Back when I had athletic street cred—as a soccer and rugby player and 5K specialist—I used to scoff at walkers. Although walking might be somewhat better than total lethargy, I failed to see how anyone could devote enough time to plodding around to get the benefit that one does with more aerobic activities. Besides, the mall, where such “exercisers” tended to hang out, is only open for so many hours a day.
At the height of this athletic snobbery, I likened walking for exercise to golfing as a sport: You can break a sweat doing either activity, but they’re not sports.
Of course, I was wrong. Golf is a sport, especially if you walk the course. (I’m still recovering from my last round; with 40 pounds of equipment on your back, walking from the clubhouse to the first tee burns a lot of energy). And walking, I’ve recently discovered, is substantially better for you than I thought.
As it turns out, walking:
- Protects your bones
- Staves off senior moments
- Prevents weight gain
- Relieves depression
It can also help manage diabetes, a special interest of mine. So a few weeks ago I gave up bashing walkers and began a new strategy to get more steps into my life. Here’s what I’m doing.
- Parking my car in the deck furthest from my office (up to 2,000 extra steps a day)
- Avoiding the elevator like the plague (I was already doing a lot of this, but now, no rides allowed; 200 extra steps a day)
- Hiking my farm with my son or daughter twice a week (up to 6,000 extra steps)
- Walking 18 holes of golf once a week if possible (20,000 extra steps)
Even with all this effort I can’t get to 10,000 steps a day (a popular goal for many weight-loss and exercise programs) unless I also walk for walking’s sake. But the important thing is I’m trying, and if my old prejudices prove wrong, my health will be better for it.
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