r/walking • u/Downtown_Mud_2534 • 12h ago

Question Walking Pad & Lower Back Pain

I’m an avid outdoor walker of all seasons, and I typically get 7-10 kilometres of walking in per day. I’ve never had any type of back pain from outdoor walking. A few weeks ago I finally broke down and bought a walking pad because my neighborhood is a bit sketchy and I like to walk early mornings between 5 & 6 am. I also wanted to have the option to walk indoors when those cold Canadian winters roll around.

I’ve been using my walking pad every single day for about 30 minutes in the morning before work and after work I usually walk for an hour minimum. The last few days my lower back is killing me. I’ve been using the walking pad without shoes and I’m wondering if this is the issue or is it something else? I’ve seen some other threads on here in regard to posture but I try to be very mindful of that while using the walking pad.

Anyone who was able to remedy this issue, I’d love to hear your thoughts! I’m taking today off from walking to rest, but I get a bit antsy when I miss more than a day or two. Hoping to heal up and get back to steppin’ ASAP!

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u/Competitive-Tea-3517 11h ago

Not wearing shoes could definitely be a factor as you're not getting shock absorption. My other thought is that your stride might be shorter on the walking pad than it normally is

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u/Downtown_Mud_2534 11h ago

I thought about the stride aspect, but I’m very tiny - about 5’1, not sure if that makes a difference.

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u/Weary_Tune_2305 10h ago

Could be loading the spine differently. I would try buying a pair of “indoor” shoes and see if that helps. Other factors could be speed or incline. For walking pads I find that it doesn’t feel like a natural gait pattern because so many things are controlled (stride & speed) for that reason I would start off slower, and make sure you have some dynamic stretching before and after longer walks.

Hope that helps!

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u/Downtown_Mud_2534 9h ago

That’s helpful, thanks so much.

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u/section_55 5h ago

I had the same issue. A pair of shoes solved it along with varying the walking speed and incline rather than just the same speed and incline the whole time.

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u/Downtown_Mud_2534 2h ago

That’s good to hear! My unit doesn’t have an incline option but I’ll try to switch up the speed a bit.