Some one "liking" a reply I made a few months ago reminded me that I recently learned something interesting about the number of steps we are advised to take every day.
Heard a CBC medical columnist talk about a meta study done which shows that as few as 4000 steps a day lowers risk of premature death, and every 1000 steps beyond that, up to 20,000 a day further reduces the risk by 15%. It levels off at 20,000. This is lowering the risk from all causes. Interesting point, it doesn't matter how the steps are done, just total for the day. And walking outside is also beneficial for improving immune system.
I think it is a mixture of things. If you live on beefburgers for example you would probably not be half as healthy as if you had a good diet. Diet and exercise.
The item is dealing with the benefits of taking steps. Your risk of death is what improves, but your risk of death is of course affected by diet, among other things (like age)!
What I am trying to say is that just by taking a certain amount of steps a day is not the be all and end all. Someone who could not get out of their chair, but ate a health diet, exercised in the chair may guard against premature death too, while someone who did a large number of steps a day and had a rubbish diet may be more likely to die prematurely. You cannot assume that just by taking x number of steps a day it will protect you from premature death.
Interestingly, I think this is in fact what the meta study found. Lowers risk of dying from all causes. Can't remember exactly how many people were involved but it was a huge number. I'll have to listen again to get the number.
Of course if your risk of dying is very high then you are improving a bad situation. if you are already healthy, but don't move much, then you're improving a better situation. You might be like Koalajane and already be walking enough so carry on! Or like me who has been slacking off and now feels inspired to pick up the pace again.
No - the study took that into consideration I think. The point was - it doesn;t have to be the 10,000 steps banged on about in the media. I manage 4,000 with occasional excursions to more but I always know about that next day, the back pain is awful. But many would say I can't do 10,000 so it isn't worth it. But the takeaway from the study was ANY movement is worth it.
One thing I'd like to know is if there is alternative movement which is as good as or nearly so for those of us who physically cannot commit to even the minimum number of steps. I find my knees complain if I walk a lot several days in a row. And there are people who for various reasons can't walk at all.
I just listened the study. Dr talked about steps but she also said that ANY exercise that increases blood flow will benefit a person. You can replace "steps" with "minutes" of any activity., so say 10K steps = 45 min (just a guess). Person that swims, for example or bikes or chops wood or ... also gets benefit just like from walking.
I'd be inclined to say swimming. For several years I found walking very painful due to what I thought was plantar faciitis. I'm not so sure it was now, as I've read that PMR/Pred can cause similar symptoms. Anyway, the thing is that walking became a no no for me, however, swimming is a non impact sport that allows you to exercise many different muscle groups within your body, including your whole breathing system, without putting undue strain on to any of them.
Do you know which study they based the figures upon?Just wondering because I did a bit of research last year when I chose to do the DiabetesUK, One Million Steps ( in 3 months) sponsored challenge with the OH.
The bigger numbers from CBC appear to be very much larger than those in the studies I've read. Most generally healthy people would struggle to achieve 20,000 steps within a normal daily routine. Most people could not manage that each day without causing muscle soreness and joint inflammation that required rest days afterwards.
The first thing that I discovered was that the 10,000 steps a day regime was a myth not based in research. It was just a catchy title that the Japanese person whom wanted to encourage people to walk and exercise more chose , much like a Brand Name.
So I went on and I found the Jama study which included a large study sample of both Men and Women followed over seven years with further group analysis at 12 years. What I found useful about it was it also included people over 50 whom had suffered cardiovascular or stroke events, were in cancer remission , and people with chronic illnesses. One included four year study was of a female group including women between 62- 101 tested over 4 years , the mean age was 72.
First , and the most important fact , was that you didn't need to be doing steps as a deliberate exercise or a proper walk for them to count. " Incidental" steps , or the normal steps you do in daily activity like work, pottering around the kitchen , or wobbling for a wee also count as positive health activity.
They concluded that mortality rates , or your health level, did not decrease from the level you had when you began if you could still manage approx 2700 steps a day , nice to know if you are in recovery from something or have a flare up.
Mortality rates and health began to improve from as few as 3600-3900 steps a day , but most interesting was that the benefits to mortality and cardiovascular/ stroke health plateaued at 7500-7900 steps.
Basically , any steps beyond 7900 was useful to improve muscle strength and mass and improve bone health and wellbeing but did not extend your lifespan or reduce the risks of major illness events any further.
One interesting thing they did spot in the data which they are further analysing was that some people whom did many more than 10,000 steps actually suffered an increase in cardiovascular events and risk.
Presumably because they were putting too much stress on their bodies to perform beyond its limits or health level. Or could be suffering from Exercise Anxiety and Guilt , as many people do , about reaching a high arbitrary target and adding to their Stress. It will be interesting to see what their conclusions will be on that.
The study is also working through the data to show the effectiveness of steps on reducing the risks of Dementia, Parkinson's , Alzheimer's and Brain health but the preliminary findings are that the step count appears to show virtually the same pattern as it does for mortality rate and reduced cardio and stroke events.
I found it useful and very reassuring as although I've never suffered with 10,000 steps Anxiety I was concerned about how my health level will change as I become more immobile ( inevitable with my other health conditions,unfortunately, which is why I did the sponsored event when I still could).
I wanted to know what the bare minimum could be to maintain my lifespan and general health in the future or during periods of disease activity.
My hubby and I managed the 10,000 steps a day , and actually did more during the Summer Holidays which meant we'd actually reached One Million steps two weeks before the end of the three month challenge. We raised £780.
Our longest walk on one day was 24, 800 steps , the circle of Aberystwyth.
Just in case anyone is wondering, I measured that I could manage far more than the 3600-3900 daily because it can be achieved with light domestic activity ( especially if you suffer from brain fog and keep forgetting to take your cup to the kitchen or go to the toilet regularly) plus two liesurely 10-15 minute strolls after meals. Nice to know that relaxing exercise is as good as the sprint on a treadmill.
Nice to know that relaxing exercise is as good as the sprint on a treadmill.
Totally agree… and good to read the rest - I’ll continue pottering in garden and walking along the sea wall [when holidaymakers have gone home ] without feeling guilty.. 😉
Can't beat knowing that the exercise that most of us can achieve daily is scientifically proved to be as good as dashing about like a loon.I get very fed up of people trying to exercise shame people because they don't spend hours in the gym or run or walk 10,000 steps a day.
I enjoyed learning a few years ago that most professional footballers have learned to begin programmes of pilates , dance or yoga to improve their flexibility and game performance despite all of that cardio training.
Can't wait to get out again myself but unfortunately I've been stuck at home this Summer with a flare in my other illnesses . The weather has been awful though so at least I don't feel like I've been missing too much.
Haven’t done dashing about like loon since I played hockey for school - more years ago than I care to recall…. 😳..
As my late hubby used to say [although he was in HMF so was fit] when he got older -‘all the exercise I need nowadays is jumping to conclusion and running people down’ … 😊
Interesting that - there was an article in the Guardian recently by a journalist who reckoned she'd struggle to make the 3900 steps just in the house. I couldn't understand it to be honest - obviously sat about a lot!!!
Trouble here at present is it is just plain too hot - 33C and uninterupted sun is NOT conducive to walking at our age ...
If I'm really foggy in the brain I can manage 3000 steps easily in the house, I forgot my tea cup three times in one attempt to make a drink a few days ago. I'm not entirely surprised she was a journalist, unless she's a correspondent she's chosen the one lucrative career where you can make your money by sitting on your botty! 😄😄😄🍑
The hubby would manage around 9000 steps a day during work as a teacher , and he stands about a lot. When my daughter could work she was reaching 27,000+ walking to work and back and doing a shift picking and packing in the supermarket.
I remember hearing that a nurse can walk up to 12 miles per shift, and do the equivalent of 2.5 hours of upper body exercise which is why I never understood why they thought it was necessary to come out of work and panic that they hadn't been to the gym or done the recommended amount of weekly exercise. They done it with bells on!
People would be a lot less stressed out and guilty if they remembered that all activity counts not just the stuff done in walking shoes or Lycra!
Until her knee said no, my younger daughter was driving into work early to get a parking space so was there the best part of 2 hours before she was on shift and then went for a run first!!!!
Feels young to me today , I'm 51 going on 92. I've been fighting an abscess in my cheek for weeks , my face looks like it could be used as both the before and after picture of someone whom accidentally ate a Snickers Bar with a peanut allergy!
I think they took into account a bunch of studies, which is why so many people were involved. The takeaway from looking at all these different studies is the information Iris Gorfinkel imparted in her brief interview. I know this particular doctor has been interested in this for quite a while as she has discussed the number of steps needed for health benefits in the past, however with no more info back then than we already all had, which is why I was paying particular attention this time.
I think that's really interesting, and very encouraging.
I do wonder though about the accuracy of steps counted by step-counters and what actually constitutes 'one step'.
I actually discovered that my step counter measured a significantly higher number of steps than I had actually achieved when I counted the steps myself on a recent walk.
I also learnt that you actually have to walk a lot further than you'd think to walk 1000 actual steps.
Having said that, walking any distance (if you can) is always going to have some health benefits and certainly better than being static all day.
Does a length of the swimming pool count as steps or must you actually walk the steps I wonder? My sister has a fitness tracker that counts her steps and she has discovered she does really well when she is sitting knitting!
Depends how it works probably - mine works on GPS and an estimated stride length I think but a lot are mechanical which is how knitting gets counted ...
Mine is mechanical I guess, although it keeps track of previous activity, and needs a battery, it's not a simple clicker like the freebees we used to get from a "Participaction" program years ago.
This little discussion answers a question I've posed to friends who use Garmins or Apple watches, etc, which is doesn't it measure your arm movement even when you aren't actually walking or running, and the answer always seemed to be no, which didn't make sense to me, but was explained that the device "knows" from the type of motion whether the wearer is walking or running.
Some of the stories I have read about the inaccuracies of some equipment is quite entertaining, including Apple watches. I notice Apple say 'Apple Watch is highly accurate, with errors of less than 5% compared to other devices.'
I use polar HR meter. It is as accurate as they get. When I was visiting cardiologist for stress test, while I was connected to EKG I tested it and it was exactly the same HR.
When I analyze my exercise I use simple rule: I take my resting HR and my maxHR difference and make sure that my exercise is above 60% of the range. For example lets say that my resting HR is 50 and my maxHR is 150. this gives me range of 100 beets per minute. So to be above 60%, I would add 60 bits to my resting rate of 50 and come up with 110HR. Then I only count time spent during exercise above 110beets per minute, and it does not matter if it is walking or swimming or biking or whatever. I would bet that 10K steps translates to ~ 45-60 min of activity. Bottom line - set goal for your min HR during exercise and then just track time.
Not your fault... maybe I got too technical... leftover form the time I used to train seriously.. Also I was trying to post pic and describe how I track my exercise, but there is still a bug on this site that prevented me to complete my explanation.
At my normal walking pace I appear to take just under 10 minutes to get 1000 steps, so a little under an hour to do 6000. I've checked accuracy against counting my steps myself, and also have obtained the same result from two different counters. I had a third one briefly but it gave completely different results so I got rid of it. My treadmill doesn't measure steps, but it measures distance and time, and these seem to match up as well, although I tend to walk much faster on the "dreadmill" to get it over with.
What annoyed me was that my husband always looks like he has done far more exercise than me because he has really short legs ( much like Ernie Wise) and I've got long ones.So when we did last year's challenge I had to keep going for a out 20 minutes more a day to reach the same target.
Which was very amusing to the people at our holiday home watching me zig and zag outside our cabin to get the same steps as the hubby before he would let me in!
Hey Piglette, that's nothing....my sister found that her pedometer had added on steps while she'd been driving!!! 🤣 No wonder she'd walked far more steps than me that day....we had a good laugh when we realised. She's since ditched that one and bought a better one.
Last year I swam some days while my hubby caught up on steps , two lengths of the pool counted as 135 0H steps around the pool , but the effort of swimming is obviously worth a lot more steps than that.You can work your whole body and use between 490-680 calories per hour in moderate swimming , an hour of walking is about 320-340 .
Varies I think. I had a friend staying with me and were were walking the same but her counter gave a good 10% more than mine! She checks hers by counting too.
I have a simple clip-on (my pocket or waistband) pedometer and it does seem accurate when checked against actually counting my steps, and also when measured against distance on a treadmill; they all match up. It doesn't register anything when I use my pedal exerciser! For a while I was using a different pedometer and it was nuts. I don't know what I'll do when this one gives up as everyone is using digital bracelet things now and I really don't want to.
I get 1000 steps on average in just under ten minutes.
The author Annabel Streets has written a book entitled “52 Ways to Walk”. You may find it interesting. Mind you, there’s no chance of me employing one of the ways she suggests, ie walking backwards!
I've read that! In fact I gave copies to my kids, meant to get myself one (having read the library copy) but forgot to order one for myself. One thing I learned was when breathing through your nose your body makes nitrous oxide, but not when breathing through your mouth, so now when I get a bit out of breath I still try not to pant. The walking backwards I'd do but I'm too self conscious. Occasionally I'll sort of turn and take a couple of steps backwards, pretending I'm interested in looking at something out on the harbour. Can't remember the 50 other ways so I really must get myelf a copy.
She is apparently an award winning author, also publishing under the name Annabel Abbs.
Perhaps a book should be written on ‘52 ways to stagger and keep your composure’. Or, someone should design a badge explaining that we are having a ‘wobbly’ day.
Wow! Good for you steppers! If I took 30,000 steps I would have a stroke.😂😅 recently my granddaughter went to a music festival in Montreal Canada and told me she had done 35,000 steps one day.. She really loves music!💞
On the whole healthier people are able to walk more, they can also do lots of other active things. Being healthy makes it more likely you will live longer. A bit of a chicken and egg situation. Not completely clear which way the arrow of causation goes. Also, as pointed out above, loads of other factors (known and unknown) are important...and then there is the often totally inexplicable performance of the immune system (under- and over-active).
Others have already said it but we all need to move etc as much as we can, eat well, sleep well AND battle on. (And yes, nose breathing preferable to mouth breathing, except when forced to gasp for breath)
We have been here before on this subject but a.smart watch is worth getting to measure exercise. I have two small dogs and by walking them plus shopping locally I do on average 15,000 steps a day. It also measures the number of floors ao the stairs which pushes up heart rate up.
Weight is important and sadly pred does make you gain weight so to balance that out reducing carbs helps
My watch measures my resting heart rate which indicates how fit my cardio vascular system is.
Try one linking it to your smartphone helps to make reading the data meaningful but you can just read it fron the watch.
Every step helps so i dontbthink there is a max and min jyst do what you can and be motivated to do a few nore each day.
As with most things, one size doesn't fit all. People in our position should walk as far as they can comfortably as doing too much would counterproductive.
I saw a cardiologist a couple of weeks ago and was explaining that fatigue and PMR is life limiting as I can no longer cycle or surf. Don’t have the strength or energy. He asked what exercise I do and I said apart from walking the dog and gardening, I have resistance bands. He asked if I could walk for thirty minutes and I told him I do that at least once a day, sometimes more. He sat back and said, ‘My dear lady, you must start to respect your age. Your body has worked hard for 73 years and it’s fine to slow down. If you walk for 30 minutes 3 times a week, that’s all your heart needs to keep it functioning well.’ He said anything more was for pleasure and wasn’t necessary.
😀😀 He’s a well respected consultant and I was pleased to see him rather than one of his team. It’s taken me some years to fully understand that PMR is also about managing expectations. I know I get frustrated by not being able to enjoy outdoor activities, but without giving in, I have to accept. He was insistent that he had no concerns about exercise and the three half hour walks will maintain cardiac health. Heart is structurally sound; he diagnosed atrial fibrillation which is not being treated currently. Just anticoagulant to reduce stroke risk…as recommended by PMRPro. Tbh, I found his advice relaxing and reassuring.
Something I have noticed with a/f is that a lot of patients seem utterly terrified by it - I did look at an a/f forum once and left rapidly! I wonder if most doctors are guilty of not explaining it properly? It's a pest but I have yet to be frightened about an episode - even the morning I woke with a heart rate of 190 and merited the Emergency Doctor team and blue lights ... I just sit it out unless the HR is too high for even my liking - sustained 140+ would be about my limit I think. When I have gone in, by the time I got there it had gone!
I agree. It’s unpleasant but I think I’ve been self managing for at least 10 years. I’ve been blue lighted with overnight stay on 3 occasions and was originally diagnosed with angina. I disputed and said it felt like wonky electrics…not that I’d know why exactly. But I was ok with stress test and other tests and eventually I was told I didn’t have angina. As you know, with AF it’s catching it whilst active. My watch recorded all heart rhythm data and the consultant checked it all along with the watch recorded ecgs whilst in an episode and said allshowed AF. As he explained, the difficulty is knowing when the risk becomes reality; AF increases stroke risk but there’s no way to predict when that big one may hit.
I’m happy with the law of diminishing returns. If I’ve had this for some time, the likelihood of stroke won’t improve. I already have very slow heart rate at night…35 to 39 frequently, and I visualise this as pooling if the rhythm problem happens too.
All of that aside, again it was thanks to your very serious prompting about anticoagulant that made me push to get the consultant referral expedited. 🍷
"the difficulty is knowing when the risk becomes reality" - and THAT is why you give anticoags ...
And do get that bradycardia looked at if it isn't already - a brady in the wrong place can have awful consequences, A longtime friend took dizzy and toppled down the stairs. Broke his neck and is quadriplegic.
The brady is normal, for me. First identified over 50 years ago. My heart just seems to work in slow mo; resting hr is 42 and if I exercise it’s difficult to get it above 80 or 90. Until the last few years, I was fit and regularly ran 10k, cycled and surfed. Now, I can immediately feel a tachy spike from about 70 upwards and know when it’s out of sync. Manageable so far and with the anticoagulant, I’m content to wait and see what happens in the next six months. I have a follow up appointment where AF treatment will be reviewed. Carry in the pocket tab or ablation were his thoughts. Tbh, it is what it is and overall I think I’m lucky to have what I consider to be great health. PMR is the bummer, but again, I’m going to potter along with 5mg pred which seems to be the dose that keeps it mainly controlled.
Im sorry for your friend. It’s devastating; a friend of mine was helping her husband on an icy path to the front door…he’s partially sighted. She slipped and ended up quadraplegic. It’s heartbreaking and it makes me appreciate what I have and try not to complain.
That is a problem. They actually clear our sidewalks too well these days. I bought them one day on my way to work when I was already half an hour late because the walking was so treacherous. A shop I was passing happened to stock them at the time. The rest of my walk was a breeze! I now carry a dedicated heavy duty plastic bag to put them into when I go inside anywhere.
But last couple of years haven't actually needed them because seldom ice and living downtown the sidewalks are cleaned very quickly. Barely any winter.
Sometimes the fixation on numbers can be counter productive. 5 yrs earlier in my pmr journey I could walk more and more frequently. The loss of muscle mass and presumably the games the adrenals play mean I can't do it all at once but try to move more frequently. There is probably more risk from total inactivity than gain by going hell for leather. Having said that, I am going to bed for a while soon, after a long drive to nearest garden centre and badly denting my card (credit)!
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