If you deal with this type of chronic pain, there's new evidence that getting your steps in could offer some needed relief.
Walking for This Long Daily Could Relieve Back Pain, New Research Says
Published on Jul. 15, 2025
No matter the cause—be it a sprain, strain, arthritis, or a herniated disk—lower back pain certainly puts a damper on any day or activity. According to the Cleveland Clinic, nearly a quarter of the global population experiences chronic lower back pain. The clinic also reports that “Nearly everyone experiences lower back pain at some point in their lives.”
But there may be a new way to find relief for this bothersome condition. Even better news: all you need is to put on a pair of walking shoes and get moving.
In June 2025, the medical journal JAMA Network Open published a study that examined how walking volume—and intensity—could affect chronic lower back pain.
From 2017 to 2019, a research team largely based in Norway—representing fields such as public health and nursing, neuromedicine and movement science, and sports science and clinical biomechanics—gathered data on 11,194 participants. These individuals were, on average, 55 years old and did not report any lower back pain.
The study’s participants wore accelerometers (devices that measure movement) for one week so researchers could track how many minutes they walked each day, as well as if the walking was slow, moderate, or brisk.
Then, from 2021 to 2023, researchers followed up with participants to learn if they’d experienced chronic lower back pain or stiffness since first participating in the study. Of these participants, 1,659 reported having that type of pain.
From the data collected, walking for more than 100 minutes a day was linked to a 23% lower risk of chronic lower back pain when compared to walking less than 78 minutes a day.
More specifically, the study found that:
- Walking between 78 and 100 minutes daily was associated with a 13% decreased risk for chronic lower back pain.
- Walking between 101 and 124 minutes daily was linked to a 23% lower risk.
- Walking for more than 125 minutes was associated with a 24% lower risk.
A moderate walking intensity was also associated with a lower risk of chronic lower back pain. However, this potential link was reduced after researchers adjusted for daily walking volume.
“Our findings suggest that daily walking volume is more important than mean walking intensity in reducing the risk of chronic [lower back pain],” the study’s authors wrote. They went on to suggest the ease and accessibility of walking—and multiple benefits to health beyond their study’s focus—could be “further promoted.”
Looking toward the future, researchers concluded, “These findings suggest that policies and public health strategies promoting walking could help to reduce the occurrence of chronic [lower back pain].”
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