HEALTH AWARENESSSurvey
Reveals Americans May Be Miles Off When Judging Daily Activity Levels |
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(NAPSI)-Adding steps to your daily regimen could bring you closer to a healthy level of physical activity. The first step, however, is a realistic appraisal of how active you really are. According to the recent Energizer Reality Check Survey, Americans are unaware of how many steps they take on a daily basis. Participants in the study were asked to estimate how many steps they take in an average day. Then, Energizer equipped each participant with a pedometer and asked them to wear it every day for one week and report the number of steps taken. As a result of the challenge, 42 percent of participants found they took fewer steps than they had originally guessed. Many of those (36 percent) were off by 4,000 steps or more. That's about two miles. Younger participants, ages 30 and under, were even more likely to overestimate (44 percent). And even those who were conservative about their estimates-the 58 percent that actually took more steps than they guessed-were way off. "You have to know where you are in order to know where you're going," says fitness expert Denise Austin, who has teamed up with Energizer to help motivate Americans to take a proactive role in monitoring their fitness. "The best way to gauge your level of activity is to use simple tools-such as pedometers and heart rate monitors-that provide you instant information." Getting Informed Given that almost one-third (31 percent) of Americans believe there is at least one hour during every day when they don't even take a single step, opportunities abound to incorporate more activity at work or at home. "Fidgeting and moving around are good," says Here are a few more tips from Denise Austin: • Test your walking and fitness ability by seeing how fast you can walk a mile. Whether you go to the track, hit the treadmill or set out in your own neighborhood, try to see if you can do a 15-minute mile. This will help you see how much you need to improve. • Little steps do matter. Standing burns twice as many calories as sitting. If you sit often, get off your chair as much as possible to increase circulation and the number of calories you burn. Food is not the enemy. Sitting still is the enemy. • Pump your arms. A great way to make your workout count is to pump your arms. Pumping increases the number of muscles you are using, toning your arms and burning more calories. • Interval training. Strap on a heart rate monitor so you know what zone you are in while exercising. By alternating a low-intensity pace with bursts of high intensity, you burn more calories and challenge your cardiovascular system. An effective workout can be 30 minutes of alternating three minutes of walking with two minutes of jogging. • Stretch after exercising to help repair muscles and especially focus on your lower back. You can do this by standing up, keeping your feet hip-width apart, grabbing the back of your thighs and rounding your back like a C. • Keep your spine strong so you can keep going. One of the best ways to do this is by strengthening your abs. Re-educate your abdominal muscles by pulling them in and contracting them all day long. • Keep moving. Walking around for one minute in between activities during the day improves circulation instantly and boosts your metabolism. "Music is my motivator," says |
Word Count: 711 Food is not the enemy. Sitting still is the enemy. Try to stand and take a walk whenever you can fit it in. |
