Avoiding back pain comes down to consistency — physical therapist Jenny Resmondo says small, sustainable daily habits like staying hydrated, eating well, and walking five to ten minutes a day beat big goals you won’t keep.
Jenny Resmondo from South Alabama Physiotherapy is back on this Physical Friday, this time on how to avoid back pain or remove it from your life entirely. I asked her what lifestyle, strength, and mindset changes actually work, and her answer was refreshingly simple: consistency over intensity, built from habits small enough that you’ll actually stick with them.
Listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
Jenny Resmondo says consistency is key. Even small changes — staying hydrated, getting proper nutrition, and moving every day — add up. If you’re not active, start with a five-to-ten-minute walk daily and do it on a regular, consistent basis to build a good habit. Without those habits it won’t work, and big goals you can’t sustain won’t either.
Jenny prefers a little bit every day over an hour two days a week. A small daily routine — even five or ten minutes — builds your sense of accomplishment far more than doing one big session here and there. That feeling of “I can accomplish this daily” is what keeps you going and makes the habit sustainable.
Because if you set huge goals you can’t maintain, you won’t continue, and the benefit never compounds. Jenny’s point is that sustainable beats impressive — a small daily habit you actually keep does more for your back over time than an ambitious program you abandon after two weeks.
Staying hydrated, eating proper nutrition so your body functions properly, and daily movement — starting with a five-to-ten-minute walk if you’re not already active. The emphasis is on doing them consistently, every day, so they become established habits rather than occasional efforts.
Start small enough that success is easy — a few minutes of walking a day — and repeat it consistently. Jenny says that daily win builds your sense of accomplishment and momentum, which she and I both call stacking wins. As the habit holds, you can build on it, but the foundation is something you can keep doing every single day.
It’s the idea that small daily accomplishments build on each other. When you complete a short routine every day, you prove to yourself you can do it, and that momentum carries into bigger changes. Jenny’s consistency-first approach is stacking wins applied to your back — little sustainable habits compounding into lasting health.
When I asked Jenny what it takes to move from chronic back pain to a pain-free life — the strength work, the diet, the mindset — her answer cut right through it: consistency. Even a small change, done regularly, beats an ambitious plan you abandon. If you don’t build the good habits, nothing works, and huge goals just set you up to quit. It’s simple, but it’s the thing almost everyone gets backwards. She explains it in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Jenny would rather you do a little bit every day than an hour twice a week. Start a walk of five to ten minutes a day if you’re not active, and keep it regular. That small daily routine builds your sense of accomplishment far more than one big session here and there — the feeling of “I can accomplish this every day” is what keeps you going. Hydration and proper nutrition round it out so your body actually functions. She breaks it down in the episode, so press play in the player above.
What Jenny describes is exactly what I call stacking wins. Each small daily success builds on the last, and the momentum carries you into bigger changes. A five-minute walk you actually keep does more over a year than a program you quit in two weeks. It’s the same principle I come back to again and again on Physical Friday, and it’s the foundation of a back that holds up. I connect the dots in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Here is the simple, sustainable routine Jenny recommends to keep back pain away.
Jenny details the approach in the episode. Press play in the player above.
What I appreciate about Jenny’s advice is how doable it is. No heroic program, no all-or-nothing goal — just small, sustainable habits done every day until they hold. That’s how you actually keep back pain away.
If you’re fighting back pain, I have real sympathy — I’ve been there. But I believe Jenny is right that getting on a simple routine and staying on it is how you fix it. Press play in the player above for the full conversation.
Physical Friday is my weekly fitness series for fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen — the training, nutrition, and mindset to stay in the game for life. Watch and listen to every Physical Friday episode from Tom Rowland.
Jenny Resmondo · South Alabama Physiotherapy · physical therapist · back pain prevention · consistency · hydration · nutrition · daily walking · sustainable habits · stacking wins · Physical Friday
I’m Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast’s Physical Friday series I share the training, mobility, nutrition, and mindset work that keeps me — and the guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen who listen — strong enough to keep doing what we love for life.
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