STEP IT UP
Not only are 65 per cent of Australian adults failing to achieve the recommended level of daily exercise, on average we’re spending more than 10 hours a day sitting, too. One way to avoid both of those health traps is by making sure you take enough daily steps. Use this five-step plan to shift your daily step count into the healthy zone.
1 First things first,
assess yourself. You’re more likely to do what it takes to move more, if your step count is on the light side, once you know where you’re currently at. Download a free activity tracker app (such as Steps, Walksome or ActivityTracker Pedometer) and use it for a few days.
2 Then, set a ‘step goal’.
Use your current daily step tally as a guide, but bear in mind the research that proves people who set themselves ambitious step goals are more likely to take more steps, as a result. Wondering if 10,000 steps a day is still the holy grail to strive for, in the pursuit of good health? It’s not a bad number to aim for, but in reality, it’s not actually backed up by a whole lot of credible research. The jury’s still out on the optimum number of steps to take per day, but according to a study published last year, 15,000 steps a day is probably more likely to be the magic number. Want to make it fun? Turn to page 128 and start your 10,000 steps from Port Melbourne to St Kilda.
3 Write it down
and stick it somewhere you’ll see it – often. Research proves that mentally linking an action (getting up to move around frequently) with a visual cue (eyeballing that big step target you’ve written down) equals performing the action more successfully.
4 Next, make (and take!)
opportunities to step it out, because they all add up. So, park the car further away from your destination – or, if you can walk somewhere without driving at all, leave the car at home. Take the long way around at the supermarket, use stairs instead of the lift or escalator and quit paying other people to do active things for you, such as mowing the lawn, washing the car or cleaning the house. The main thing is to start thinking of every chance to move as an opportunity, not an inconvenience.
5 Lastly,
track your steps. Activity trackers might not be a cure-all, but even if they can’t guarantee that you’ll hit your exercise goals 100 per cent, research has linked their daily use to spending less time being sedentary and taking more steps. ■