There’s no shortage of reasons to make walking a daily habit from improving heart health to to combatting stress and anxiety. And now, preventing back pain is another benefit you can tack onto the laundry list of reasons to get those steps in. A found that people who went on a 30-minute walk, five times a week (and also received behavioral coaching) had fewer reoccurrences of back pain, took less time off from work and had less medical visits.
In fact, participants who walked on a regular basis after an episode of back pain were pain free almost twice as long as those who didn't walk. “Walking is an ideal option in terms of physical activity. It requires no specialized skill — everyone knows how to walk.
It’s low impact and safe,” Dr. , president and chief science officer of the , tells TODAY.com.
Need a little more convincing? Learn more of the impressive health benefits that come with making walking a part of your routine. “Many of the systems of the body can benefit from walking,” Bryant says. Walking can help: The recommends moderate-intensity aerobic exercise for 150 to 300 minutes a week, so 30 minutes of brisk walking for five days a week gets you into the low end of that range.
If you’re walking to manage your weight or , you’ll probably want to . Bryant says to work up to 45 to 60 minutes of walking most days. That doesn’t have to be all at once, though.
A 30-minute morning walk and a 20-minute walk after dinner would count. If you’ve built a wa.
