I'm sure you've heard that walking 10,000 steps a day is the latest goal you should be striving for to stay healthy. Well this may or may not be the truth. So maybe you're curious were the notion of 10,000 steps a day came from like I was. I recently was doing some reading and found this information.
In 1965 a Japanese company introduced a new pedometer which they named Manpo-Kei which translated means '10,000 steps meter' and this became their marketing slogan for this device. These were made popular with Japanese walking clubs as they were intrigued with the 10,000 step a day program and so on and on it went. There is no real science behind the notion that walking 10,000 steps a day is the right number. We do know that increasing our physical activity is going to benefit our health and is always going to be good for us.
A moderate brisk walk for around 30 minutes is going to burn calories and add close to 4000 steps to your daily activity depending of course upon your pace. You want to get your heart rate up and feel slightly out of breath for best health results. Don't compare yourself to others just do what works for you. If you've been a couch potato then just train yourself to walk every other day at first then increase to every day if you can. 20 to 30 mins. each day and you'll soon notice changes in your energy, mood and physical fitness.
I love to walk and I don't go by how many steps I've taken but just try to walk regularly and stay fit and healthy. Sometimes we get fed marketing ideas that pressure us and make us feel guilty if we don't measure up, like the 10,000 step notion. Just walk and breath in fresh air and you'll be doing a great thing for your body and health.
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