Why 10,000 Steps?

Here is a funny thing, everyone seems to agree that a walking plan of 10,000 steps a day has health benefits including weight loss and improvements in general fitness. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a lot of science to support the idea.

Now, that is not so bad. It is not like anyone is trying to pull a fast one here. It is more like someone suggested that number as a good, achievable target and everyone agreed.

The first person to suggest it here in North America seems to have been Dr. Catrine Tudor-Locke who described a Japanese health and weight loss system in a book about step counting.

It does make sense. Most normally active people can achieve the 10,000 step goal by supplementing their regular daily activities with a nice long walk in the evening. Of course, people who do that are also normally healthy as a rule so as I said, it does make sense.

How far is 10,000 steps? 10,000 steps is between 8 and 10 kilometers or between 5 and 6 miles roughly. Again, that is the amount of activity recommended by most health professionals for achieving and maintaining a healthy weight and lifestyle.

For those of us recovering from open heart surgery walking is the best sort of activity for aiding us in getting back to normal or better.

When I graduated from Cardiac Rehabilitation the physio there set my steps-a-day target at 10,000. So even though the science is still being done to prove the benefits everyone seems to agree 10,000 steps is the right target.

The first thing I did when I was well enough to start seriously trying for 10,000 steps a day was to first borrow and then buy a pedometer. These little gizmos generally clip onto the waist band of your pants and count your steps. Some are pretty fancy and have built in radios, clocks, distance measurement and so on but the most useful one I've found is a simple clip-on model from Wal Mart that cost around $12 bucks and does nothing but count your steps.

Make sure you attach a string or a lanyard to your pedometer that then loops around your belt loop or belt. Pedometers are easy to lose when getting into or out of your car, going to the bathroom, or even just fishing in your pocket for change. The clip they come with will keep it level on your waist so that it records accurately but without the lanyard, it is easy to lose.

I put mine on first thing in the morning and wear it until I go to bed at night. The pedometer is like a little motivational coach encouraging me to go another few steps and bring that total up.

It is the best $12 bucks I've ever spent

Steps today: 9,875