One of the best things you can do for your spinal health is to walk for 30 minutes per day, maintaining a tall and relaxed posture. Walking creates an alternating and opposing movement between the shoulders and hips, resulting in a recurring rotation through the spine. This movement activates the small stabilizing muscles around the spine and core, offering multiple benefits to your spinal health.
- Rhythmic and relaxed spinal movement, while walking under gravitational load, provides ample alignment and movement feedback to the brain. This feedback helps the brain gain a better understanding of the structural condition of the spine. In minor cases, it can even be sufficient for the brain to correct small spinal alignment issues without requiring chiropractic care. With improved knowledge of spinal alignment through increased feedback, the brain can better control spinal movement and reduce the risk of movement errors that could potentially lead to injuries.
- The rhythmic loading and unloading during walking can assist in reducing inflammation and swelling around injured joints in the spine. This process helps to dissipate or pump away inflammation more efficiently than if you are stationary, thereby reducing pain and muscle guarding in the injured area.
- Spinal discs are designed with limited blood supply and rely on regular movement to receive proper nourishment. The mechanical process of the discs being loaded and unloaded during walking helps “wiggle” nutrients into the discs while eliminating waste products. This promotes the long-term health of the discs, which are crucial for spinal health.
Walking has an especially powerful positive impact on spinal health immediately following chiropractic adjustments. Dysfunctional spinal joints experience significantly increased mobility for about 20 minutes after being adjusted. Therefore, walking immediately after your adjustment can expedite your recovery process and enhance the benefits you receive from the adjustments.