The Best Exercise For Gut Health
10–15 minutes could change your life.
“Walk it off.” Not only did your high-school track coach tell you this after you got calf cramps, but it’s also what I tell many of my patients dealing with digestive woes. I promise I’m more empathetic than your former coach, as I believe walking is incredibly undervalued when it comes to improving gut and overall health. I’ve seen it support people who’ve been dealing with years of constant bloating and constipation.
People who have gone through the wringer of strange detoxes, restrictive diets, and expensive tests, have seen benefits from a daily walking routine. Imagine that, you cut out your favorite foods and spend all this money trying to help your gut when in reality all you had to do was simply put one foot in front of the other. Let’s double click on walking’s ability to take our gut from constipated to consistent.
Can It Be That Easy?
It seems that many people believe that exercise “worked” if it leaves you laying out on all fours covered in a pile of your electrolytes. It’s almost as if people scoff at the idea of walking be exercise. “It can’t be that easy,” I’ll oftentimes hear from people. Yet the funny part is, that the majority of us still struggle to have a consistent walking routine, so it’s not that easy!
Compared to exercises such as squats or pull-ups, walking is incredibly instinctual. If you’ve ever had and/or seen children and watched them as they learn to stand upright, it’s fascinating how quickly they learn to walk without much “coaching.” Yet as modern life has become incredibly convenient, we’ve removed to need to walk. Walking used to be something that people “just did” to get from point A to B, but now it’s been forced to become a part of our structured exercise routines.
How Does It Help
Walking is so beneficial due to its activating of the parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous system. Stress plays such a large role in gut symptoms, that many people could benefit from including more “restorative” type activities in their day. Compared to yoga, walking was shown to be more beneficial for long-term symptom reduction in Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) patients (1). Those with IBS suffer from weekly episodes of bloating, stomach pain, constipation, or diarrhea. Maybe you yourself have experienced/or currently experiencing IBS-type symptoms!
One of the top causes of constipation, is not a lack of fiber, but rather a lack of low-level physical activity (2), walking generally being the easiest form.
Think of your gut, and constipation, like traffic on a highway. Adding more fiber would be the equivalent of adding more cars on an already crowded highway… probably won’t help it go faster. While walking is like opening up a whole other lane on the highway, letting traffic flow at a faster pace.
How to Make it Easy
Even though many people choose to carve out time in their day to go for a walk, there are also several “hacks” you can implement to help get that step count up a bit! You can do things such as park farther away at work or the grocery store, take the stairs instead of the elevator, or choose to take phone calls on the go! My patients love to get their daily walks in with their families after dinner, a great way for everyone to debrief their days to one another + get their daily exercise.
And for those of you saying, “I’m not sure if I can even make time for that,” I totally understand where you’re coming from. Let me paint you this picture: The greatest amount of change often comes from the thing we’re paying the least attention to. I can nearly guarantee that you’re tired of feeling sick and tired; tired of the daily digestive woes, upset stomachs, and high levels of food restriction due to your gut issues. Let walking be the change to get you back to the gut health you deserve.
If you’re wanting further assistance with your gut health journey, our clinic does see patients virtually across the country. You can check out our website, or schedule a free phone consult with us to help you determine the right next steps along your health journey.
As always, Trust in Your Gut.
Disclaimer: The contents of this article are for educational purposes only, and are not intended to diagnose or treat any condition. Do not apply any of the information in this article without first speaking with your doctor.
References
- Shahabi L, Naliboff BD, Shapiro D. Self-regulation evaluation of therapeutic yoga and walking for patients with irritable bowel syndrome: a pilot study. Psychol Health Med. 2016;21(2):176–188. doi:10.1080/13548506.2015.1051557
- Gao R, Tao Y, Zhou C, et al. Exercise therapy in patients with constipation: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Scand J Gastroenterol. 2019;54(2):169–177. doi:10.1080/00365521.2019.1568544
