I already go to the gym for an hour after work, so why bother with 10,000 steps?
So, maybe you read last weeks post and looked at what activity you do during the week and thought, well I go to the gym three or four times a week, the 10,000 steps / Active 10 methods don’t really apply to me. Firstly, It is fantastic you already go to the gym, however let me give you scenario to choose between which person is healthier?
Person A.
Works an office job, drives to work, gets into work each day at 9am, sits at their desk until 11:30am where they go get a cup of tea or coffee and a snack, sits back down at their desk, until 13:00pm to have lunch, sits down in the kitchen area to eat with other colleagues, back to their desk until 15:30pm, gets up to have another drink, sits back down at their desk until 17:30pm, drives to the gym for 18:00pm does a hard full body hour workout, drives home for 19:15pm sits down for dinner, watches tv and then goes to bed.
Person B.
Works an office job, rides their bike to work, gets in at 9am. Sits at their desk for an hour then gets up to move around for 10 minutes, and returns back to their desk and does some more work, and gets up and moves each hour until lunch where he goes out of the building for lunch to walk in the park and surrounding areas. On returning he goes back to his desk and every hour gets up and moves for 10 or so minutes until he rides home from work and has a normal evening of sitting down for dinner and watching tv.
Which is the “healthier” individual?
In my opinion, Person B. Just because person A goes to the gym for one hour doesn’t negate the hours of sedentary positions throughout the day. Whereas Person B, they may not have “gone to a gym for an hour” however, their amount of physical activity throughout the day is much higher and more frequent, meaning Person B’s general health and wellbeing is much better!
In Conclusion…
In summary, the 10,000 steps idea is just a target or goal for individuals to achieve rather than just saying “increase number of steps a day” – It provides more focus and motivation to achieve. It can act as a great supplement to an already great physical activity program – It is not something to scoff at and ignore so it definitely something to consider however there are other methods out there that can be better! Why not try a host of different supplementary movement programs and see which you find works best for you?
Jack Coxall