On an average weekday more than half of adults in the UK (52%) walk a mile or less, and 17% don’t manage to top a quarter of a mile, according to research by Cancer Research UK. Now this could be because they cycle everywhere and so are still incredibly active. It could be that. But it could also be because they drive or take public transport to work and back again without doing any exercise.
If you think your own daily step count is dangerously low, you can get some added impetus to raise it (and money for charity) by signing up for Cancer Research UK’s Walk All Over Cancer campaign, which challenges participants to hit 10,000 steps on every day of June.
Although it’s often accused – not entirely unfairly – of being an arbitrary target, walking 10,000 steps will mean you’ve covered around 8km (depending on your stride length, naturally) and easily surpassed the 30 minutes of daily moderate exercise recommended by the NHS. Hit 10,000 steps every day of June and you’ll have walked around 240km – not bad going at all.
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But with the best will in the world, around week three it might start to be a bit of a chore – so for some encouragement to help you stay on track, sign up for Walk All Over Cancer with a few friends and add an element of friendly competition to the whole affair. This can also help you raise funds, because you can introduce a financial penalty for the person who walks the least distance on any given day and overall.
The easiest way to ensure you avoid last place and keep racking up impressive amounts of steps is to build some walking into your commute. Getting off the bus or train one stop early and using the stairs rather than the escalator will put you well on your way to 10,000 steps.
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Then, to put the hammer down and post step counts that will make your friends gasp, slip in a 15- to 30-minute walk each lunchtime and try to run a couple of times a week.
You don’t need to invest in a fancy fitness tracker to log your steps each day. There are many free apps that will do the job for you if you keep your phone on you at all times, or alternatively get a simple pedometer that you can slip in a pocket or clip to your belt for less than £15 on amazon.co.uk.
Sign up for Walk All Over Cancer at cancerresearchuk.org, where you can also find more advice on how to fundraise.
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