It’s been several weeks since I walked the greenways and sat on a bench with a cup of coffee.
I’m back in the OR now: bright lights, postoperative checklists, the steady rhythm of clinical life. Between cases, team huddles, and family responsibilities, carving out the same 30–60 minutes I spent walking each morning suddenly feels harder than it did on vacation. Time fills up quickly.
And yet, that week didn’t feel like a luxury.
It felt like a foundation.
My legs felt stronger.
My thinking felt clearer.
My stress felt more manageable.
That simple experiment reminded me of something I’ve known for years as a spine surgeon: motion doesn’t just reduce pain. It sharpens judgment, stabilizes mood, and builds the physical reserve we rely on when life (or surgery) places real demands on the body.
The real challenge, for the people I care for and for me, isn’t learning that movement helps.
It’s protecting the time to do it consistently.
So, this final article is both a summary of what we’ve learned and a practical ask. If the first step is remembering why movement matters, the next step is deciding how you’ll protect it.
Why We Ran MotionFirst
Over the past month, we published a MotionFirst Walking Series that explored movement from multiple angles:
- Why walking helps prevent and reduce chronic low-back pain
- How walking builds cardiovascular resilience and supports recovery
- How walking improves mood and pain tolerance
- How walking fits into weight management and prehabilitation
Each article reviewed objective evidence, large cohort studies, randomized trials, and systematic reviews, and translated that science into practical steps patients can actually use.
My week off was the spark.
The work since has been about turning that spark into habits and programs that last.
The One Idea I Want You to Keep
Motion is Life.
Small, consistent minutes of movement add up. They protect your spine, support your heart, improve your mood, and build the reserve you need to tolerate surgery or recover faster if you ever need it (Piercy et al., 2018; Booth et al., 2017).
That’s not philosophy.
That’s what the evidence shows and what we see in real patients every day.
Five Goals I Want Every Vertrae® Patient to Set
You don’t need to do everything at once. One goal at a time is enough.
- Move daily- start small.
Consistency matters more than intensity (Ekelund et al., 2019).
Start with 10–15 minutes per day. Add 5 minutes to the following week. Work toward 30 minutes as your first milestone. - Track something that matters.
Awareness changes behavior.
Use your phone, a watch, or even a paper log to track walking minutes, steps, or completed strength sessions. - Strength twice a week.
Strong glutes, hips, and core reduce mechanical stress on the spine.
Two short sessions per week can make a meaningful difference. - Use movement for your mind.
Walking reduces anxiety, depressive symptoms, and pain sensitivity (Stubbs et al., 2018; Geneen et al., 2017).
Treat a short walk like a prescription: a daily check-in, not an afterthought. - If surgery is on the table, prepare early.
Even a few weeks of prehabilitation can improve fitness, confidence, and recovery.
Ask about guided walking, targeted strength training, and education before surgery, whenever possible.
Small, measurable wins compound into lasting change.
A Surgeon’s Lens: Why This Matters Before and After Surgery
Better aerobic fitness provides greater physiological reserve during anesthesia and surgical stress. Strength and mobility make it easier to get moving safely afterward. Patients who come into surgery better prepared, physically and mentally, tend to mobilize sooner, engage more effectively in rehab, and recover with fewer setbacks (Santa Mina et al., 2014; Topp et al., 2002).
Even modest, consistent movement before and after treatment can meaningfully change the trajectory of recovery.
What We See in Real Patients: A Surgeon’s Perspective
Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of caring for a wide range of patients whose lives revolve around movement.
College athletes, volleyball players, baseball players, football players, and golfers, who want to return not just to competition, but to confidence.
Highly active adults, Pilates instructors, tennis players, weekend warriors, who don’t measure success by an MRI, but by how they move and feel.
And patients whose lives demand physical resilience in less conventional ways. One who stands out is a skydiver, whose recovery wasn’t just about healing, but about trusting their body again at altitude.
What these patients share isn’t just motivation. It’s movement literacy. They understand their bodies, value conditioning, and actively engage in recovery. And time and again, we’ve seen how that translates into faster, smoother returns to activity, whether the path involved surgery, rehabilitation, or both.
These outcomes aren’t accidental. Patients who move consistently, maintain strength and cardiovascular fitness, and respect recovery tend to tolerate treatment better and regain function sooner.
Movement doesn’t replace good surgery or good care.
It amplifies it.
That’s one of the clearest lessons I’ve learned as a surgeon: when patients come in with a strong foundation of movement, everything that follows tends to work better.
How to Start This Week
You don’t need a perfect plan.
Pick one small action:
- Take a 10-minute walk today.
- Schedule time for movement like you would an appointment.
- Ask your care team how to integrate walking into your recovery plan.
If you’re in the Dayton area, we’re here to guide you step by step.
Final Thought
That quiet week of walking was a reset.
Coming back to the OR reminded me how easy it is to let healthy habits slip.
So, here’s my ask to patients, our team, and our community:
Choose one movement goal this month. Protect the time for it. Let us help you make it sustainable.
Motion is life.
Let’s make motion stick, together.
References
Booth, F. W., Roberts, C. K., & Laye, M. J. (2017). Lack of exercise is a major cause of chronic diseases. Comprehensive Physiology, 7(4), 1143–1211.
https://doi.org/10.1002/cphy.c170025
Piercy, K. L., Troiano, R. P., Ballard, R. M., et al. (2018). The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. JAMA, 320(19), 2020–2028.
https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2018.14854
Ekelund, U., Tarp, J., Steene-Johannessen, J., et al. (2019). Dose-response associations between accelerometer-measured physical activity and sedentary time and all-cause mortality. BMJ, 366, l4570.
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l4570
Stubbs, B., Vancampfort, D., Hallgren, M., et al. (2018). EPA guidance on physical activity as a treatment for severe mental illness. Translational Psychiatry, 8(1), 1–10.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-018-0235-5
Geneen, L. J., Moore, R. A., Clarke, C., et al. (2017). Physical activity and exercise for chronic pain in adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (4), CD011279.
https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD011279
Santa Mina, D., Clarke, H., Ritvo, P., et al. (2014). Effect of total-body prehabilitation on postoperative outcomes. British Journal of Surgery, 101(8), 965–975.
https://doi.org/10.1002/bjs.9486
Topp, R., Ditmyer, M., King, K., et al. (2002). The effect of bed rest and potential of prehabilitation on patients in the intensive care unit. AACN Clinical Issues, 13(2), 263–276.
