Purposeful Movement – 10,000 steps a day

Why should you walk 10,000 steps a day?

The short answer: 10,000 steps is the equivalent of approximately 30-60 minutes of activity per day. Unless you have a very active job, you should have 30-60 minutes of physical activity per day to maintain good health. Those 10,000 steps are approximately 5 miles.

10,000 steps sounds much more manageable than 5 miles, right?

I do a lot of sitting during my work day. Now that I have my step counter from my WiiFit, I’ve been pretty good about making sure to get in a good amount of activity. I can usually get my 10,000 steps in a day. But, it takes some ‘purposeful movement’. On days that I don’t make an effort to take a walk at lunch or go for a run in the evening, there’s not a chance I can make 10,000.

At the end of a day with no purposeful movement

On work days, I have to make sure to plan in the movement. It can be as simple as a 45 minute walk on my lunch hour, or a good evening run while a kid is at a sports practice.

At the end of a day with purposeful movement.

On non work days, it’s not as hard to reach my 10,000 steps even without extra purposeful movement, but usually just barely. I do a lot of up and down and around my house, running errands, walking around where I need to be. On those days, there’s typically not that much sitting until the end of the day. An example of how much I run around doing nothing, I take about 1,200 steps in the mornings before going to work. Just running up and down stairs, getting 3 people out of the house and ready for the day involves a lot of steps.

I love the tracking of the step meter. It reminds me every day that I need to account for ‘purposeful movement’. I love that phrase. I make an effort to fit in some activity almost every day. It’s just a little thing, but it’s important and I love the simplicity of the goal. I really believe in making small changes to improve/maintain your health.

What’s your favorite small healthy change to make in your day?

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