“The most difficult thing is the decision to act. The rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life and the procedure. The process is its own reward."
Brilliant words from aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart.
In the face of so much development and technology in the world of health, sport and fitness, could the ancient skill of walking be the most effective tool against the health problems of the modern world?
Australian Physical Activity Guidelines recommend 7.5 hours of physical activity per week for adults aged 18 - 64, a significant drop from the several hours per day recommended up to the age of 18. For a population that is clearly suffering from a distinct lack of movement this is shocking. I humbly suggest that adults need more, not less.
How walking and counting your steps can contribute to the solution.
Counting steps is simply a measure of how active you are each day. If your step count is 2 - 3,000 steps per day, then you have moved very little, if your step count is 10 - 12,000 steps per day, then you have moved significantly more.
Benefits that come from tracking your daily activity, specifically your steps include improved circulation, improved joint mobility, improved mood, improved energy, improved appetite control, improved motivation and improved self image. In a nutshell, step counting can give your life an overall upgrade.
I asked Google how many steps a person should take each day and got over 708 million results, so it’s clearly been given a lot of consideration.
As a fitness trainer with 10 years of experience working with sedentary populations here’s what I have learnt and observed by counting steps:
- Counting steps gives you a level of accountability. Most people I’ve met like this. It helps you to maintain focus and gives your movement a sense of purpose, in addition to improving your health.
- Counting steps allows you to set goals. Small goals each day and bigger goals for the week, the month or a longer period of time. You can challenge friends and inspire others to improve their health too. Goals give you something to celebrate, and again improve your sense of purpose about your movement.
- Counting steps allows you experience a sense of achievement. Start counting, review and set some goals, for each day and a total for the week, and enjoy the feelings of being both challenged by your goals and the exhilaration of achieving it. Once you know what you can do, then you can find out if you can do more.
- Counting steps creates curiosity about your own body, your results, your capacity, and more importantly, your possibilities.
Recommendations:
Step 1: Track your steps today - what is your starting point?
It’s essential to allow the body time to adapt to increased load so that the lifestyle changes are sustainable. Too much too soon can be an act of self sabotage.
Step 2: Set realistic and achievable goals for the week.
If you track 2,000 steps today, and have an average over the week of 14,000, aim to add an extra 100 - 200 steps a day and move up to 15,000+ for the week. Gradual consistent increments allow your body and your brain to stay in the game and help ensure that the changes are sustainable.
Step 3: Record the data.
Whether it is through a device or on the kitchen calendar with a pencil, keep a record of what you are doing each day. You may never look at it, but if you get curious in the future when you’re feeling amazing, it’s going to feel great to look back and consider where you started. Nothing like a little hind sight to give you perspective on how far you have come.
Step 4: Set mini challenges for yourself (and willing friends)
Goals are great, but sometimes we need a challenge to get the spirit soaring and re-ignite the fire within to stay on track.
Step 5: Celebrate your success.
Technology has a great upside providing social media platforms to share your wins. Seek out those people that want to celebrate with you, join a walking club or a social group with a physical outlook so that you have enthusiastic supporters when you need them.
Our population would benefit by setting a collective goal to be more active than inactive during the day. Standing desks are helping here and the consideration of incremental movement that you can add simply by parking at the opposite end of the mall to where you plan to shop or choosing stairs and walking ramps over electronic escalators and lifts adds value. Getting away from the practical stuff, try turning off the TV and internet and tuning in to your favourite tunes for a bit of dancing before work or after dinner; learn to hula hoop or if, like me, you have a few under age personal trainers, back yard games of tiggy, soccer and handball will keep you moving.
Every step counts … take a few more today!
