Walking and back pain

Walking is free, requires no equipment (apart from a pair of good shoes) and is one of the easiest ways to get more active. What’s more it’s good for both your mental and physical health and can even help you combat lower back pain.

Reasons to start walking

On top of the fact that you can do it anywhere, anytime, walking brings with it a wealth of physical and mental health benefits including:

• boosting your heart health reducing the risk of heart disease
• increasing your cardiovascular fitness
• strengthening muscles throughout the body
• increasing blood flow, oxygen and nutrients to your muscles
• supporting bone health which may also help reduce the risk of osteoporosis
• keeping joints flexible
• increasing the stability of the spine
• helping you reach or maintain an optimal weight
• keeping blood pressure under control
• improving posture
• increasing energy
• helping you focus better
• decreasing anxiety and depression
• reducing the risk of dementia

Walking for back pain

And if the reasons above aren’t enough to get you dusting off your walking shoes, walking has also been shown to be beneficial to those suffering from lower back pain, for a number of reasons.

1. Walking aids recovery          

Many people think bed rest is good for back pain but being sedentary can actually delay recovery. While studies have shown that if you have back pain, the sooner you start moving, even if it’s just a little bit, the quicker you are likely to improve. So, if you have ongoing or recurrent episodes of lower back pain, ten to fifteen minutes of gentle walking a day is one of the best things you can do to help ease pain and aid recovery.

2. Walking strengthens the muscles that support your spine

As mentioned above, walking improves the health of your muscles as a result of increased blood flow, which subsequently increases the supply of oxygen and nutrients to the muscles too. What’s more, your trunk, core and erector spinae muscles, which play a vital role in maintaining the stability and movement the spine during motion, get a great work out when you walk. As such, walking can help build strength in the muscles of your lower back, which helps support your spine adds to the strength and integrity of your lower back overall.

3. Walking increases flexibility in your lower back

If you lead a sedentary lifestyle, the muscles and joints in your lower back and hips can become weak and stiff, restricting mobility, which can contribute to lower back pain. Walking, on the other hand, activates and stretches out the muscles and ligaments in the back, legs, and buttocks, increasing your flexibility and improving the range of motion in your lower back.

4. Walking reduces inflammation

It’s a well known fact that exercise has anti-inflammatory effects but the good news is that the exercise doesn’t have to be intense for you to feel the benefits. In fact, just 20 minutes of brisk walking has been shown to be enough for your body to start fighting inflammation. What’s more, people who fit walking into their lifestyle (versus those who are sedentary) have lower levels of inflammatory markers in the body in general.

5. Walking can decrease your perception of pain

A brisk walk can also help boost the production of endorphins. Designed to relieve pain, reduce stress and improve your overall mood, an increase of endorphins brought on by walking, will in turn help decrease your overall perception of pain.

How to walk the walk

Ok, so we’ve established that walking is good for you whether you’re in pain or not, but how much do you need to do and are there any rules to follow?

1. Start slow

Don’t feel like you need to hit 10,000 steps a day straight away. In fact, studies have shown that anything over 4,400 steps a day is still beneficial and that benefits plateau at around 7,500 steps. So, if you’re not used to walking, start by doing 5 or 10 minutes a day and build it up from there. A brisk 10-minute daily walk still has lots of health benefits and counts towards the NHS’s recommended physical activity guidelines for adults.

2. Make it a habit

Whether you take 500 steps or 5,000, aim to make walking a daily habit. There are many ways you can easily incorporate more steps into your daily routine: walk to work or get off a stop early if you use public transport, walk the kids to school, meet a friend for a walk, go for a walk during your lunch break, have a walking meeting at work, use the stairs instead of the lift and so on. For more tips on how to incorporate new habits such as walking into your life, see our blog on habit stacking.

3. Walk well

Aim to walk at a brisk pace – fast enough to get your heart pumping. You should be able to still talk without being out of breath, but not sing. Focus on your posture while you walk too. It’s fine to listen to a podcast on your phone while walking, but avoid scrolling on your phone with your head tilted forward. Walk with a straight back, relaxed shoulders and an upright head, with your chin parallel to the ground.

For more tips on how to ‘walk the walk’, check out the British Chiropractic Association’s advice on how to prevent pain when walking.