How Can Walking Benefit Your Back?

When we think about health and fitness, we often discard walking as having many benefits, but walking regularly can have many significant benefits for your body. Your heart, your lungs, and all of your muscles all get a workout when you go for a walk. The other part of our body that walking helps out with is our spine, which is often forgotten as the source for a lot of the aches and pains that we feel. Here are a few ways that walking can really help in maintaining a healthy back.

Increased Blood Flow and Circulation

Walking helps with circulation through your whole body, but especially your spine. When you improve your circulation, you help regulate your blood pressure and promotes well being through your entire body.

Blood flow is what keeps your muscles strong and working well. The great thing about walking is the more you do it, the easier it gets. Have you ever heard the saying that an object that is in motion stays in motion? This is definitely true when it comes to walking!

Walking Helps Lubricate Your Spine

It’s often said your body is a machine, and when it comes to your spine, that machine requires lubrication. Many of us sit for many hours a day, and that sitting can lead to compression of the discs in your spine, which can effectively squeeze the water from them.

When we walk, the circulation helps move the water where it needs to be, which is helping to cushion our spine.

Walk Your Way To Better Posture

As we mentioned before, sitting can often be detrimental to spine health. One of the issues it can present is that you might develop poor posture, which places unnecessary pressure and strain on your back. This pressure can lead to soreness and stiff muscles.

When we walk, we strengthen all of our core muscles, and in turn, help our spine keep its proper, natural shape. Walking with your shoulders back and standing tall can help with muscle memory, helping you develop a posture that’s much easier on your spine.

Spinal Stress Relief

While it may be thought that walking places extra pressure on the spine from the impact of your feet on the pavement, it’s benefits are far more significant. Walking helps improve flexibility and gets your body moving, and it can lead to losing excess weight, which can cause extra stress on your spine, leading to increased back pain. This is especially true with the weight that many folks have along their belt line, which contributes directly to adding stress on your lower spine.

Get Walking, Get Healthy

As you can see, walking is a great way to keep yourself fit, and your spine pain-free. At Perth Chiro Centre, we’re here to help with your spinal health. While walking and exercise are great preventative measures you can do for yourself, there’s times when visiting one of our chiropractic experts is a must. We go the extra mile to make sure that you are comfortable, and work to keep you as pain free as possible. If you are ready to improve your spinal health, call us today!

 

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