Saturday, June 4, 2011

I Challenge You!

Hubs and I had a little fun last weekend with pedometers.  Nerd.  Alert.
His company is in this worldwide competition with other teams to see who can amass the most steps per day as calculated on a pedometer.  No extra shakes.  No jumping in place.  Sometimes you get "steps" when you drive, or an extra step when you bound down stairs, but they're fairly accurate.  In the spirit of competition, he and I decided to compete over Memorial Day weekend.  I might have won had I not decided to take a nap on Sunday.  Wah wah waaaaah.

Here's the challenge:  According to a 2004 study by Dr. Catrine Tudor-Locke, the average woman walks approximately 5210 steps per day, and the average man walks 7192 steps per day.

For one week, beat that.  If you're sitting down, and it's 5 pm and you've only got 3227 steps, get up and go for a 20-30 minute walk.  You'll be amazed at what a small effort can produce.  If you decide to go for a walk or run in the morning, don't forget your pedometer!  Put it on the second you get up and take it off as you're climbing in bed.  Log your numbers nightly.  Beat the national average!

So, by next Saturday, June 11, get a pedometer.  They're dirt cheap at walking stores and equipment stores.  Try to beat the national average for 7 days in a row.  If you've got a spouse and/or kids, make it a family competion!  Get everybody involved.  Winner gets a new book or gets to choose what movie to watch on Netflix.  Whatever.  The key is to have fun and get everybody moving.

There's some quote that goes "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."  Take that step towards an active lifestyle.

So this week, go out and get a pedometer.  We'll meet here in a week and start!

1 comment:

Emily said...

Hi - I think your site is offering some fantastic advice so thank you! I just wanted to say that this challenge, although a month old now, is fascinating - and a subject I did a little research into when I started using my pedometer several months ago.

The average for a woman (5210) is shocking! Even on my most inactive day, when I've had a heavy cold and rested, doing only a little housework, collected and dropped off my kids to and from school, cooked for my family and gone out for a short walk to the pharmacy to buy paracetamol I've not been able to get that low. My average (from data I've been gathering throughout these months) is 15,208 steps a day. I don't drive though.