Sunningdale Osteopathic Clinic

This is actually quite a big question!

We need to ask 'in what way is walking good for you?'. After all, walking can have cardio-vascular benefits, digestive system benefits, psychological, sleep and so on, but my angle on this question is whether walking has musculoskeletal benefits (i.e. does it help spinal muscles and joints, hips and so on).

Plus, although walking can be great at ANY age, I'm mainly thinking here of people in the 40-75 years of age range.

Generally, walking IS good for you. However, for it to be good for you, you do need to have a spine, hips, knees and even feet that can cope with the 'demands' of walking. If you have problems in these areas, or if problems develop when you start a walking program, then you will need to see someone to get this sorted out, or (in your case) walking will cause more problems than it solves!

Walking IS good for you, providing you do the following;

• You do it regularly and frequently - big gaps allows your system to go back to where it was, and you never actually allow the benefits of walking to accumulate, so a regime of 20-30 minutes brisk walking 3-4 times per week should do the trick
• You walk briskly, for a duration and speed enough to make you slightly 'glow' at the end of it
• You wear good shoes - trainers are ideal
• Your arms are free to swing at your side - this is important; you don't need to have a military march, but arms hanging stiffly at the sides while you walk will be both very inefficient, AND will reduce the benefits of walking for your spine
• You initially walk on level / flattish ground - fell walking can wait a while!

Remember - the human body was designed to move ... a regime like the above will go a long way to offsetting the static sluggish aspects of modern life.