Patients at my Chiropractic clinic in Caledonia often ask for the best exercise they can do for their back pain and to get a healthy back.
WALK.
Walking is the first thing I have my patients who are experiencing back pain do when they ask what they can do at home. Don’t walk like Frankenstein with a stiff body and arms. Instead, walk smoothly and within your tolerance level building up your walking distance slowly.
How can walking help your back?
Walking can help your back pain by getting the joints in your body and spine moving. This helps pumps fluid through the joints and the rest of your body. Many of my Chiropractic patients who are experiencing chronic back pain benefit from moving more. The patients with the healthiest backs walk often.
As Dr. B.J. Palmer, the developer of Chiropractic, said, “Life is motion; motion is life. The absence of motion is death”
The back has a larger roll to play in walking then people realize. Check out this research article which compares walking and an exercise program for patients experiencing low back pain.
What if I walk often already and still have back pain?
Make sure that you are checked by a Chiropractor if you are walking regularly and still experiencing chronic back pains. The structure and function of the spine will be greatly helped with the walking and a Chiropractor can help you identify any other blockages in your back that can be holding you back from healing well.
What if I want to do more exercises for my back?
The best exercise routines for your back health are the ones that you will continue regularly.
Make sure in your back exercise routines that you avoid repetitive bending and twisting movements. These movements can damage the spine even while you are strengthening muscles. This is bad for your back health.
Check out this blog past on core stabilization exercises if you are curious. The simpler the better for these exercises!
What should I focus on in my back exercises?
Focus on movement and endurance. This will impact the health of your back the most while reducing possible injury from the exercise program.
What about for chronic back pain?
A 2015 article in the Back Letter highlights that you can “walk away from chronic back pain.” Not only is it a low cost exercise, but walking has benefits beyond just reducing chronic back pain! It can improve your heart health, muscle and joint strength, coordination, and brain health.
Walking Away From Back Pain – The Back Letter May 2015 – Volume 30 – Issue 5
Another great exercise to improve coordination and balance while reducing the chance of injuring yourself are exercises and activities like Tai Chi.
If you have more specific questions, contact us at our Chiropractic office in Caledonia to ask us questions.
Sincerely,
Dr. Callum Peever