6K DAILY STEPS CHALLENGE

Research is showing that walking 6,000 steps daily can have huge health benefits for older people.

This challenge aims to make it normal for you to walk 6,000 steps daily in your everyday life.  If you want to ‘go for a walk’ as well, great, but it should be IN ADDITION to your 6,000 daily steps.

Take the stairs, park as far away from supermarket doors as possible.  Better still, walk to the shops.  I’m sure you’ll think of lots of ways to increase your daily steps.  10 steps here, 20 there.  They all add up.

WHAT  YOU’LL  NEED

  • A pedometer.  You can get these cheaply from most supermarkets  or you can pay a bit more and get one of the ones that synch to your computer/phone.  Using a pedometer means you can record your steps from the moment you get out of bed until you go to sleep.  Walking for 30 minutes won’t record your daily steps.
  • A notebook to record your progress.  This is useful because you can keep a daily record of your steps.  Some of the electronic pedometers will record your daily steps for you.
  • Many phones have a pedometer app but it means you have to take your phone with you everywhere, even to the loo.  I find a pedometer easier.

WHAT  TO  DO

  • Record how many steps you walk.  Don’t go all out to do thousands of steps on the first day because you’ll never keep it up.  Be realistic.
  • The number of steps you have done on your first day is your baseline
  • Doesn’t matter if you did 10 or managed 6,000.  
  • Was it hard or easy?
  • If it was easy, aim to increase that number by 20% each week.  Don’t increase too quickly.
  • If it was hard, increase by 10%
  • If you managed the 6,000 without much effort, brilliant, but keep it up
  • Consistency is vital
  • Every day.  For the rest of your life.  Simple as that.

 

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