With the "Rocky" theme song playing for encouragement, patients on the neurology floor at Penn Medicine are up and walking less than 24 hours after spine surgery.

The walks are part of a new project at the hospital, where doctors say moving after surgery is critically important even though it's uncomfortable.

And Penn nurses have developed a way to make it fun for patients in Philadelphia.

Beverly Shaffer had surgery on her spine to relieve nerve compression, and a day later, she joined the walking group.

"I love it here," she said.

Research shows early walking after spinal surgery can help people leave the hospital healthier.

"They need to get up, and we just try to make that fun because if somebody cuts into your neck or your back, it's gonna hurt," nurse practitioner Mary De Silva

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