Play golf, walk the dog or take stairs to get exercised
By Nanci Hellmich
USA Today
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You know you need to walk more to improve your health, but the treadmill bores you silly and you lack the momentum to go outside and hike.
No worries. Take up golf, get a dog, skip the elevator, and you'll naturally start walking more.
Three new studies quantify how several activities can increase daily exercise.
Experts recommend trying to accumulate at least 10,000 steps a day to get the health benefits of physical activity, which include lowering the risk of heart disease, diabetes and many types of cancer.
But on average, people walk only about 5,000 to 6,000 steps a day, according to a poll conducted for America on the Move, an initiative to get people to walk more (www.americaonthemove .org).
A mile of walking is 1,800 to 2,200 steps, depending on stride length and pace, both of which vary widely.
"That means the average inactive person would need to add two miles of walking to get up to 10,000 steps," says Dixie Thompson, an exercise physiologist at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.
Because walking a mile takes 15 to 20 minutes, this added walking will require 30 to 40 minutes each day, she says.
"By using a pedometer and allowing the steps to accumulate throughout the day, the person gets credit for all the additional steps they take, not just those classified as exercise," Thompson says.
Here's a look at what the new research shows about adding steps:
GOLFING IS HEALTHY
Golfers who play 18 holes get a good walking workout, even those who use carts for much of the round, a study shows.
"The reason we were so excited about our findings is that golfing has a low injury rate and a high adherence rate," says lead researcher Cristina Sanders, an exercise scientist who worked on the project as a graduate student at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs.
She had 130 male golfers, ages 18 to 87, wear pedometers while they played 18 holes on three different golf courses.
Sanders' findings:
All the golfers in the study were men, but Sanders believes the results also apply to women.
"If people go golfing three times a week, they would obtain their heart health benefits of physical activity for the week," she says.
"It's a way for them to have fun and get exercise."
WALKING THE DOG
A study shows that people who take their dogs for regular walks are more active and trim.
Researchers had 2,200 participants in neighborhoods in Seattle and Baltimore wear accelerometers, which measure movement, for seven days.
About 28 percent owned dogs, but a third of them didn't walk their pets. The team focused on these two groups of dog owners:
"A dog helps people get out the door," says lead researcher Dori Rosenberg of the University of California-San Diego and San Diego State University.
"What's nice for people is having a companion while exercising. You don't need a human to go with you."
CLIMB THE STAIRS
Never mind waiting for the elevator. It takes a lot less time to take the stairs, and you'll add some walking into your day.
Researchers at the University of South Carolina-Aiken had 24 people alternate between elevator and stair use. Participants were encouraged to take the stairs at their own pace during daily routines. Findings were:
People think the elevator is quicker, but it's not, says Brian Parr, an assistant professor of exercise and sports science. "We're going to put up a poster this fall in our building that says: 'In a hurry? Take the stairs.' "
