News :
Easy steps to fitness
Vancouver,British Columbia,Canada, July 21 2005 -- CALGARY
-- As recent figures from Statistics Canada have underscored, obesity
rates across the country have ballooned in the past 25 years.
Some of the biggest challenges in our battle of the bulge
are the technological advances we've become so dependent on: cars, computers,
elevators, remote controls, etc.
As research has shown, millions of North Americans want
to improve their overall fitness, but there's a perception that the
amount of exercise required to see benefits is too much to even start
working out.
To counter that notion, there's been a strong push by health
and fitness organizations to promote the idea that real benefits can
be gleaned without joining a gym. Simply fitting in 30 minutes of physical
activity a day, anything from gardening to walking the dog, will do
the trick.
Even Vancouver fitness guru Maureen Wilson of SweatCo says
one of her goals is simply to get people moving. "People don't
realize how little energy we use these days," says Wilson.
"We do anything we can that gets people to take the
stairs instead of the escalator or park the car a little farther away.
People are shocked when they realize how much energy you use walking."
In an effort to help people see how easy it is to get 30
minutes of exercise, the 10,000 steps program was developed and has
been adopted by millions of people (visit www.shapeup.org.) It aims
to give people a goal of 10,000 steps per day that, if achieved, essentially
translates into 30 minutes of walking per day.
The key ingredient is a pedometer (usually less than $30)
that measures the number of steps you take per day. The gadget clips
on your belt and is worn all day.
Only people with a lower body joint injury or those who've
been advised by their physician not to walk can beg off something this
simple.
To start, wear the pedometer for two weeks without changing
anything in your daily routine. Each night, record the number of steps
taken that day on a calender posted on the fridge, then reset the pedometer.
Repeat for 13 more days to determine the average number
of steps you take on an average day. Then, starting with your average
number, aim to walk that number of steps every day for the next two
weeks. If, after that time, you've had no problems, add another 500
steps to your daily average and repeat for another two weeks. As long
as you have no problems, increase the number of steps you take every
two weeks until you hit your target of 10,000 steps a day.
"It's like putting pennies in a big piggy bank, says
Wilson. "People don't think pennies are worth anything, but they
add up to a lot. Taking those steps is like putting the pennies in the
piggybank."
(source : www.canada.com)
