If nothing else, get a pedometer
Posted by Dan Falkenberg | Posted in Exercise | Posted on 29-05-2008
Tags: 000 steps, 10, increase activity, pedometers, walking activities, walking and weight loss
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I’m all for people being as active as they possibly can, but sometimes, it can be hard to go from not being active at all to exercising everyday. Well, guess what? Walking is a great start to changing your lifestyle habits. 
The 10,000 steps program is a walking program that is gaining popularity everyday. Corporations, schools, gyms, all sorts off organizations are realizing the benefits of encouraging their employees and members to increase their daily walking. You know how they’re doing it? By supplying pedometers to participants.
A study in the November 21, 2007 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association took on the task of figuring out if pedometers really are effective at increasing user’s activity. Guess what they found out? They found that pedometer users had an average increase of more than 2,100 steps per day! They also saw a resulting decrease in BMI and systolic blood pressure (the top number) as a result of this little device having a subconscious effect on users being more active.
So if you’re having trouble getting motivated to develop an active lifestyle, start out with buying yourself a pedometer, aim for walking 10,000 steps per day, and let your brain get you moving. Make it a game; set a daily steps goal for yourself, and see what activities will get you to your goal the fastest. Maybe taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or maybe parking farther away in the parking lot will be more effective? See what little quirky things you can do to increase you steps per day, but most importantly, have fun with it! Changing your lifestyle will take some time, but by taking little steps like using a pedometer, you’ll slowly start to move towards a healthier you!
