Walking

[No Contest]

When my lower back is hurting at times from work I like to walk backwards up hills.

Try putting a rolled up blanket under your knees when you sleep at night. I had a pain in my lower back a long time ago, and was told this from a chiroprator. It decompresses the spine or something like that. A cylindar shaped pillow works too.

[iceman]

walking,compared to time spent might not be greatest way to condition.however it would be nice for relaxation, burns probably three or four more cal an hour than watching T.V. and def not hard on joints. so yeah its useful esp if you got time to do it.

[Sharla]

When my lower back is hurting at times from work I like to walk backwards up hills.

Try putting a rolled up blanket under your knees when you sleep at night. I had a pain in my lower back a long time ago, and was told this from a chiroprator. It decompresses the spine or something like that. A cylindar shaped pillow works too.

I sometimes do this too - it does give a lot of relief! Aother similar thing also works for me - lying on my back on the floor with my legs up on a chair at right angles. I've read it is supposed to relax the psoas which tends to tighten from sitting in chairs etc.

I agree with walking backwards. Also to get the body doing some reverse conditioning (from daily things we do too much) I have some negative heel shoes manufactured by a company called Earth. They still appear flat they just have slightly higher front the same way most shoes have a slightly higher heel.

Also barefooting whether you have a needle free beach/oval near by or wear Vibram 5 fingers is very good for you. It trains the body to land on the forefoot more which allows a lot better shock absorption, less shock and despite having less padding under foot. My back has much less/no pain since i changed my footwear. Also i stopped crossing my legs and i'm suprised by how much that seems to help.

I think walking can be good but I find it's hard to get the same aerobic benefit (unless you are unfit or crossing challenging terrain and can get puffed walking). I think rather than selling it as a replacement for running (which could be replaced more easily by rowing, swimming or cycling at a high intensity) there are other benefits that should be acknowledged.

Walking stretches the calves more (especially in shoes with no heel), walking according to my chiro sends gentle oscillations up the spine that can be quite therapeutic, studies have shown it improves memory more than other exercise (i'm thinking that's because you have time to consider your day etc) and i'm sure there's more i don't know about.

I have a fractured elbow and have just been put into a cast. That eliminates pretty much all exercise except for walking for me so i'm aiming to do a lot over the next 6 weeks. I'm hoping it will have some benefit!