10,000 steps

My Mountain Trail. Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Back in the 1960s, a team of researchers in Japan, led by Dr. Yoshiro Hatano, figured out that the average person walks about 3,500 to 5,000 steps a day.  It was then recommended that if people were to walk 10,000 steps a day, you would have thinner, healthier people.  The 10,000 steps program might also be related to Dr. Hatano’s marketing of a pedometer called the manpo-kei (meaning 10,000 steps meter).

A couple of weeks ago, as part of my strategy to be in shape for life, for health, and for my summer vacation, I bought a pedometer to measure my steps.  My goal is 10,000 steps a day.  10,000 steps, in case you’re wondering, is roughly equivalent to 5 miles.

I have achieved 10,000 steps for the past few days and have decided to make that my minimum daily goal for the next month.  It doesn’t have to be steps.  My main objective is the mileage.  A minimum of 5 miles per day.  I can walk, jog, hike, swim, bike, work out on the elliptical, or any combination of those things.  I will double the mileage if I’m getting it all through biking as 5 miles really isn’t much on a bike, and can be done fairly quickly.

I don’t plan to stop once I get to the end of the month.  I’ll be hiking on vacation, and when we return home, I’ll go back to moving 5 miles or more a day as part of my daily routine.  With The Color Run coming up in July, I can’t afford to rest on my laurels.

10,000 steps always seems so much easier when you have a partner to walk with.

Anyone care to join me in my mad May challenge?

I’m signed up over at the Daily Mile, and log in my mileage there (you can find me here), if you’d like a place to record your mileage and admire how many calories you’ve burned (or donuts you’ve earned).  You could just record your mileage on your blog (daily or weekly), or I could set up a page here at Life in the Bogs with our stats.  This kind of thing is always more fun with an exercise buddy or two (or more).  A little friendly competition would make it more interesting, too.

If 5 miles a day is too much, just start where you are with a goal that’s more reasonable for you.

Today’s walk around Breezy Acres was another fast-paced loop with no pictures to show for it.  That’s why I’m using leftovers from the hike on My Mountain Trail on 20 April.

It’s been a gray day, ten to fifteen degrees cooler than yesterday’s high of 80.  The cooler temperature makes it a good day for a fast walk.

In case you’re wondering, a full loop around the outer perimeter of Breezy Acres is a half mile walk.  You would have to walk in circles for a while to get a full five miles in.

That’s about it from the Bogs for today.  Thanks for visiting, and perhaps considering joining me in a little May madness.

A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world.

~ Paul Dudley White

P.S.  This just in.  The bridge in the news story is near My Mountain Trail.  I’m glad the plot was foiled.

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