Walk away your back pain: How a stroll could offer best cure

At the Reading Chiropractor we are strong believers in the benefits of short frequent simple exercise such as walking, cycling and swimming. This can help when suffering with aches and pains, but also in the prevention of such symptoms.

Read more about this in the article from the express below, and read more about why a walking workout is good for your body here: http://readingchiropractor.digital-zest.com/blog/why-a-walking-workout-is-good-for-your-body/

A SIMPLE stroll is the easiest way to beat crippling back pain, experts say

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/575740/stroll-best-cure-back-pain

Research by the British Chiropractic Association has found that a stroll could help with back pain

 Many of us spend at least 10 hours a day sitting at a desk or lounging on a couch, leading to a “sedentary epidemic”.

Research by the British Chiropractic Association lays bare the extent of back ache among Britons.

It finds 56 per cent of people older than 55 say sitting still for too long is the biggest cause of back pain with 27 per cent admitting to daily agony.

The crisis is costing the economy billions of pounds in sick leave with 31 million working days lost last year due to back and ­muscle problems.

However, the situation is largely self-inflicted with many of us ­sitting for too long at our com­puter screens in bad posture.

The BCA says walking could be a cheap and effective cure for millions. It is less strenuous on the joints than other forms of exercise and helps maintain bone density, it says.

Even adding just a few minutes walking to daily routines ­â€” such as taking the stairs instead of the lift — could provide relief from the pain.

Chiropractor Tim Hutchful says: “As you age it’s important to maintain a healthy lifestyle and the sooner you commit to being more active the better.

“Consider taking up a new sport that will give gentle exercise while keeping you moving and flexible or, quite simply, start walking more.”

Hitting 50 is the age when millions notice a loss of fitness and begin to put on weight, placing added pressure on the spine, joints and muscles.

 Carrying extra pounds can lead to pain in the upper, middle or lower back causing health problems.

In your sixties it is common to experience degeneration of the joints, discs and other spinal tissues with osteoarthritis affecting the back.

Our increasingly sedentary lifestyles are believed to be leading to an epidemic of back pain that has seen 2.5 million people suffer daily agony.

Complaints of back and neck pain are up 10 per cent on last year.

But simple adjustments, such as sitting correctly at work and in the car can produce relief.

Workers should also take regular breaks and stretch regularly. Drinking water instead of tea or coffee also helps by keeping the body hydrated.

The BCA advises people to walk so the heel strikes the floor first, allowing the foot to act as a shock absorber and helping to propel the person.

Back pain is now so common the BCA has devised a three-minute exercise routine that can be viewed at http://bit.ly/straightenup

Published: 22:05, Thu, May 7, 2015 By Giles Sheldrick

view the article here: http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/575740/stroll-best-cure-back-pain

Why a walking workout is good for your body.


Young woman running

At the Reading Chiropractor we are strong believers in helping you to help in getting yourself better.

Advice is key in all that we do, and we often recommend walking as a great form of exercise. It helps by: maintaining mobility, keeping bones strong, joints mobile and improving cardiovascular fitness, losing weight by burning calories, maintaining tone. Walking is a simple, cheap and easy form of exercises which most of us can do.

We recommend you aim for 15-20 minute walks, 2-3 times a day.

 

 

Read more about this in this article printed in the Daily Mail. click here:

Why a walking workout is good for your body

by ROBINA DAM, Daily Mail

As a nation of largely sedentary workers, we take less and less exercise. Yet one of the most simple forms is also the most effective – walking.

There is now evidence to suggest that regular brisk walks could be as good for us, if not better, than strenuous jogging.

WHAT DOES WALKING DO TO YOUR BODY?

Regular walking, like most aerobic activities, is good for you because cardio-vascular exercise strengthens the heart and lungs, increasing overall fitness.

Together with diet and other exercise plans, it can also help with weight loss and tone up muscles.

Dr Craig Williams a sports science lecturer at the University of Exeter is a firm believer in the benefits of walking, and says: ‘It can improve muscle endurance as well as muscle strength, especially in the lower body.

‘It is good for bones and improves the body’s cardiovascular system. It also helps boost circulation.

‘Power-walking – keeping a brisk pace at moderate to high intensity – can burn the same amount of calories as jogging or running. So it is useful for helping with weight loss.’

And, he adds: ‘Because it is low impact, it does not have the same potential for injury as jogging. Yet it can offer all the benefits.’

Marcus Davis, an osteopath with the Harley Street Back Centre in London, agrees. He says: ‘Walking helps to drain the lower legs of excess fluid and can help prevent varicose veins through the pumping action of the calf muscles.

‘The increased supply of oxygen exercise promotes also gets rid of the waste products in the tissues.

‘And because more people are able to walk at a consistent speed than run, it is a more beneficial form of tissue-cleansing, particularly for the over-50s, for whom jogging can actually cause more problems.’

‘Walking is also better for the spine than running, as it puts less stress on the discs. Yet we were designed for constant movement, not sitting in cars or in front of computers, which causes negative pressures on our spinal cord.

‘Regular walking is excellent for spinal discs, which receive minerals and vitamins through the pumping action it causes.

‘And the best thing is that you can see results from walking reasonably quickly – although it depends on each person’s individual level of fitness, age and how often and fast they are walking.’

HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU WALK?

Government health recommendations are for us to exercise for 30 minutes daily, for a minimum of five days a week. But you can split the walk into a couple of 15-minute journeys each day or make up for lost time with an extra-long walk at the weekend.

Getting off the bus earlier than you would normally, ‘walking up a flight of stairs instead of taking the lift or even a brisk walk around the block for ten minutes in your lunch break contributes to your daily walking.’

HOW TO KEEP IT UP

‘When you walk, just like any other form of exercise, your body has a chemical release of serotonin, the natural feel good chemical.

‘There is also the release of endorphins, which are happy hormones, which is why people feel on a natural high at the end of an exercise session. Remembering how you feel should be an incentive for you to keep it up.’

To read more about the benefits of walking, click here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-122898/Why-walking-workout-good-body.html