Transcript

Let’s Go Walk · Talking FACS

0:01
Welcome to Talking FACS,
0:03
what you need to know about family food,
0:05
finance and fitness.
0:07
This nationally recognized award winning podcast is hosted by the University of Kentucky.
0:12
Family and consumer sciences extension program.
0:16
Our educators share research knowledge with individuals,
0:19
families and communities to improve quality of life.
0:24
Hello and welcome to Talking FACS.
0:26
This is your host,
0:27
Dr. Jennifer Hunter,
0:28
assistant director for family consumer sciences extension at the University of Kentucky.
0:33
Today,
0:34
I'm pleased to be joined by Dr. Natalie Jones,
0:36
our extension specialist for family health.
0:38
Welcome Natalie,
0:40
Thanks for having me.
0:41
So today's topic,
0:43
we're gonna talk about how many steps a day do you really need?
0:47
And I think,
0:48
you know,
0:48
as fitness trackers have become more and more prevalent as we can use our phones to track our steps that it's become very commonplace for people to be very aware of how many steps that they're getting and maybe trying to achieve.
1:03
You know,
1:04
that it's a good motivator so that you do kind of see,
1:06
well maybe I've had a really sedentary day and that type thing,
1:09
but you're gonna share with us just really how many steps we should be working towards each and every day.
1:15
That's correct,
1:16
yeah.
1:16
And I think it hits on exactly what you mentioned of walking is the number one exercise recommended by doctors and it's really popular mainly because it's easy to do,
1:26
right.
1:26
It only really requires pair of tennis shoes,
1:29
a safe space to be active and it has tremendous mental and physical benefits.
1:36
One of the things that I want to tell you about is this new study out of the University of michigan that was peer reviewed and published in JAMA,
1:44
which is the Journal of American Medical Association and the results,
1:50
Our great people are gonna love it is that it suggests that we only need 7000 steps a day in order to be active and to be healthy and to gain those benefits from walking.
2:02
So this is a significantly smaller number than the previous goal that has been out there for 10,000 steps.
2:09
Right?
2:10
And I think that that's just what I always think is 10,000 steps a day.
2:13
And when I looked down at the end of the day,
2:15
maybe I have two or 3000.
2:17
I feel like I have failed.
2:19
Uh It's definitely more achievable.
2:23
7000 is doable.
2:26
Um So tell us a little bit about just in general,
2:29
the benefits of walking.
2:31
Yeah,
2:31
so I love this boat.
2:32
It's one of the former CDC director and they described walking as the closest thing we have to a wonder drug.
2:39
And I yes,
2:41
and I totally agree with that among its benefits.
2:44
Walking can reduce the risk of high blood pressure,
2:47
heart disease,
2:48
diabetes and depression and it can help control our weight and improve our sleep.
2:53
So it is outstanding.
2:55
Walking is also considered good for our bones for strengthening our bones.
2:59
So reducing osteoarthritis and strengthening our muscles,
3:04
our heart and our brain.
3:06
I do want to note that although walking is considered safe for most people,
3:10
right,
3:10
if you haven't been active for a while or if you have any any health concerns that you should check with your doctor before starting a new activity or a new fitness routine.
3:19
So just just keep that in mind and be cautious.
3:21
But the great news is like from the study,
3:23
I feel like there's great things that came from it,
3:26
but the first thing that came from it is that even a one minute scroll pays off.
3:31
So we know that just little bursts of walking throughout the day,
3:35
you know,
3:35
sitting less and moving more is really important.
3:39
And then the second thing that I think is amazing that came out of this study is that the intensity of steps,
3:46
so like how quick each person is walking,
3:48
right,
3:49
if they're just strolling or if their power walking didn't matter.
3:53
So Those who walked slowly,
3:56
those who walked quickly,
3:57
they both gained those life lengthening this benefits of just getting 7000 steps a day,
4:03
so that makes me feel good because I'm not a high intensity walker.
4:07
I like to go at my own pace,
4:10
which is much more of a stroll.
4:12
But in terms of the benefits and you know,
4:14
just my job in particular is very sedentary,
4:17
but as you mentioned,
4:18
just getting up and walking around the building or walking just a little bit out and around campus or sometimes if I can,
4:26
you know,
4:26
if it's a conference call taking on my cell phone so I can go out and just breathe a little bit of fresh air and have the opportunity just to,
4:36
You know,
4:36
get a little physical activity and change of scenery that it can definitely help with mood and spirits and outlook all different facets.
4:46
So,
4:47
you know,
4:47
we talked a little bit of kind of fitness trackers,
4:50
getting this people into the habit of this kind of 10,000 steps and how that became so prevalent.
4:55
But how can we measure our fitness?
4:58
Yeah,
4:58
so there's a lot of different ways to do it.
5:00
But again,
5:02
you don't have to just be a person who is on that step count.
5:07
I know so many people who are just focused on completing those circles,
5:11
right,
5:11
getting those rings completed on their Apple watch or whatever fitness tracker that they're using is that you can keep in mind how much physical activity you're getting just by keeping track of the time.
5:22
So many ways to measure fitness other than step count for adults.
5:27
It suggested that we get 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise and activity.
5:33
So this could be walking,
5:35
this could be a jog,
5:37
a run,
5:38
swimming,
5:38
anything like that.
5:39
That kind of gets our heart rate up,
5:41
but that we can still have a conversation with a friend or with a workout partner who's with us.
5:46
In addition we could do 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous activity And that's something where it's going to be a little bit more difficult to have that conversation and to hold that conversation.
5:59
So this could be interval work,
6:00
it could be running,
6:02
it could be playing a basketball game or playing soccer,
6:05
a pickup game,
6:05
anything like that.
6:06
So we want to focus on 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise Every week.
6:15
And so you can just keep track of your time in a journal of how much you're physically active or just making sure that you're getting around 30 minutes a day of movement.
6:24
And again,
6:24
just walking more and sitting less in addition to the aerobic activity.
6:30
We also want to try to focus on strength training at least two times a week.
6:35
So for adults that could be anything from lifting weights,
6:39
lifting weights,
6:40
taking a Pilates class,
6:42
taking any type of boot camp or Even doing body weight exercises in your home counts as strength training.
6:50
So things that can build our muscles and strengthen our bones is really important,
6:54
especially as we age.
6:56
And then again,
6:57
just keeping in mind that for someone who religiously monitors their step count.
7:03
Um,
7:03
and struggles to hit that 2000 steps.
7:06
There are now ways to prove that you only need 7000 steps a day and you can get that from a fitness tracker,
7:13
like counting that or even from,
7:16
I think you mentioned this earlier,
7:17
but right,
7:17
a lot of smartphones now also have that Apple health app already programmed into the phone and so just making sure that you have your phone with you when you're walking or when you're being active,
7:28
that can be an easy way to track it as well.
7:31
So,
7:31
Natalie,
7:32
when you break it down and you say 150 minutes of moderate activity a week and you know,
7:38
when you define that moderate activity of still being able,
7:40
you know,
7:40
have your heart rate increase that's still being able to carry on a conversation with a friend or some other person.
7:46
It seems very,
7:47
very doable.
7:48
Right?
7:48
That that seems very achievable goal.
7:52
If folks are looking for ways in particular to increase their step count.
7:56
Do you have tips for that?
7:58
Do we have tips?
8:00
We have a lot of tips.
8:02
So there are tons of ways to sneak in more movement and so one of the first ones right,
8:07
is while we're at home or if we're doing errands,
8:09
if you're at home during TV commercials,
8:12
which I feel like it's rare,
8:13
a lot of people just stream things right?
8:15
But but if you are watching live TV during commercials,
8:18
get up and walk around the house or if you're watching a show on Netflix try to get up,
8:23
you know,
8:23
at the end of the show and walk around before you watch the next one.
8:27
So you can binge but just make sure that we're adding a little bit of movement.
8:30
For example while doing errands.
8:32
This is a hard one,
8:33
but I've tried to um to utilize this is to never use the drive thru so park and walk into the bank park and walk into the food stop instead of just going through a drive through.
8:44
Those quick steps will add up.
8:46
Another one is to like when you're running errands,
8:49
return the shopping cart all the way back to the front of the store right when we're grocery shopping instead of just one of the cart locators that you could use in the parking lot and then you've already mentioned this but you can do this at work or at home is when you're making a phone call,
9:02
stand up and walk around as you talk right,
9:04
use that time to pace um and get those extra step ins when we are at work.
9:10
So this could be a little bit more difficult for people depending on what their job is or their job status.
9:15
But a lot of people as we know are working more sedentary jobs where they are sitting all day.
9:21
And so one of the things that you can do,
9:23
especially in the virtual world of if you're waiting for a conference call to start,
9:28
you know circle the room Um or your office before the meeting starts,
9:32
if you have the opportunity to take it and walk outside,
9:35
do that 100%.
9:37
And then another one if you're back in the offices rather than you know emailing or calling a coworker.
9:43
try to get up and see their office and walk to them to meet with them in person.
9:47
And then this is one of my favorite tips that I actually use at the office as well as at home is use the restroom,
9:55
use the coffee machine,
9:57
the water fountain or the break room that's farthest away from your office or from your work area.
10:01
So just those little bit of extra steps can go a long way and then when it comes to the weekends or just trying to have more fun with physical activity is one of the things that we can do is sign up for a charity walk or sign up for any local five K or 10-K.
10:19
Those are a lot of fun and they don't have to be competitive.
10:22
They again,
10:23
can just be four people for your family to do with friends and majority of them do benefit some type of local charity.
10:30
And then I think another one that is helpful whether you're at work or in a neighborhood is just to create a walking group.
10:38
So this could be a workplace walking groups where you meet together and walk during lunch or during breaks or if you have a group of family or friends in your neighborhood just have a group meeting or walk up time,
10:49
you know,
10:49
in the,
10:50
in the weekends of midday or afternoon time where you guys can all just walk and talk and catch up.
10:55
So a lot of different ways to just again,
10:58
sit less and move more and just increase those steps.
11:02
So Natalie,
11:02
one of the favorite,
11:03
my favorite tips that's been shared with me since we've kind of been in COVID times or whatever you'd like to call it and our jobs have become much more sedentary because we don't walk to meetings anymore.
11:13
Everything is virtual is um,
11:16
individuals suggested to be to schedule your meetings on the 15 minutes.
11:20
So,
11:21
you know,
11:21
instead of starting at one,
11:22
start at 1 15 or instead of starting at two or 1 30 start at 1 45.
11:27
And a rationale for that is that everybody else scheduled the meeting to start on the hour or the half hour.
11:33
So if you schedule a 60 minute meeting that starts at 1:15,
11:37
it would end at 2:15 and then you have 15 minutes that you can get up and walk around before that next meeting starts because I think what's happened to so many folks is just,
11:48
we do back to back to back to back virtual meetings all day long and you know,
11:53
you can go from eight to noon and never have stood up because you're just hopping from one meeting to the next.
11:58
So that's been one of my favorite COVID tips is to,
12:01
to start your meetings 15 minutes after the hour.
12:04
So you're guaranteed to have that 15 minutes before the next meeting starts.
12:08
That is great.
12:10
I absolutely love that.
12:11
I thought it was,
12:11
I thought it was genius,
12:12
genius and I think that that can be helpful for before or after a meeting.
12:17
You know just buffering and giving you that time.
12:19
I thought you were going to say this because this is what a tip that my dad even shared with me growing up that I've heard other people share as well is to make an appointment with yourself for physical activity right?
12:30
Like put it in your calendar and that could be for a workout or it could be a walking break.
12:35
Like it doesn't need to be anything crazy but if you write it down and block off that time and treat it like you would your job like a meeting that you would have that you just,
12:44
you hold that time for yourself and make sure that You can just tell people I have an appointment at 10:15 and it's to go walk for 10 minutes.
12:52
So and that's when I need to get better at because sometimes I will block that time and then I invade on it when trying to fit something in the schedule and you know that I don't respect the time the way that I should.
13:03
Yeah it is difficult.
13:04
Well Natalie thank you so much today for talking about how many steps we actually need,
13:09
but then also helping us think through some easy ways to be able to get those steps in on a daily basis.
13:15
Glad to do it.
13:16
Let's go walk.
13:18
Thank you for listening to Talking FACS.
13:20
We deliver programs focusing on nutrition,
13:23
health,
13:24
resource management,
13:25
family development and civic engagement.
13:28
If you enjoyed today's podcast,
13:30
I have a question or a show topic idea.
13:32
Leave a like and a comment on facebook @ukfcsext
13:38
Or send us an email at ukfcsext@uky.edu.
13:45
Visit us online at fcs.uky.edu 231 00:13:49,430 --> 00:13:51,740 to learn more about the University of Kentucky,
13:51
Family and Consumer sciences extension program
13:54
or contact your local extension agent for Family and Consumer Sciences.
13:59
We build strong families.
14:00
We build Kentucky.
14:02
It starts with us.
14:04
Mm hmm.