By Madeline Holcombe, CNN
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Getting your steps in is good for your health, but it may also help keep you from being affected by disability later, new research has found.
Walking 100 minutes a day was associated with a 23% reduced risk of chronic low back pain, according to a study published Friday in the journal JAMA Network Open.
“This is an important finding because walking is a simple, low cost, and accessible activity that can be promoted widely to reduce the burden of low back pain,” said lead study author Rayane Haddadj, a doctoral candidate in the department of public health and nursing at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, in an email.
An estimated 600 million people worldwide experience low back pain, which is considered the leading cause of disability, said physiotherapist Dr. Natasha Pocovi, a postdoctoral research fellow in health sciences at Macquarie University in Sydney. She was not involved in the research.
By 2050, the number of people with chronic low back pain is expected to grow to 843 million, according to the World Health Organization.
And yet prevention of low back pain is often overlooked in research and clinical practice, Pocovi added.
The results from this latest study show there is the possibility of using physical activity as prevention. Pocovi said the research also “suggests that we don’t need to complicate our exercise routines to protect ourselves against chronic low back pain.”
More steps, less pain
To investigate the connection between walking and back pain prevention, the research team analyzed data from more than 11,000 participants age 20 and older from the Trøndelag Health, or HUNT, Study in Norway.
Between 2017 and 2019, HUNT researchers asked study participants to wear accelerometers for seven days to track their walking patterns. The HUNT team then followed up from 2021 and 2023 and asked if participants experienced back pain, according to the new study.
People were divided into four groups: those who walked less than 78 minutes in a day, 78 to 100 minutes, 101 to 124 minutes, and more than 125 minutes.
The findings showed that as the amount of daily walking increased, the risk of chronic low back pain decreased, and preliminary evidence revealed moderate or brisk walking was more protective than a slow pace, Pocovi said.
There are reasons to have confidence in the study results, including the large sample size and the use of accelerometers instead of people reporting their own levels of physical activity, she added.
However, the walking data was only captured over one week, which might not be reflective of people’s patterns over a month or year, Pocovi said.
The study is also observational, which means that while it can show associations, researchers can’t say for sure that the walking caused reduced risk of low back pain.
Getting more walking in
Not only is low back pain a leading cause of disability –– it’s also expensive. On average, people spend more than $30,000 on back pain-related costs over the five years after first diagnosis, according to an April 2024 study.
Easy, inexpensive changes that prevent chronic low back pain can make a big difference, Haddadj said.
The study wasn’t able to address if walking 100 minutes straight had more, less or the same impact as accumulating that same amount of time in short bursts, Pocovi said.
But in most cases, unless there is an underlying medical condition, any amount of walking is better than none, Pocovi said.
“Start with short walking sessions, either by planning specific walks or finding small ways to integrate a brief stroll into your daily routine,” she said.
She likes to take stairs instead of the elevator or walk to a coffee shop a little farther from her home, Pocovi said.
“The key is to gradually increase your walking in a sustainable and enjoyable way,” she said in an email. “Additionally, it can be helpful to have a friend, partner, or colleague join you for walks to keep yourself motivated and accountable.”
You can add walking as a way to spend time with friends in addition to dinner and drinks, CNN fitness contributor Dana Santas, a certified strength and conditioning specialist and mind-body coach in professional sports, said in a previous article.
And if you want to move past getting a couple of extra steps and get more physical activity, you can still start small and build your way up, Santas said. Some workouts can even be completed from the comfort of your couch while watching an episode of your favorite TV show, she added.
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