Hi, I'm Natalie here with Veritas Health. And today I'm going to give you guys some information and how to start a walking program when you have low back pain. As a physical therapist, starting a walking program is something I talk to a lot of my patients about, especially if they have low back pain. Regular walking is really important not only for overall health, but helping reduce the amount of back pain and reducing frequency of new occurrence of back pain. People often don't know where to start if they're not doing a lot of walking regularly. So I'm gonna give you guys some pointers on how you can start and feel comfortable with this.
First thing is, decide whether or not you want to start walking outside or on a treadmill. Both are great and there are pros and cons to both. If you walk outside, you have the benefit of getting fresh air, sunlight, and getting some varied terrain. But if you're worried about the weather, you're worried about uneven surfaces or not having a safe place to walk, then a treadmill is a really good controlled environment. Treadmills can also be nice if you're a little worried about balance or being far from your house, because you'll have something to hang on to. You can always control the speed and the surface.
Another question I get a lot is what type of footwear is best? And I always tell people to listen to their body and what feels the most comfortable for them. Some people's feet need a lot of cushion and a lot of support to feel comfortable. Whereas some people prefer a shoe that's a little bit more minimalist or a little less supportive. Just find a good athletic shoe that's comfortable to walk in, comfortable to squat in comfortable to go up and down stairs in and that's going to be a good shoe for starting your walking program in.
When you do start walking, I want you to make sure you have good posture and keep yourself nice and upright. You want to stand up tall have your shoulders back down and relaxed, your head upright and you want to walk with a good heel toe stride.
It's also important to start your walking program and the intensity and amount that's appropriate for you. If you find yourself getting tired, winded, or have increased back pain within about five minutes of walking, start with five minutes at a time. If you find success with five minutes, then you can always add another five minute short walk later in the day. Once you build, you walk up to about ten minutes without excessive fatigue or excessive pain then you can start to increase the minutes of that walk a little bit each week. Some people prefer to do 1 or 2 short walks throughout the day, whereas some people like to work up towards one longer walk throughout the day. It's good to increase yourself gradually over time, especially if you do have low back pain, as it'll give your body more chance to get used to it. Don't be alarmed if you have a temporary increase of new low back pain, or even some like leg or other body parts that are a little sore when you do start a walking program. If this pain goes away within about 48 hours, it’s tolerable and it's not impacting your daily life severely, that's just a normal part of starting a new program.
To learn more about low back pain, please visit us at Spine-health and be sure to subscribe to our channel for more videos like this one. Thanks for watching!
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