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Take The Right Step
The realistic way to build up to 10,000 steps a day.
The goal of taking 10,000 steps in a day is a rough equivalent to the Surgeon General's recommendation to accumulate 30 minutes of activity most days of the week. It should be enough to reduce your risk for disease and help you lead a longer, healthier life. But not everyone should start right out trying to get 10K a day. So instead take a comfortable, gradual approach -- the 20% Boost Program.
First, invest in a pedometer. Put a safety string through the pedometer's waist clip and pin it or loop it through a belt loop, so the pedometer isn't dropped down a toilet.
Now follow the simple program below. The first week, don't change your life at all; just learn your baseline average daily step total. Then, for the next two weeks try to boost that average by 20%. Be sure to follow the directions and fill in the simple log -- it's critical to helping you learn what adds steps to your day and what detracts. If you have questions, reference our FAQ.
The goal is to measure your steps in a typical week. Don't try to walk more than normal. Each morning, reset the pedometer to "0." Set it to show steps (ignore distance and calorie counts). Keep it closed and attached to the front of your waist to the left or right of center. Wear it all day from the moment you wake up until going to bed, except when immersed in water. At night remove it, record the number of steps you've taken in the log, and note if you did any formal exercise (wear your pedometer then, too); for example, "20-minute treadmill walk." Also note if anything caused more (museum tour) or fewer (all-day meeting) steps than usual in your day. Attach your pedometer to your shoe if you bicycle and the pedometer doesn't seem to count your pedaling.
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| Add steps for all seven days: |
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| Divide by 7: |
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| Multiply by 1.2: |
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(This is your goal for week #2.) |
Your goal is to boost your average daily steps by 20%. Add the total steps taken in week one and divide by seven. Then multiply by 1.2. The result is your new target number for daily steps. So, if you averaged 3,000 steps a day in week one, try for 3,600 a day in week two. How you reach your goal is up to you. Most physical activity counts, including formal workouts (a brisk walk, using most exercise machines) and informal exercise (taking the stairs instead of the elevator or even pacing on the subway platform).
Average Steps Week#1:
Goal average for week #2:
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| Add steps for all seven days: |
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| Divide by 7: |
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| Multiply by 1.2: |
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(This is your goal for week #3.) |
If you haven't reached 10,000 steps, or if your goal is substantial weight loss (for which many experts recommend 12,000 to 15,000 steps a day), then boost your steps again by 20%. Calculate your second week's daily average and multiply by 1.2. If aerobic fitness is a goal, try boosting the speed of at least 2,000 to 4,000 of the steps you're already doing.
Average Steps Week#2:
Goal average for week #3:
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Some people find that just with three weeks of effort they've gotten their daily step average close to or beyond 10,000. But many find it takes several more weeks of boosting by 20% each week until they can create a 10,000 step-per-day habit. Even if you only try for 10% more each week, you'll soon find that your days are full of opportunities for more steps. You'll also find that in short order you won't need a pedometer to tell you how you're doing. For example, if you get off the train a stop early or take a walk at lunch you know you'll hit your total, but otherwise you come up short. However, consider using your pedometer whenever you need a step-check.
Here are some rough targets:
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Pedometers can be found in many sporting goods stores or you can buy them directly from manufacturers. Yamax digital pedometers, called Digiwalkers, are recognized to be one of the most accurate and consistent lines of pedometers. They can be found in stores as Digiwalkers, or as Accusplit Eagle digital pedometers (the same product with a different name). Another company, Accusplit, also markets simple but reliable analog pedometers; slightly less accurate than the digital devices, but ideal for bulk purchases and as prizes, since they retail for about $10.
For direct sales or for bulk pricing, contact:
- New Lifestyles at 888-748-5377; www.digiwalker.com
- Optimal Health Products: 888-339-2067; www.optimalhealthproducts.com
- Accusplit, at (800) 935-1996; www.accusplit.com
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The beauty of bikes is that they're very quick and efficient. But that means your energy expenditure per mile can be much lower than walking. For simplicity sake, attach your pedometer to your shoe, and let it count the pedal strokes while riding. (Attaching to the shoe is also an option for people who find that a pedometer worn on the waistband doesn't record their steps consistently, perhaps because of a high waist.) Counting pedal strokes will result in far fewer steps than if you walked the same distance. But if you think in terms of time invested (a 20-minute ride compared to a 20-minute walk), by pedaling the whole time you can still get a similar number of steps in for a given amount of time. If your count is low (say, you get 2,000 steps in 20 minutes of walking, but only 1,000 pedal strokes in 20 minutes of riding), then there's a good chance you're spending a lot of time coasting on the bike. Focus on keeping your feet moving, just as when walking.
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If you want to know not just the number of steps you've taken, but the distance as well, you can calibrate a pedometer. The simplest way is to wear it while walking a known distance, such as once around a quarter-mile track, at your normal walking speed. Then multiply that number of steps by four, and you know your typical number of steps per mile. (For greater accuracy, you should walk a full mile-four times around the track). Now, anytime you want to estimate the distance you've walked, just divide the total number of steps you've taken by your "steps per mile" calibration. Keep in mind it's just an estimate, because the length of your stride increases as you walk faster. So, on faster walks you'll be underestimating the distance somewhat, and on slower walks you'll overestimate a bit.
Some pedometers allow you to enter your step length (based on a calibration walk) and they will calculate your walking distance automatically. Fancier models will even estimate the calories you burn if you enter your body weight as well. But don't count on these calorie estimates to be particularly accurate, given the wide variation of fitness levels and personal physiology of individuals.
Example:
Jan wears her pedometer for a walk around the quarter-mile school track -- it counts 473 steps. She multiplies by four, to estimate that she takes about 1,892 steps a mile. (For easier math, she calls it 1900 steps.) Another day she takes a walk and covers 6,685 steps. Jan divides 6,685 by 1900, and gets 3.52, or about three and a half miles walked.
To calculate a step length, divide the known distance you've walked in feet by the number of steps you've taken. A quarter mile walk is 1,320 feet long (a mile is 5,280 feet). So Jan divides 1,320 feet by her 473 steps, and learns each step is 2.79 feet long. Now she can enter that in the pedometer.
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Of course, the real key to success is not to stop at just using a pedometer. Once you start looking at how to get more steps in your days, you'll also begin looking at your environment. Ask the wellness program at your work site to consider making pedometers available to employees. Then make the following suggestions, so it's easy to get more steps.
- Open and clean up stairwells. Make them light, clean, safe, and well-ventilated. Stairs are a great place to get more steps; ideally, they should be more convenient and pleasant than the elevators!
- Institute mass-transit programs. How about free bus or train passes with your pedometer? (Walking to and from the bus will garner tons of steps.)
- Launch a massive car and van-pool program. Get the transportation folks involved -- look at a map of where employees live, and match up those near to one another to ride together.
- Set up designated rendezvous sites, for car pool and van riders, where everyone gets a little walk (except the person who's day it is to drive). I guarantee they'll look forward to being the non-driver, and thus getting in more steps.
- Stop subsidizing driving. If employees get free parking spaces, STOP IT IMMEDIATELY. Instead, give them the cash equivalent of the cost of parking if they walk, bike, or take transit to work.
- Install covered, secure bicycle parking. Take the five car parking spaces closest to the entrances, and make them a bike corral. Better yet, park the bikes inside the main foyer of the building -- we're not kidding! Let every employee see those bikes as they walk in from their cars and think, "Hey, that looks so much more appealing…"
- Make showers and lockers available. Anyone who wishes to walk briskly, run, or bicycle to work or during the day should be able to clean up and change afterward.
- Build a trail on or near company grounds. Make it connect to nearby sidewalks, trails, and parkland, so that people can walk to do errands or simply for fun.
- Adopt a nearby trail. The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, East Coast Greenway Association, and other national and regional trail organizations are working to create networks of trails and greenways around the country for transportation and recreation. Instead of adopting a highway, have your company help build, maintain, and even patrol a section of trail. The work is enjoyable and rewarding exercise, and you're creating a permanent improvement for all to enjoy.
About 67 million adults in this country have discovered that walking is one of the most fun, natural, and inexpensive ways of keeping your health—and your feet—in top shape. Walking can be enjoyed almost anywhere, any time, and year around. It's also a good way to get exercise, particularly for people who are out-of-shape.
According to the American Podiatric Medical Association, exercise offers a host of benefits. Walking helps control weight, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels. A brisk walk can burn up to 100 calories per mile or 300 calories per hour. Walking also improves cardiovascular fitness. As an aerobic exercise, walking gets the heart beating faster to transport oxygen-rich blood from the lungs to the muscles. The heart and lungs grow more efficient with a regular walking regimen, reducing blood pressure and the resting heart rate. Walking is also a central element of medical rehabilitation for a wide array of health problems. For example, recovery from a heart attack can be facilitated by a regular walking regimen. Additionally, walking creates an overall feeling of well-being, and can relieve depression, anxiety, and stress by producing endorphins, the body's natural tranquilizer. A brisk walk will relax you and also stimulate your thinking.
To gain the most health benefit from walking, it is important to pay attention to your feet. Shoes that don't fit properly or provide adequate support, lack of stretching, and improper gait can lead to foot injuries or pain. The most common foot problems are blisters, corns, calluses, and plantar fasciitis.
Walking Shoes
The only equipment you need to enjoy walking for fitness is a good pair of shoes. But before you can shop for the best shoe for your foot, you need to identify the natural inclination of your foot and gait. There are three basic foot types:
- Pronators are people with relatively flat feet, caused by low arches, which generally leads to overpronation, or a gait in which the ankle rolls inward excessively. People with this foot type need motion control shoes that offer support for mid-foot. Motion-control shoes are more rigid and built on a straight last. These are generally board-lasted shoes, which have a piece of cardboard running the length of the shoe for greater stability. Look for sturdy uppers for added stability and avoid shoes with a lot of cushioning or highly curved toes. Also look for a reinforced heel counter to maintain foot support and stability.
- Supinators are people with high arches, which can lead to underpronation that places too much weight on the outsides of the feet. People with this foot type need stability shoes designed for extra shock absorption and often having a curved or semi-curved last. A slip-lasted shoe is also recommended, because the sewn seam runs the length of the shoe giving it greater flexibility. Also look for shoes that are reinforced around the ankle and heel to stabilize the foot and extra cushioning under the ball of the foot.
- People with normal feet can wear any type of walking shoe, although a curved last is generally preferred.
When you walk, the natural motion of your foot rolls gradually from the heel to the toe, with your foot bending at the ball on each step. That's why it is important for walking shoes to have enough flexibility in just the right places. A good walking shoe should give a little when you twist it and bend at the ball of the foot. When you put the shoe on a flat surface and push on the toe the heel should come up off the surface. If it does, the shoe has the curvature you need to conform to your movement during walking. Make sure the heel is low and not too wide. A slight undercut in the heel will help your foot begin its roll from the heel through the step.
Here are some other important tips for buying a good pair of walking shoes:
- Shop at the end of the day when your feet are slightly swollen to get a good fit.
- Try on shoes with the socks you will wear when walking. If you use an orthotic, bring that to the store when you try on shoes as well.
- Have your feet measured standing up and fit your shoes to the larger of your two feet.
- Be sure there is enough room in the toe box for your toes to wiggle and about a half inch between your toes and the end of the shoe.
- Take time when shopping to try on different brands and walk around the store in each pair. Be sure to walk on a hard surface, not just on carpeting. Let your foot be the guide to the fit, not the shoe size or style.
- Look for lightweight, breathable materials for greater comfort.
- Run your hand all over and inside the shoes to feel for any seams or catches that might irritate your foot.
- Choose shoes that lace for better foot stability and control.
- Make sure your heel fits snugly and does not tend toward slipping out of the shoe.
- Wear your walking shoes only for walking to extend their life. Consider buying two pairs and rotating your wear to give each pair time to breath between walks.
- Replace walking shoes after every 300 to 600 miles, depending on how hard you are on your shoes.
