Hey y'all,
Listened to this podcast this morning while roasting coffee (because yes, yes I am awesome like that). I know we had a thread recently on cardio, whether weight training (e.g. kettlebells) was enough "cardio," and if walking was "cardio" or not (and, nuanced, maybe when it would be versus wouldn't be). I don't want to rehash all that again. This podcast is JUST about some of the benefits of walking!
Here are a couple highlights:
- 10,000 steps a day subtracts 8 years from your age for all cause mortality (ACM), which is similar but opposite to smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, which adds 8 years to your ACM. We're not looking at trying to "add" years, but about incremental improvement - more steps were seen to be more better for "reducing" your ACM.
- Can also increase life expectancy - up to 450 minutes of walking per week "added" 4.5 years to life.
- "Habit stacking" - it is very easy to add a little walking into your life, and even a little can improve your health, and this can start "stacking" benefits with other healthy habits (e.g. lifting, nutrition) without directly impacting training you may be taking "more seriously."
- 10,000 steps can look like, practically, 2x 30 minute walks + moderate active day.
- 10,000 is kind of arbitrary and is more of a goal to shoot for versus "I must hit 10,000." It is about changing lifestyle to be more active.
- In addition to be very accessible, you can do a lot of things while you walk - listen to a podcast, talk with someone, phone calls, or even meditating and practicing mindfulness.
- Inactivity can negatively changes in body composition even if you are already lifting and minding diet. 6,500 steps per day seems to be the threshold for this. It is easier to manage bodyweight when walking a lot!
- Prioritizing walking helps you align your day in accordance with your goals.
- Practical Tips: DO something while walking, find "easy" ways to add walking, have layers to allow you out in any weather (including shoes), splitting it up so you don't have to do more than 20-30 minutes, take some time to build up multiple routes for variety
Listened to this podcast this morning while roasting coffee (because yes, yes I am awesome like that). I know we had a thread recently on cardio, whether weight training (e.g. kettlebells) was enough "cardio," and if walking was "cardio" or not (and, nuanced, maybe when it would be versus wouldn't be). I don't want to rehash all that again. This podcast is JUST about some of the benefits of walking!
Here are a couple highlights:
- 10,000 steps a day subtracts 8 years from your age for all cause mortality (ACM), which is similar but opposite to smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, which adds 8 years to your ACM. We're not looking at trying to "add" years, but about incremental improvement - more steps were seen to be more better for "reducing" your ACM.
- Can also increase life expectancy - up to 450 minutes of walking per week "added" 4.5 years to life.
- "Habit stacking" - it is very easy to add a little walking into your life, and even a little can improve your health, and this can start "stacking" benefits with other healthy habits (e.g. lifting, nutrition) without directly impacting training you may be taking "more seriously."
- 10,000 steps can look like, practically, 2x 30 minute walks + moderate active day.
- 10,000 is kind of arbitrary and is more of a goal to shoot for versus "I must hit 10,000." It is about changing lifestyle to be more active.
- In addition to be very accessible, you can do a lot of things while you walk - listen to a podcast, talk with someone, phone calls, or even meditating and practicing mindfulness.
- Inactivity can negatively changes in body composition even if you are already lifting and minding diet. 6,500 steps per day seems to be the threshold for this. It is easier to manage bodyweight when walking a lot!
- Prioritizing walking helps you align your day in accordance with your goals.
- Practical Tips: DO something while walking, find "easy" ways to add walking, have layers to allow you out in any weather (including shoes), splitting it up so you don't have to do more than 20-30 minutes, take some time to build up multiple routes for variety