10,000 Steps/Day

[manwithbeard]

Anyone else following the 10,000 steps/day programme?

In conjunction with the "Pedometer" app on my phone, I've found it very helpful in motivating myself to walk more often.

I started in June this year.

But I really got into it in July after I saw from the "Pedometer" app the cumulative km and kcal totals I could achieve per week/month.

For example, by the end of November I should total more than 200km for the month - brisk walking to and from work and around town. I normally break up the walking into before work, during mid-morning coffee and lunch breaks, and after work - it usually takes me 1h 20m to walk 10,000 steps (about 7km).

I have lost weight, improved my fitness and self-esteem and enjoy the walking.

My new goal is to regularly achieve at least 12,000 steps/day.


http://www.nhs.uk/LiveWell/loseweight/Pages/10000stepschallenge.aspx


"Pedometer" app - free from the Play Store

[manwithbeard]

Mods please move to Health Matters forum.

Maybe I should have gone to Specsavers .

[PositronicRay]

7km in 1hr 20 is a decent brisk walk.

I was told that to really benefit you should be able to talk but not sing, that's about 3.5 mph for me, depends on footwear weather and terrain.

[Piginapoke]

Time to start running?

[smn159]

Piginapoke said:

Time to start running?

Yep, steps are better than nothing but don't get your heart rate up enough - you'll see real benefit from running. Make couch to 5k your next download

[Riley Blue]

I'm walking as part of my cardiac rehab programme and I can assure you that 'steps' can get your heart working plenty fast enough! On Oct 10 I managed 14,045 steps (8.5 miles according to my phone app) in 2hr 47m. I over did it a bit as I got blisters on the balls of both feet that have taken a while to heal, due I think to the medication I'm taking. I'm determined to do it regularly though don't have the time to set a daily target but perhaps three times a week might be possible.

[Piginapoke]

Riley Blue said:

I'm walking as part of my cardiac rehab programme and I can assure you that 'steps' can get your heart working plenty fast enough! On Oct 10 I managed 14,045 steps (8.5 miles according to my phone app) in 2hr 47m. I over did it a bit as I got blisters on the balls of both feet that have taken a while to heal, due I think to the medication I'm taking. I'm determined to do it regularly though don't have the time to set a daily target but perhaps three times a week might be possible.

Well done!

[PositronicRay]

Piginapoke said:

Riley Blue said:

I'm walking as part of my cardiac rehab programme and I can assure you that 'steps' can get your heart working plenty fast enough! On Oct 10 I managed 14,045 steps (8.5 miles according to my phone app) in 2hr 47m. I over did it a bit as I got blisters on the balls of both feet that have taken a while to heal, due I think to the medication I'm taking. I'm determined to do it regularly though don't have the time to set a daily target but perhaps three times a week might be possible.

Well done!

As above, well done.

If your getting blisters then decent footwear/socks and work up to it. I reckon to do 30-50 miles a week. (weather dependant)

[Monty Python]

You've hit the nail on the head - it's not the number of steps that's important but how quickly you do them, which is something a simple pedometer doesn't measure. I know a few people who keep going on about how many steps they do each day, yet they're overweight and mope around as if next week will do.

[Riley Blue]

PositronicRay said:

Piginapoke said:

Riley Blue said:

I'm walking as part of my cardiac rehab programme and I can assure you that 'steps' can get your heart working plenty fast enough! On Oct 10 I managed 14,045 steps (8.5 miles according to my phone app) in 2hr 47m. I over did it a bit as I got blisters on the balls of both feet that have taken a while to heal, due I think to the medication I'm taking. I'm determined to do it regularly though don't have the time to set a daily target but perhaps three times a week might be possible.

Well done!

As above, well done.

If your getting blisters then decent footwear/socks and work up to it. I reckon to do 30-50 miles a week. (weather dependant)

I'm sorting out socks and footwear so I can avoid a repeat of the blisters. I'm on anti-coagulants for the next eight months and bruise easily, even doing up my laces tightly can bruise my feet. However, walking is doing me the world of good, I feel better mentally, my fitness level when last assessed was reckoned to have doubled in 12 weeks and after four years of battling cancer and then heart problems I now feel 'alive'. I don't hang about when I'm walking about either, I walk at the fastest pace I can comfortably manage though, being a keen photographer, I take a camera hence why my overall speed may not seem rapid.

[RizzoTheRat]

2 pairs of thin socks are better than one pair of thick ones for blisters. Sainsburys sell some double layer walking socks which are good too.

As for steps, it's scary to realise how little exercise you do sometimes, I also have a pedometer app on my phone and on a basic work day I'll quite often only do 3000 steps in a day. Trying to run about 20km/week at the moment but I definitely lose motivation on cold dark wet evenings.

Edited by RizzoTheRat on Wednesday 30th November 10:57

[Riley Blue]

RizzoTheRat said:

2 pairs of thin socks are better than one pair of thin ones for blisters. Sainsburys sell some double layer walking socks which are good too.

As for steps, it's scary to realise how little exercise you do sometimes, I also have a pedometer app on my phone and on a basic work day I'll quite often only do 3000 steps in a day. Trying to run about 20km/week at the moment but I definitely lose motivation on cold dark wet evenings.

Thanks for the socks advice, I never realised buying something so simple could become so complicated.

You're right about how easy it is to do little exercise, I've had 'off days' when I've had to force myself to reach 1,000 paces.

[PositronicRay]

Riley Blue said:

RizzoTheRat said:

2 pairs of thin socks are better than one pair of thin ones for blisters. Sainsburys sell some double layer walking socks which are good too.

As for steps, it's scary to realise how little exercise you do sometimes, I also have a pedometer app on my phone and on a basic work day I'll quite often only do 3000 steps in a day. Trying to run about 20km/week at the moment but I definitely lose motivation on cold dark wet evenings.

Thanks for the socks advice, I never realised buying something so simple could become so complicated.

You're right about how easy it is to do little exercise, I've had 'off days' when I've had to force myself to reach 1,000 paces.

Get a dog.

[Riley Blue]

I'm more of a cat person otherwise that might have been a good idea but fear not, I shall be walking again before long as O/H is buying me fitness tracker for Christmas - and in return I'm buying her one.

[55palfers]

I'm with Riley Blue.

Steady walking is just what I need to keep my dodgy old ticker going without putting too much stress on it.

A couple of flights of stairs and I'm puffing, but I can walk on the flat for miles.

On a day like today (cold but sunny) it's very pleasant just going out for meandering stroll.

[DukeDickson]

Monty Python said:

You've hit the nail on the head - it's not the number of steps that's important but how quickly you do them, which is something a simple pedometer doesn't measure. I know a few people who keep going on about how many steps they do each day, yet they're overweight and mope around as if next week will do.

Probably a lot more to do with what they eat, plus possible exaggeration?

[J4CKO]

I get out for a couple of miles most days, I love it, I generally go quite late, usually its 4000 ish steps, I dont get to hung up on that 10,000, I think it may actually put people off, they do a fair old walk and it isnt even half, but any activity is better than none.

So many people say they dont have time, my wifes mate who has recently been diagnosed as diabetic, says she has no time for exercise yet seems to have a lot of knowledge of Im a Celebrity, sorry but if you can watch that st, you have time for a walk.

[PositronicRay]

J4CKO said:

I get out for a couple of miles most days, I love it, I generally go quite late, usually its 4000 ish steps, I dont get to hung up on that 10,000, I think it may actually put people off, they do a fair old walk and it isnt even half, but any activity is better than none.

So many people say they dont have time, my wifes mate who has recently been diagnosed as diabetic, says she has no time for exercise yet seems to have a lot of knowledge of Im a Celebrity, sorry but if you can watch that st, you have time for a walk.

We tend to make time for things we enjoy, often it's down to the environment.

My 84 y/o MIL used to do attend an exercise class, plus short walks around the streets, not an unpleasant area but no green space. She's moved house now, and has a fantastic park on her door step, so rather than a chore, she (and her dog) are enjoying walking again. She's binned the exercise class and getting more from her day to day activity.

Work, leisure, exercise, diet for most of us are all about habit, and don't need to be
compartmentalised.

[King Herald]

Monty Python said:

You've hit the nail on the head - it's not the number of steps that's important but how quickly you do them, which is something a simple pedometer doesn't measure. I know a few people who keep going on about how many steps they do each day, yet they're overweight and mope around as if next week will do.

I have a set route I walk most evenings, takes an hour and five minutes. I try to go fairly briskly, and sometimes jog for ten minutes or more. I was thinking the time may drop as weeks went by, but it hasn't changed really. I know I ought to do more exercise, but too lazy.....