I've been getting a lot of steps recently. In part, it's because I'm taking care of patients admitted on multiple floors of the hospital. It's also because I've been enjoying the summer weather by getting outside with my family.
I'm happy with the amount of steps I'm getting; being more physically active has huge benefits for your health. In this review, the authors make a bold statement directly in the paper’s abstract:
“There is irrefutable evidence of the effectiveness of regular physical activity in the primary and secondary prevention of several chronic diseases… and premature death.”
If you're looking for ways to increase your step count this summer, keep reading.
1. Write down your Why
In my post about how to stay consistent, I wrote that the most important thing is to figure out why you want to do something in the first place. That way, when motivation wanes, you have a good reason for continuing on.
2. Find somewhere you love walking
I love boardwalks. The Halifax boardwalk is still my favourite, but I love a good Ontario boardwalk through a marsh.
What if the weather's bad? I have no qualms about going to the mall for a coffee and an indoor walk. My toddler especially loves running around in the mall.
Which brings me to my next way to get more steps:
3. Chase your kids around
My son is now 18-months-old (!) and I get a lot of steps following him on his many adventures. Plus, my arms get a workout from picking him up dozens of times a day.
If you want to be insanely helpful to your friends/family members who have young kids, offer to look after theirs for an afternoon. Extra steps are a bonus.
4. Track it
Just the act of tracking steps can motivate you to move more. People who wear step trackers get about 1800 extra steps a day. It’s an effective, low-cost way to improve physical activity levels.
Don’t want to buy a fancy wearable fitness tracker? No problem. All iPhones have the Health app, which automatically tracks the steps you take with your phone. You can also get a decent pedometer for less than $5 (I've seen them at Dollorama and Walmart).
If you track your steps, you can easily measure your improvement week by week.
5. Work in a hospital with really long hallways
I have so many patients in so many different areas of the hospital. As such, I walk a lot at work. I’m not mad about it... unless I forget something and have to spend 10 minutes going back to a patient's room.
If your job isn't particularly active, here are some ways to get extra steps in at work:
take the stairs
suggest a walking meeting (especially if it's one-on-one)
do a lap of your workplace every hour or two, or
go for a walk at lunch.
6. Make friends with active people
This helps so much! Many of my friends will suggest we catch up over a long walk.
7. Embrace frugality
I decided to save some money by parking in the free lot that’s further away from my work. The pros are that I get an extra 20-minutes of walking in my day, and don't have to pay $15 for parking. The cons are arriving at work sweaty and out-of-breath, and getting rained on.
8. Invite people over so you’re forced to clean your house
For the first time in… a while.
9. Forget things
Forget your lunch once you’ve already made it down to the cafeteria.
Forget to ask your patient a vital question so that you have to walk back to their room.
Woefully inefficient, but you’ll get your steps in.
10. Drink lots of coffee
Ok not actually. But I’ve been heavily reliant on coffee for my current rotation, making it easy to get some steps in when I need to pee.
While I don’t advocate for drinking lots of coffee, although there are health benefits from moderate consumption, I do recommend staying adequately hydrated. Which is especially important since you'll be upping your daily step count!
Stay well friends,
Dr. Kuhnow
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