Raising the bar

[plonq]

I'm trying to get into a daily walking routine, and to that end I set myself some reasonable goals late last year.

I purposely set modest goals so that I would be encouraged when I made them most of the time, but today as I was entering in the figures it occurred to me that if I can regularly pass my weekly goal by Wednesday, I have probably set the bar too low.

My original goals were to get in at least 5,000 measured steps per day - that is, ones that I have counted with the pedometer because they are part of a brisk walk - and no less than 5 miles per week.

When I updated my log this evening I had already put in over 11 miles this week, so I am upping the goals. I am now aiming for at least 7,000 steps a day, and 10 miles a week. Ideally I should probably be doing real exercise as well, but walking is a start.

Comments

[aurifer.livejournal.com]

There was a New Scientist article I read, recently, (January 9, 2010) about what counts as exercise and how much you need. A good brisk walk counts as moderate exercise, according to the chart the included, and vacuuming is apparently only slightly below that. Jogging rises past Moderate.
It also puts "Sex (Vigorous)" very near to the resting rate.

It seems strength and aerobic fitness each play their own part in overall health.


3 'metabolic equivalents' are used by most people when they take 100 steps per minute, and is the baseline for moderate exercise.

[kfops.livejournal.com]

Good work!

I need to gear back up to try and get healthier this year. I do miss my pedometer; I lost it in the ruins of ancient Troy.

I also think that on a normal work-day I got no-where near even 5000 steps...