January is traditionally a time when people commit to improving their health, and perhaps with it, embracing an ambitious new exercise plan. But what if you don't necessarily need burpees, weight training, or buckets of sweat? What if you could get fit just by going for a nice walk every day?
For years, messaging was supposed to advance 10,000 steps per day. This is the default goal of most of today's best fitness trackers. The origin of this number is actually surprisingly arbitrary. The original plan began around the time of his 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and was chosen because the Japanese word “10,000'' sounds a bit like a person walking.
Fortunately, subsequent research suggests that this branding-inspired figure wasn't all that wrong. Even 10,000 steps is enough to make a big difference in your overall health if you stick with it.
One 2022 survey A study focused on adults between the ages of 40 and 79 found, for example, that walking up to 10,000 steps per day lowers the risk of death, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. It's important to stick to it, and according to the NHS, even a brisk walk of 10 minutes a day will significant health benefits.
I decided to quit the gym for a week and walk 10,000 steps every day instead. I wanted to see how easy it was to incorporate into my daily routine and how it differed from other fitness methods I've tried over the years. Here are three things I learned from my week of walking for fitness:
1. You need to change your routine (but not too much)
According to our friend Google, 10,000 steps is the equivalent of about 5 miles or 8 kilometers, depending on things like the length of your legs. Luckily, I live within walking distance of my office. Just over a mile each way means you can achieve half of your walking goal just on your daily commute. What I mentally called “accidental steps” – trips to the coffee machine and walking up and down the supermarket aisles trying to find vegan pesto – also added up faster than I expected. Ta.
Still, I had to adjust my routine and add extra walks to reach my goals each day. That's the point, right? If nothing changes, nothing will happen. Overall, I thought it was really doable.
Needless to say, how achievable 10,000 steps a day is will vary from person to person, depending on factors such as the walkability of your surroundings and your commute. However, the advantage of this approach is that very flexible. Which brings me to my second point…
2. Almost no administrator required
Walking is probably the easiest form of exercise for managers. As long as you're somehow dressed appropriately for the weather and wearing fairly comfortable shoes, you can usually go for a walk whenever you feel like it. (I also find his fitness tracker pretty useful, so you don't have to rely on guesswork and get that sweet dopamine rush when your wrist buzzes to let you know you've hit your daily step goal.)
Compare that to my normal gym-based routine. Exercise classes require you to fully change your clothes (you'll need to wash them afterwards), you need to allow time for showering and changing, and you need to be physically in the right place at the right time. . A 45-minute class takes up at least an hour and a half of your day, and you have to plan everything else around it.
Although I once missed a vigorous exercise class during my 10,000 step week, I have no doubt that this gentler, more frequent approach is much more useful. If you want to walk, just stand up and I'm walking.
3. You'll feel better
Now that it's been a week, I can't say for certain if this has improved my health. can Please let me know if there are any other positive effects. My job is desk work, so when I'm busy, I have a habit of working until lunchtime. As a result, afternoon productivity tends to decline. Around 3pm, people generally feel less focused and less able to concentrate. move.
During my 10,000 steps a day week, I went for a short walk every lunch break, even when the weather wasn't great. Not only did I feel very smug, but I was even more enthusiastic when I got home that afternoon. There's a lot of research supporting the importance of getting outside for your health. mental health, improved sleep This exercise plan kills two birds with one stone.
Can you become healthy just by walking?
While it certainly helps, the 10,000 steps a day goal is primarily aimed at inactive or unhealthy people who want to start somewhere. It's also great for older people and people with less athletic ability, where squats and sprints are likely to do more harm than good. It's an easy and non-intimidating way to incorporate regular physical movement into your daily life.
The truth is, many of us have desk jobs, and if we work from home or drive to work, we don't have to move much on an average day. It takes a conscious decision to incorporate exercise into your daily routine, and this is a great way to do it. To really improve your fitness level, you can increase the intensity or distance of your walks or jog (perhaps up to 5km on the couch), if that's right for you..
This article is part of TechRadar articles Stay healthy for 24 weeks of fitness content.
