Steps/day goal update. Why walking is healthy and Going Postal.
Goal of 14,000 steps per day.
Last month I did well, with an average steps/day of 15,494. So far this month, not so good: average steps a little over 10,000/day. I have a scapegoat- my grandkids. They stayed with us from July 2- July 5th and it threw me off of my routine. No worries, I am determined to work hard the rest of July to get myself above my goal of 14,000/day. What works best for me is to think of it mathematically; I need to average over 14,000 steps most days and have a few targeted days where I am mindful about getting over 18,000 per day, to counter those days of 10,000 average. Anyway, today was a good day of 18,073 so far, and I still have a bit of piss and vinegar left in me, so I am on my way towards righting the ship for July.
Why I like to use steps/day as a health-related goal. There is a lot of associational data connecting walking to good health metrics. This 10-minute talk covers many of the studies supporting the benefits of walking:
I have chosen an ambitious goal of 14,000 steps/day, but the video suggests a starting goal of 6,000 steps/day. I would tend to agree with setting a lower goal before getting more ambitious is wise and, of course, check with your doctor about any fitness goals.
Here is a study regarding steps/day and longevity which found:
“Compared with people who took 4,000 steps a day, those who took 8,000 steps a day at the start of the study had a 50% lower risk of dying from any cause during follow-up. People who took 12,000 steps a day had a 65% lower risk of dying than those who took only 4,000.”
Number of steps per day more important than step intensity
Go Postal!
But, if you really want to align your goals with correlational studies, you may want to go postal.
This study compared health metrics for Scottish postal workers who sat in the office vs those who delivered the mail by foot.
“Those workers who sat for most of each day tended to have much larger waistlines, higher B.M.I.’s and worse blood sugar control and cholesterol profiles than those who frequently stood and moved, even after scientists controlled for age, family history, late-night shift work (which is known to affect heart health) and other factors.” And
“Those mail carriers who walked for more than three hours a day, covering at least 15,000 steps, which is about seven miles, generally had normal body mass indexes, waistlines and metabolic profiles.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/22/...0-steps-a-day-be-our-new-exercise-target.html
When I was a kid the mail was delivered by foot and I don’t recall ever seeing a mail delivery person who looked over weight. Today, at least in my area, they only deliver mail by car. Do they deliver mail by foot or car in your part of the world?
So, how did I get my 18,000+ steps today? Here are some tips to get your step total up there. In short, keep moving during times of the day that others choose to be sedentary. What I did:
I had to get blood drawn at the lab this morning. I signed in at Quest using the Ipad, which told me it was an approximately 40-minute wait. It gave me two options:
- Wait in the lobby for them to call my name.
- Wait in my car and they will text me.
What they should have offered was a third option:
“3) Rather that sit on your behind and wait, why don’t you walk laps around the building outside and we will text you when it’s your turn.”
Needless to say, I chose my imaginary option 3 and did laps around the building. It turned out that they were way off in their estimation of wait time- instead of 40 minutes, it was over 90 minutes. No problem for me. I was just enjoying myself listening to self-improvement videos as I walked laps around the building. By the time it was my turn, I had over 10,000 steps logged for the day and was well on my way to a day with plenty of movement.
Other tips.
I make a lot of calls for work. Whether it is a personal call, or a work call, I have gotten in the habit of walking as I talk on the phone. It is remarkable how this will up your daily steps if you are on the phone a lot.
Just get in the habit of walking all the time- I walked as I opened and read my mail for the day today.
Also, look at household chores as an opportunity to up your step count. My wife was about to take the trash out, and I intercepted her with the kitchen trash bag in hand:
Me: “I’ve got that honey.” As I took the trash bag out of her hand.
My wife: “You’re such a gentleman.”
Little did she know I had an ulterior motive. I wanted to get those steps in from carrying the trash to the bin for my daily total! Two birds with one stone- I added a few hundred steps and got accused of being a gentleman!
Anyway, there is a good reason why our medical teams have us walk after valve surgery and have us do incrementally more walking. It is good for our recovery to keep the body moving and stay active. It is also very low impact. And, it is a good habit to adopt even beyond our valve recovery period for long term health benefits.
