https://in.style.yahoo.com/do-we-really-need-to-walk-10000-steps-everyday-055358055.html
The benefits of walking everyday has been long known. However, recent researches have shown that it has more health benefits than ever thought or known before. According to the American Heart Association, just 30 minutes of walking every day can reduce your risk of coronary heart disease and stroke, improve your blood pressure, blood sugar levels and blood lipid profile, maintain your body weight and lower the risk of obesity, apart from enhancing mental well-being, reducing the risk of colon and breast cancers and reducing the risk of osteoporosis.
A Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, study of post-menopausal women found that 30 minutes of walking each day reduced their risk of hip fractures by 40 percent. Women who walked 30 minutes a day reduced their risk of stroke by 20 percent and by 40 percent when they stepped up the pace, according to researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. Age related memory decline was also found in another study to be lower in people who walked longer. The longer you walk, the better it is.
Benefits of walking are aplenty but how much is enough? The 10,000 steps a day being the benchmark for healthy living has no scientific origins but simply started when in the 1960s, pedometers sold in Japan were marketed under the name “manpo-kei,” which translates to “10,000 steps meter”. This kind of went down well with walkers/walking groups there who increased their daily walking to 10,000 steps and found considerable health benefits from the same.
If you walk less than 3000 steps a day, you are certainly leading a sedentary lifestyle and if it is around 5000, you are somewhat active. Sitting down for long hours has been found to be deadlier than smoking. There are many other ill-effects of leading a sedentary lifestyle and walking surely is a great way to keep the joints working, blood flowing and in general enhancing the feeling of physical and mental well-being.
Mayo Clinic suggests a long-term goal of 10,000 steps a day, if you aren’t already there. The same can be monitored with the help of a pedometer; these are in-built in many smartphones too. A pedometer is not essential but is seen to motivate people to walk more as they can watch and monitor their daily results. 10,000 steps is approximately 8 kms considering that an average stride length is between 2 to 2.5 feet. A pedometer will help you know the number of steps as well as kms you walk in a day. If you have been leading a sedentary lifestyle, gradually increase your steps by 500 to 1000 a week and step it up. Don’t be overenthusiastic and do 10,000 steps at the very beginning especially if you have clocked lower physical activity before. Depending on the pace of your walking, it could take up to 1.5 hours to take 10,000 steps; you could spread this over the day but if you walk continuously for at least 30 minutes at a time, your heart rate and metabolism increase and this helps the body burn more calories. This is helpful if weight loss is on your agenda too. If walking 30 minutes at a stretch is difficult, spread it over 10 or 15 minutes each.
No matter how many steps or minutes you start with, make a beginning today and reap the benefits of this simple form of exercise which needs no investment except a good pair of walking shoes. Needless to say, the more you can clock in, the better. If you meet the recommendation of 150 minutes of physical activity daily, you are definitely walking the right path.
Hippocrates rightly said, “Walking is a man’s best medicine.”
Image Courtesy: Pallavi and Rishabh Kale.
