Regardless of whether you spend the majority of your days at work, school, or home, staying active throughout the day is integral to your spine health. Sedentary lifestyles are more common in the US than active ones. In fact, less than 5% of US adults participate in 30 minutes of physical activity each day.
Did you know that staying active is a great way to keep your spine healthy and prevent back pain? Physical activity helps stimulate healing in the spine. It causes the discs in your spine to swell with water and then squeeze out. This process exchanges nutrients between the discs and the rest of your spine. When you aren’t regularly active, your spinal discs are deprived of the nutrients they need to function properly.
Luckily, there are plenty of ways to motivate yourself to get up and move throughout the day, whether you have a gym membership or not.
Methods For Staying Active Throughout The Day
Two of the easiest methods for staying active throughout the day are to walk and stand up more frequently. Don’t worry, we’re not saying that you have to stand at work all day or take walks every 5 minutes. Small changes like going to the far bathroom and making frequent trips to fill your water go a long way.
Activity trackers are great motivators to stay active throughout the day, as most have reminders to move and certain step or movement goals. If you are particularly goal-motivated, an activity tracker may be the best option to get moving.
If an activity tracker isn’t necessarily in your budget right now, you can start by setting an hourly reminder on your phone. Once you’ve gotten up and moved around, you can dismiss the reminder until the next hour.
Staying active throughout the day doesn’t have to be difficult. What are your favorite tips for staying active? Share with us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!