GGC5K

I am currently doing some more studying on back pain. It is the leading cause of days off work worldwide and one of the scariest things that can happen.

Back pain often feels as though it is a life sentence, restricting your activity and invading your life forever. However, like a lot of things, movement and exercise can (and research seems to showing does) help. Despite what you may think, in most cases, it will not make it worse. Studies in long distance runners with no back pain (and I mean those crazy people who run over 500 kilometers a year) show no difference in their back health when compared to the rest of us with no back pain.

Movement and some compression, rotation and torsion (the effects of running or walking on your spine) are thought to increase circulation and improve joint health. If you have back pain this can help to decrease your back pain.

Just a note, if you do have back pain make sure that walking or running do not increase your pain (a maximum of 2 min walk or jog should give you that answer), do not run before you can walk, and always seek medical advice if you are unsure or have severe or neurological symptoms.