10000 steps a day customized walk plan;
should you / should you not?
When we think about being healthy or losing some extra weight, we are asked to walk 10,000 steps per day. For beginners, this can be a really difficult target to achieve. With the work-from-home as well as COVID-19 scenario when everyone is busy with work it can be very frustrating. Let us talk about if 10000 steps a day customized walk plan; should be targeted or not?
Interestingly, this target of 10,000 steps per day was started by a pedometer brand in 1965 in Japan. This device was named “Manpo-Kei”, which means “10,000 steps meter”. Although that was just a marketing tool for this particular step counting device yet it gave a target of 10,000 steps to the world.
A 10,000 steps a day target is considered to be the best way to improve physical as well as mental health. It is believed that an average person can walk around 100 steps per minute, which comes to about half an hour to walk a mile. Keeping all this in mind it would not be wrong to say that for someone to reach the 10,000 step goal, one needs to walk between four and five miles a day that is about two hours of activity.
Do we need 10,000 steps target?
As per recent research suggests that for females even around 4500 – 5000 steps are good enough to lower death risk. It is also a logical fact that the more steps one walks, the lower will be the risk of dying. As per my personal experience, a step target somewhere between 5000 – 7500 steps a day can be extremely helpful to keep you happy and satisfied about your efforts to stay healthy.
World Health Organization says that adults who manage minimum 150 minutes of medium intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity each week can help to improve health. A brisk walk helps to control the negative effects of sitting for long time.
Human body is not able to metabolize fat if one is walking less than 5,000 steps a day. Lack of required movement causes a buildup of fat in our body which would mean developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It is also considered a researched fact that people who walked less than 4000 steps a day cannot reverse decreased fat metabolism.
10000 steps a day Customized Walk Plan; yay or nay!
A regular and customized walk plan to increase your step count from 0-10,000 steps can be found here…
In case you increase physical activity by increasing your step count, it reduces death risk by reducing risk of illnesses like dementia, and even cancers. Not only that very common positive effect of a customized walk plan according to your age can help in reversing health conditions like type 2 diabetes.
Although walking can help in building a strong immune system also yet the fact remains that 10000 steps a day are not really essential for health benefits. If done regularly, 4500-5000 steps are equally beneficial.
To move more start with about 2,000 steps a day. Then slowly increase the number through the steps mentioned below…
- Walk around the house after every 15 minutes.
- Take part in any online exercise program while you are working from home.
- Go to meet your friends on a walk.
- Make use of any wearable fitness tracker of your choice as it comes a handy way to stay motivated.
As mentioned by the American Council on Exercise, those people who track their step count take around 2000 more steps per day than others. Although there is no point stressing on the recommended 10,000 steps-a-day goal yet if you are doing it sincerely, then don’t worry as your efforts won’t go waste.
Age definitely seems to play a role in how much walking people are doing. In case you are above 55 like me and feel frustrated at times thinking why you are not able to complete your target step count, then remember, steps decrease with age.
- Adults over 18 are found to be taking anywhere from 4,000 to 18,000 steps per day.
- Children and adolescents and under 18 take anywhere between 10,000 to 16,000 steps per day.
