This shortcut beats 10,000 steps

ARE you sick of trying to squeeze 10,000 steps into every day?

Would you like a solution that takes less time – just 10 minutes twice a day – and is more effective?

There is such a solution and yes, there is a free app for it, but you don’t need the app, a fitness device or any equipment.

You just need somewhere to walk briskly or do any other brisk exercise for 10 minutes, such as dancing or swimming.

It’s called the Active 10 and British health experts developed it to get people to increase the intensity of their walking, rather than focus on the number of steps they cover.

The point of Active 10 is to move away fromthe concept of steps because they are less useful than the intensity and length of your activity as measures of fitness and wellbeing.

Moderate intensity physical activity means getting your heart rate up and getting you breathing faster.

Just 10 minutes of brisk walking a day is an easyway for adults to introduce more moderate intensity physical activity into their day and reduce their risk of early death by up to 15 per cent.

So, Public Health England created the Active 10 app (IOS and Android) that combines intensity and time into a score. It needs battery saving off and GPS on.

A 10-minute brisk walk each day can help build towards the UK chief medical officer’s recommendation of at least 150 minutes a week of moderate to vigorous physical activity.

This has been linked to a lowered risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers.

Photo: istock