Hey guys, Dr. Bemis here. So far we’ve covered a bunch of different topics that will help you incorporate healthy habits into your daily lifestyle. This month, we’re going to discuss walking. The simple act of walking is the best movement tool that we have available. A previous newsletter discussed the many perils of a sedentary lifestyle – 25% of American adults sit for more than 8 hours per day, with 44% of them getting little to no exercise. One study followed 800,000 people & their sitting habits. The people who sat the most had a: 112% increased risk of diabetes, 147% increased risk of cardiovascular events, & a 90% increased risk of death from cardiovascular events. That’s enough doom and gloom for today. The good news is that the best way to combat the effects of a sedentary lifestyle is to simply get your body moving!

Walking is known to offer many different benefits to your health, such as improved body mechanics and decreased pain – walking will offset the adverse effects of sitting all day. By slightly elevating your heart rate through walking, blood flow will increase, delivering more nutrients to the cells & flushing out wastes at an elevated rate. In addition to supporting more restful sleep, daily walking has shown improved brain function. One study found that around 30 minutes of walking per day was associated with decreased symptoms of depression and anxiety, while sitting for 7+ hours per day was associated with increased depressive symptoms. Lastly, incorporating walking into your daily wellness routine can lead to better stress management, as it will reduce the levels of cortisol & adrenaline in circulation.

Counting steps has become the go-to means of monitoring physical activity, because: (1) it gives an accurate picture of how much/little you move your body in a given day, and (2) anyone can do it.  On average, Americans take around 5,100 steps per day. You’re actually “recommended” to get between 8,000 and 10,000 per day, and to exceed 12,000 per day if possible. One thing that is important to point out is that the original 10,000 steps per day recommendation was not based on any scientific evidence. Back in the 1960’s a Japanese pedometer manufacturer was struggling to sell pedometers, so they came up with a marketing plan stating that people needed to get 10,000 steps per day. You can probably guess what happened next – they sold a ton of pedometers, and the 10,000 steps per day recommendation became accepted as the standard. 

10,000 steps per day is actually a great goal. Especially if you typically only get closer to the average of 5,100 steps per day. The total number of steps is not as important as the act of incorporating more movement into your day. The total number of steps you can achieve in a day will be affected by your fitness level, age, weight, and overall physical activity habits. When tracking steps, it is important to note that ALL of your steps count. Not just the steps you take when making a conscious effort to go on a walk, but the incidental ones when you’re simply moving around your home. Some nights I can rack up 2,000 steps just picking up after my 5 year old! Another important point to note is that consistency is key. What I mean by that is to really reap the benefits of moving more, we need to move daily.

In closing: the more we move, the better off we are. A lot of us live very busy lives, and due to the nature of our jobs, we may not have a ton of time to dedicate to increasing our daily activity. Try and use a few of the strategies below to increase your daily step count and harness the many benefits of movement. Let’s get moving and have a great month!

Strategies to Increase Daily Movement:

• Schedule walking breaks throughout the day
• Utilize an activity tracker to set an hourly step goal
• If able, opt to walk when running errands that are close-by
• Walk when on the phone
• If grocery shopping, park farther away from the door and return your cart inside when done
• Take advantage of “wait times” to get some steps in
• Opt to take the stairs over an elevator or escalator

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