Pedometer update: 15,000 Steps a Day is a Bit Much.

pedometerMy quest to walk 15,000 steps a day has not fared well though I am not displeased with where I am at. I walk so much more than I did a few months ago. Though I am not hitting my goal of 15,000 steps each and every day, I am walking so much more than I used to. I am realizing that the lower numbers that you see in the last week of my steps represents my average amount of daily walking before I started wearing the pedometer. It’s not pretty. And I think I am more mobile than most.

The list of numbers below is the first seven day period (my pedometer rolls over seven days) that I failed to hit 15,000 steps on any day. And I still feel like I walked a lot, and worked hard to do so. It has been pretty easy to create the steps in my life—I drive a little less, I walk the dog longer, I get off the train earlier, or walk further, to the train. (And, not to nitpick but there is a sort of glitch in the pedometer, in that they are not designed for stop and go performance. They have a four step leg every time you stop and then start walking again.)

The number that the conventional wisdom had settled on is 10,000 steps a day and I can now say from experience that if someone commits to walking 10,000 steps each and every day that is all the exercise you need. Of course you need to walk those 10,000 steps with the proper form.

Who’s up for the challenge?

Here are my numbers for the last week.

Yesterday— 13,022

Thursday—14,190

Wednesday— 5,527

Tuesday— 14,315

Monday— 10,386 Happy New Year!

Sunday—6,737

Saturday December 29th – 13,909

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The Core Walking Program