Why Walking Is Good For You
Walking is the one form of exercise that almost anyone can do, and yet so many people are unaware of the positive health benefits of this easy low-impact exercise.
You will find that walking is a good way to burn some extra calories and maintain a healthy weight, but it can also help strengthen the muscles in your feet, ankles, legs and hips, and is a good way to improve your posture (if you walk straight without hunching over) because it strengthens your spine as well.
Using Walking To Reduce Back Pain
Walking has also been shown to be really good for back pain in numerous clinical studies, including a recent study published on JAMA Internal Medicine that involved 31,000 sufferers of back pain.
According to this study, regular gentle exercise, such as walking, is more effective than many traditional treatments for back pain, and people who exercise two or three times a week could reduce the chance of suffering from lower back pain by 35%.
My Own Results
If you are still skeptical about whether or not walking is an effective way to reduce lower back pain, I want to share with you my own personal story because walking definitely helped me.
Between the ages of 21 and 25, I used to suffer from back pain on a daily basis, and it was becoming a real problem for me.
It was my own fault to a large degree because I used to spend all day hunched over a computer, and apart from lifting a few weights in the gym a few times a week and using my exercise bike every so often, I would go for hours and hours without getting any exercise at all.
Anyway after trying a few other treatments, including ice packs and hot packs, I ended up searching online for effective ways to treat lower back pain, and happened to come across an article that recommended going for walks every day because this can really help.
So that’s exactly what I did. I started off by going for a 20-minute walk around the block once per day, and noticed a slight improvement after just a few days.
I gradually increased this to 30 minutes of walking per day, and eventually ended up walking for an hour every day, whatever the weather.
During this time I noticed that my lower back pain was nowhere near as bad as it used to be and apart from a few twinges every so often, it was no longer making my life a misery.
Fast forward to the present day and I am still trying to walk as much as possible (at least 30-45 minutes if I can), and have no problems whatsoever with my back.
So my own personal experience is that walking regularly really does help to reduce lower back pain, and if you throw a few back stretching exercises into the mix every so often, and try not to sit around all day hunched over your computer or smartphone, you can live a normal life free of pain.
How To Do More Walking
The easiest way to do more walking is to simply set aside a certain amount of time each day when you will go for a walk in your local area.
However if you have limited time to do more exercise every day, there are many lifestyle changes that you can make that will encourage you to walk more.
For example, you could get yourself a dog because they will obviously need to be taken out for walks every day, or you could make an effort to go for a walk during your lunch breaks. In addition, if you live near your workplace, you could give up your daily commute and walk there instead.
The point is that your doctor may well suggest various different treatment options for lower back pain, but one of the most effective ways to eliminate pain is to do lots of walking because this will increase the release of endorphins to provide short-term relief, but will also provide longer term relief by strengthening your spine.
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