I've just started working with a new patient on movement rehabilitiation who has had ongoing back pain for the best part of 2 years. He's got structural damage - degeneration in the facet joints of the vertebrae. He's a desk bound office worker and doesn't get much of a chance to get away from his seat. He just came back from a weeks holiday where he walked (and danced!) and moved for pretty much the entire day and he reported that he had virtually no back pain and no stiffness - symptoms he has been suffering with daily. He hasn't started his rehabilitation exercise programme yet. The only difference that he made was adding in movement to his day. Since beginning my practice as a remedial soft tissue therapist, the number one complaint I treat is stiff and sore back, neck and shoulders from sitting at a desk all day. The body does not like sustained positions. We are designed to move!
So how do you add more movement into your day if you have a desk bound job? Well, if you're in London I have super treats for you!
Firstly, if sounds to simple to actually have any affect, but walk your 10,000 steps per day. I didn't even know my iPhone as calibrating my movements around town until one of my friends introduced me to the Health app that comes with the phone. When I opened it up I was shocked to see it had been recording my steps for months!
As you can see I have what I would consider an inverse pattern to most people. As I move around for my work, my weekday steps are pretty high. But look at Sunday 10th July - I must have been sleeping the whole day! Also, I take my phone on my runs and I run 4-5 days per week so that movement would have been added here also.
So how do you get your steps in without adding a whole 8th day of the week to walk around guilt-free with nothing else to do?
Well I stumbled across this handy little find - TFL have released a Walk the Tube map showing the number of steps between each station in a bid to get more people to walk shorter distances and ease the stress on the tube in rush hour.
And for those who are time conscious on their commute to work here is the same map detailing the time it takes to walk between stations.
And here is an Evening Standard article on 8 London tube journeys that are quicker by foot!
Another great little find is handy little article on Londonist.com called The London Walkers Tube Map about great London walks you can do at the weekends to get those step figures up! Click the link above or the image below to get all the info.
Now, with all that walking, you might have noticed that too much walking can give your discomfort too. So, make sure you wear comfortable walking shoes on your commute or on your bumble around London. If you are on a long walk then take a tea and cake break! If you would like to do some beneficial spinal mobilisations before you set of and after you return then check out my article and FREE ebook here.
If walking is causing you considerable discomfort, or your pain gets worse the longer you walk then please feel free to contact me at KT@precisionmovement.co.uk and we can have a chat about your situation.