I WANT to issue a warning. Rest = Rust.

Inactivity is a primary predisposing and perpetuating factor for pain.

The standard counter-argument to this is “but, if I am in pain, what can I do?”. Hopefully, the below guidance will help.

One of the best ways of treating lower back pain is to go on frequent, short, but brisk, walks.

There’s no safer exercise than walking and it can even have an analgaesic effect on your pain. Even better is walking in a group or with a friend.

Brisk should mean walking like you are running late for a seriously important meeting that you’ve been looking forward to all year.

Even if you are in pain, remember hurt doesn’t necessarily equal harm. Use a traffic light approach:

Red is pain 7-10/10. Stop try something else. Yellow is 3-6/10. Proceed, but monitor the results. It will probably loosen things up as you “warm up”. Green is 0-3/10. Go for it and don’t worry about mild discomfort.

Remember you are resilient, not than fragile. Your body is built to move.

Usually what’s wrong with our back is that we are sitting or standing too much. Or, not doing a great enough variety of activities. Or not challenging tissues regularly enough to encourage protective adaptations.

Rates of disabling lower back pain have increased by 54 per cent since 1990. This has led to colossal use of painkillers and surgery, when the simplest and most effective solution is for us to just be more active.

By avoiding inactivity you can enjoy a healthier life-span; 60 is the new 40. Centenarians are socially and physically active in various parts of the world like Okinawa.

Your biological and chronological ages are not the same. Do you want to be a young 75 or an old 75?

Lifestyle choices can make an enormous difference to our quality of life.