; and do rows for the upper body. Nothing copies a drag exactly.
Each at its move page's dose (our editorial starting points): backward walking, 5 to 10 minutes most days; backward sled drags, 4 to 6 drags of 20 to 30 m; fast backward and harness drags, 4 to 6 drags of 20 m; sled rows, 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12; sled reverse flys, 2 to 3 sets of 10 to 15; overhead backward sled walks, 3 to 4 walks of 15 to 20 m with a light sled; bear crawl sled drags, 4 to 6 crawls of 10 to 20 m. Clear the lane behind you before every backward drag.
3D demoBackward walkingBeginner · No equipment
3D demoBackward sled dragIntermediate · A sled
3D demoFast backward sled dragBeginner · A sled
3D demoHarness sled dragBeginner · A sled
3D demoSled rowBeginner · A sled
3D demoSled reverse flyBeginner · A sled
3D demoOverhead backward sled walkBeginner · A sled
3D demoBear crawl sled dragIntermediate · A sledGoblet squats, 3 sets of 8 to 12 (our full-body gym workout); step-ups, 2 sets of 8 to 10 each leg (our Hyrox strength workout); for sore knees, wall sits, 30 seconds, Patrick step-downs, 8 slow reps each side, and tibialis raises, 15 reps (our knee strengthening workout), or Spanish squat holds at their move page's dose (4 to 5 holds of 30 to 45 seconds); single-leg calf raises, 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12 each side (our Hyrox strength workout). Warm up with walking lunges, 6 steps each leg, and knee-to-wall rocks, 10 each side, and finish with the hip flexor and calf stretches, 30 seconds each side (our sled workout).
3D demoDumbbell goblet squatIntermediate · A dumbbell
3D demoStep-upBeginner · A step
3D demoWall sitBeginner · A wall
3D demoPatrick step-downIntermediate · A step
3D demoTibialis raiseBeginner · No equipment
3D demoSpanish squat (band squat hold)Intermediate · A band + An anchor point
3D demoSingle-leg calf raise from a stepIntermediate · A step + A wall
3D demoWalking lungeIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoKnee-to-wall ankle rockBeginner · A wall
3D demoHalf-kneeling hip flexor stretchBeginner · No equipment
3D demoWall calf stretch (gastrocnemius)Beginner · A wallOur sled workout has backward drags for both its speed and fitness tracks, with sled rows; the strongman conditioning workout uses the harness drag; the Hyrox workouts use the sled row as the closest move to the race's rope pull; the knee strengthening workout starts with backward walking.
A 40-minute sled session: short, light pushes for speed or steadier pushes for fitness, then backward drags, sled rows and an optional bear crawl drag.
40 minIntermediate13 movesCardio machine, A wallA 40-minute strongman conditioning circuit: 3 rounds of sled drags, farmer's carries, kettlebell clean and jerks and swings, each about 30 seconds of hard work.
40 minIntermediate9 movesCardio machine, A wallA 50-minute strength session for Hyrox and fitness races: squats, lunges, Romanian deadlifts, sleds or step-ups, thrusters, carries, calf raises and planks.
50 minIntermediate14 movesCardio machine, A wallA 60-minute fitness-race session: four 1 km runs at goal pace, each followed by stations at half race distance, from rowing and sleds to lunges and thrusters.
60 minIntermediate14 movesCardio machine, A sledA 25-minute session for knees that don't currently hurt: thigh and hamstring strength, single-leg control, then an optional full-range block with knees over toes.
25 minBeginner13 movesA bench or box, A wallThe Hyrox training plan uses sleds in its strength and race-practice sessions, building towards race weight.
Start with backward walking, then light backward drags with short steps, within the knee rule above. No trial has tested sled drags for knee pain; our knee pain guides cover the rest.
Keep the sled light and your trunk tall: heavier sleds load the low back more. Our back pain guides' rule applies: discomfort up to about 5 out of 10, settling within an hour or so and no worse the next morning.
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Keep breathing through every drag and keep loads moderate while your blood pressure isn't controlled. With heart disease, ask your cardiac team before hard drags. The American Heart Association calls strength training safe and effective for adults with and without heart disease.
A sled-push machine session suited healthy older adults in one study. Start by walking backwards beside a wall or rail, then a light sled on a clear, even floor, and build up over weeks (our suggestion).
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The NHS says it's not the time to start a new vigorous activity, and to avoid activities with a risk of falling. If you already drag a sled, keep it light and steady, take care walking backwards as your balance changes, and stop if you feel uncomfortable, too hot or unwell.
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Backward walking is used in some rehabilitation after ACL surgery; follow your surgical team's plan for when to add a sled.
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If you get chest pain or pressure, feel faint or dizzy, are unusually breathless, or your heart races or beats irregularly during exercise, as our plans advise. The American Heart Association says these need immediate medical evaluation.
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For chest pain that feels tight, heavy or squeezing, or spreads to your arms, neck, jaw or back; a sudden, extremely painful headache, especially while straining; someone who faints while exercising; or palpitations that don't go away, or come with chest pain, breathlessness or feeling faint. Don't drive yourself to A&E.
Severe difficulty breathing (gasping, choking or not able to get your words out) is a 999 call; being more short of breath than usual is a call to NHS 111, as the NHS advises.
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Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 for a headache that's triggered or made worse by coughing, sneezing, bending down or exercising.
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Same day (call NHS 111, or go to A&E if you feel very unwell): after a big or unusual session, such as hundreds of pull-ups, push-ups, dips or curls, a challenge or a new class, muscle pain, swelling or weakness far worse than the session explains, and dark pee (red, brown, tea or cola coloured), sometimes starting hours or days later. Dark pee isn't always there, so muscles far sorer, more swollen or weaker than the session explains still need the same-day check. It can be rhabdomyolysis, a breakdown of muscle that can harm the kidneys.
Call 999 for sudden, severe pain in a swollen, tight muscle, as our pain guides advise.
Pain from 0 to 2 out of 10 is fine, and up to 5 is acceptable if your knee is back to its usual level by the next morning; for tendon pain just below or above the kneecap, keep it to 3 or less. Sharp, catching or giving-way pain, or new swelling, means stop. That's our knee guides' rule.
Get advice from NHS 111 now: you cannot move the knee or put any weight on it, or it is very painful, badly swollen or has changed shape; or the knee locks, gives way or clicks painfully. Painless clicking is normal.
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A pop or tearing feeling at the front of the knee, then you can't straighten it or lift the straight leg, there's a dent above or below the kneecap, or the kneecap sits higher or lower than the other: go to A&E or an urgent treatment centre, or get help from NHS 111, as our patellar tendon guide says.
Same day: a sudden snap or pop at the back of the heel or calf, or a feeling of being kicked there, then walking flat-footed and being unable to push off or stand on tiptoe. It could be an Achilles tendon rupture: go to A&E or a minor injuries unit, or contact NHS 111, as our Achilles rupture guide says.
Also call 999 for pain and swelling in one leg with breathlessness or chest pain: it can be a blood clot that has reached the lungs.
Call 999 or go to A&E if you heard a crack, the joint or limb has changed shape or points at an odd angle, it's numb or tingling, or the skin looks blue or grey or feels cold. Get help from NHS 111 (in the US, urgent care) if it's very painful, very swollen or bruised, very stiff, or you can't put weight on it or walk more than a few steps.
Call 999 if someone has hit their head and has been knocked out and not woken up, can't stay awake, has a fit, has fallen from a height of more than 1 metre or 5 stairs, has problems with their vision, hearing, balance, walking or speech, or has new numbness or weakness. Get help from NHS 111 after a head injury if you're being sick or feel dizzy. If you're told to go to A&E, don't drive yourself.
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Keep shoulder pain to about 5 out of 10 or less during the exercise, back to its usual level by your next session, as our shoulder guides advise. A sharp pinch means lower, lighter or stop.
A pop or snap with sudden pain at the front of the elbow, especially with bruising, a gap at the front of the elbow or a bulge in the upper arm, can be a torn biceps tendon. Go to an urgent treatment centre or A&E (in the US, urgent care) the same day, and don't wait for it to settle, as our biceps guides say.
Call 999 or go to A&E: loss of feeling or numbness around the genitals or bottom, new trouble peeing or controlling your bladder or bowels, changes in genital sensation during sex or problems with erections or orgasm, or pain, tingling, weakness or numbness in both legs. These are signs of cauda equina syndrome, which needs treating in hospital urgently. Don't drive yourself.
See a GP if pain spreading down a leg hasn't improved after a few weeks of home treatment, is getting worse or stops your normal activities. Sciatica on both sides, or weakness or numbness in both legs that's severe or getting worse, is a 999 call or a trip to A&E.
See a GP if you think you have a hernia, a bulge or lump that may get bigger when you strain and smaller when you lie down. Get help from NHS 111 if you have a hernia and pain in or around it, a bloated tummy, you feel or are sick, you're vomiting blood or your vomit looks like coffee grounds, you're constipated, you have a high temperature or feel hot, cold or shivery, or you've suddenly become confused. Call 999 or go to A&E for a femoral hernia (a small lump at the top of your thigh, in your groin) with very bad tummy pain, sickness, being unable to fart or poo, a high temperature or sudden confusion.
The NHS lists lifting heavy weights among the causes of a femoral hernia. After an inguinal hernia repair, avoid heavy lifting or strenuous activity for at least 4 to 6 weeks.
Speak to your GP first if you haven't exercised for some time or have medical conditions or concerns, as the NHS advises. Get advice before hard or straining work if your blood pressure is uncontrolled (140/90 or higher at a clinic, or 135/85 at home), or you have heart disease or chest pain when you're active, a pacemaker or defibrillator, diabetic eye disease, glaucoma, a hernia, recent eye or tummy surgery, or you're pregnant, as our breathing guide lists.
With controlled high blood pressure, the American Heart Association considers low- to moderate-intensity strength training with proper breathing safe. Breathe out as you lift, as our breathing guide advises.
Check with your GP before hard intervals if you're inactive and have heart, metabolic or kidney disease, or symptoms when you're active, as our HIIT guide says.
Muscle soreness for a day or two after a new or harder session is common and fades. Sharp pain, or pain that builds during a set or lingers into the next day, isn't: swap to an easier version, and see a clinician if it persists, as our plans advise. The NHS says to stop exercising straight away if you feel any pain or become unwell, and to get help from 111 if symptoms worry you or don't go away.
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No trial has tested sled drags for knee pain. Backward walking added to rehabilitation eased knee arthritis pain across 13 trials, but it was no better than forward walking when compared directly. Claims that the "pump" repairs your knees cite nothing we could find.
It lowered the force behind the kneecap in most people, but not in 3 of 17, and in knee arthritis it asked more of the thigh muscles at the same speed. With a sled, the load comes from the sled.
Very heavy sleds helped trained athletes' first few metres, but light sleds or none are probably enough for recreational players; heavier sleds change sprint technique and load the low back more; and 30% body weight sleds were no better than plain sprints in professional footballers.
A sled-push machine session suited healthy older adults, and backward walking trials included adults up to 78 with knee arthritis. A light sled at a steady walk is a beginner's exercise, and the NHS asks for strengthening done "to the point where you need a short rest before repeating the activity", not to exhaustion.
Flat drags caused no rise in a damage marker in one study, but sled sprints raised it moderately at 24 hours, the same as sprints without a sled. New work of any kind can leave you a little sore.
Friction ranged from 0.21 to 0.58 across four surfaces and changed with speed. Compare loads only on the same floor.
They didn't in 18 trained men.
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Face the sled with the straps in your hands and your arms straight, walk back until the straps are taut, sit your hips down a little and lean back gently. Check behind you, then walk backwards with short steps, pushing through the front of each foot and straightening your knee as you drive. Your legs move the sled; your arms only hold on.
In a drag you walk with the sled behind you on a harness or straps, or face it and walk backwards. In a sled pull you stand still and pull it to you on a rope, hand over hand, as in Hyrox. In a push you lean into the sled's posts and drive it in front of you; our sled push guide covers that.
Backward drags mostly work the front of your thighs, with your calves and glutes; walking backwards roughly doubled front-thigh activity against walking forwards at the same pace. Forward drags work your hips and legs like a sprint start, and rope pulls and sled rows work your upper back, arms and grip.
Often, but they're not a cure. Going backwards lowered the force behind the kneecap for most people, and backward walking added to rehabilitation eased knee arthritis pain in trials, though no better than walking forwards. No study has tested sled drags for knee pain, so start light and keep within our knee pain rule.
Light enough to keep moving at a steady walk with short steps and good posture. The floor matters more than the plates: friction varied nearly threefold between sports surfaces, so the same sled can feel much heavier on a grippy floor. Find your load by trial and error, and compare loads only on the same floor.
Start with 4 to 6 drags of 20 to 30 metres with a light to moderate load, resting 1 to 2 minutes, once or twice a week. Add load, distance or speed one at a time.
Much less than most leg exercises, because there's almost no lowering. After a hard session of backward drags, a blood marker of muscle damage didn't rise and jumping power was back within 3 hours. A brand-new session can still leave you a little sore.
Sled sprints improve the first few metres of a sprint, mostly in trained athletes with moderate or very heavy sleds, and often no more than the same sprints without a sled. Our sprint guide covers sleds for speed.
Walk backwards on flat ground or a treadmill set slow for the knee work, do step-ups or Spanish squat holds for the thighs, and rows for the upper body. Nothing copies the drag exactly.
In the 2026/27 singles rulebook, 78 kg including the sled for women, 103 kg for Women Pro and men, and 153 kg for Men Pro, over 4 lengths of 12.5 m, pulled by rope while you stay standing in your box. Check the current rulebook before you race.
Practise the rope pull at race weight and lighter, with sled rows and grip work, and build your aerobic fitness: in 11 recreational racers, a higher VO2 max and more endurance training went with faster finishing times. Stay tall and keep the rope out from under your feet.
One study found a sled-push machine session suited healthy older adults, with no adverse events, and backward walking is used in knee arthritis rehabilitation. Start with backward walking, then a light sled on a clear, even floor, and build up over weeks.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. Check with a GP before starting hard training if you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or breathlessness when active, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
