Largo Chiropractic Tip: Go out for a walk.
Every step counts! Walks are healthy. Walking is effective, even in small spurts.
It’s a growing trend in Largo and everywhere else. Walking is free and simple. It’s a physical activity that most anyone can do. Unfortunately only about 48% of adults get enough aerobic (activity that gets the heart pumping harder and blood vessels healthier) physical activity (1), so Hollstrom & Associates Inc recommends walking to all of our Largo chiropractic patients especially as they recover from a back pain episode.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY GUIDELINES
Physical Activity Guidelines recommend only 2 and a half hours each week. (2) That’s so simple! That can be done in smaller chunks like five 30-minute walks or longer walks with others instead of coffee chats or dinners out. A walk while waiting to pick up kids at activities can work. 145 million adults walk as part of their physical activity plan. Others like some in Largo walk for fun or transportation or exercise. 6 out of 10 walk for their aerobic physical activity. Others enjoy ballroom dancing or gardening. (1) Brisk walking, running, jogging, swimming or biking are potential activities when walking becomes a bit too comfortable, but walking itself works|is]19] just as well!
WALKERS KEEP WALKING
The Journal of the American Medical Association released information about 1635 inactive adults from 70 to 89 years who were at risk of not being as mobile as they like (ie, their ability to walk without support). They were split into two groups: walking (20-minutes-a-day walk) or education (reading material about healthy aging). The walking group had an 18% lower risk of major mobility disability at 2.6 years. The walkers could walk without assistance up to a quarter mile. (3) This is great news!
A NEW WALKING PROGRAM: Motivators & Effects
What inspires you to exercise? Hollstrom & Associates Inc is here to inspire you! A new report about outcomes of a 6-month program of walking listed what low back pain participants reported as motivators that got them to start the walking program (back pain improvement and better overall healthy lifestyle), to adhere to the program (walking was seen as a safe exercise as opposed to high-impact exercise that they would avoid out of fear of making their pain worse), and to complete the program (accountability, pleasure of the exercise and health benefits). (4) A recently designed study anticipates defining just how effective a walking and education program might be able to prevent low back pain recurrence as well as for cost. They’re naming it WalkBack. (5) Such a great name! Effectiveness and cost-savings can also be motivators to stick to a walking program.
CONTACT Hollstrom & Associates Inc
So if you are wanting to add some physical activity to your life or you are trying to re-gain your physically active life after an injury, illness or bout of back pain, just walk (after you check with your Largo chiropractor first!). It may well be just what you are looking for! Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Amanda Harris on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as she describes treatment with the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management that allowed a patient to walk again without a cane.
Contact Hollstrom & Associates Inc to set up your next appointment for individualized advice about integrating walking into your chiropractic care plan.
