How walking will save your life

The Problem

7320… the number I stared at the other night on my fitness watch at 10:30pm at night. I decided to take a look at the number of steps I took that day and I had not hit my 10K target.

Somehow, somewhere we heard or read how 10,000 daily steps are recommended for good cardiovascular health.

But how many of us really know why 10,000 steps is that magic number?

The Importance Of 10,000 Steps

Allow me to explain. Realistically, it is 7,000 steps. That is what comes preset on our fitness devices but almost as second nature, we change it to 10k.

As a fitness professional, I am extra conscientious of this number on myself and my clients but it has very little to do with distance. It has to do with exertion.

It will take an individual faster movement throughout the day to be able to reach this magical number. This means, we will have to exert ourselves to hit our target, allowing us to achieve a moderate-to-vigorous level of physical activity.

Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity can increase your cardio-respiratory fitness level promoting cardiovascular health.

What The Science Says

According to a study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, a weekly moderate level of physical activity can help prevent hypertension.

While current guidelines suggest 2.5 hours of moderate physical activity a week, this study showed us that 5 hours a week can help prevent hypertension especially if activity is sustained throughout our 30’s.

But what can you do if you are new to the fitness field?

What Fitness Newbies Can Do

That is where “walking” plays a huge role. You don’t have to get discouraged if you can’t do 10 burpees back-to-back or plank for 30 seconds, or do a HIIT class with never ending mountain climbers and high-knee runs.

All you have to do is start walking.

Build that cardio-respiratory endurance and challenge yourself to walk faster every time. This will help you prepare the body for what’s to come in your fitness journey and in the process, it can help you prevent many diseases in the future.

Before you know it, you will be on your way to many classes, many burpees and lots of success.

Trust me, we all have been there.

As always, much love to all of you <3

Coach Fatima