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GET WALKING KEEP WALKING
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How much walking?


Photo: Fred Agbah

For general good health, adults should walk at least 30 minutes a day on at least five days a week. Children should walk at least 60 minutes a day, every day. You can split the walking into two or three shorter sessions. But it’s important that you exercise regularly, on most days a week. The more you do, the more you benefit.

Other kinds of moderate exercise also count towards the total – for example gardening, energetic housework, swimming, cycling or outdoor play.

If you’re trying to lose weight, aim to do more – at least an hour a day for adults. Healthy eating is also important – you can get more information from your GP on this. Keep walking to keep off the weight you lose.

Brisk is best!

All walking is good exercise but brisk is best, especially for your heart and lungs. Imagine you’re hurrying to a meeting. You’re walking briskly when

  • your heart beats faster than normal but without racing
  • your breathing is deeper than normal but you can still talk while you walk.
  • you feel a warm glow.

You may find it easier to start your walk at an easy pace and build up to a brisk one, slowing down to an easy pace again at the end.

What about step counters?

Step counters (sometimes called pedometers or Step-O-Meters) clip to your belt and count your steps. Simple models are often given away free as part of health promotion schemes, or you can buy them from sports and outdoor shops. Some people find they’re a good way of keeping track of their exercise, but others find recording exercise time is easier.

You may be told you should aim to do 10,000 steps a day. If you did all these in one go you’d have to walk about five miles (8km)! But every step you take counts towards the total, including wandering about at home and at work, so you should wear the step counter all day, not just when you go for a walk.

If you find it hard to meet the 10,000 steps target, remember every bit counts. If you walked an average of 5,000 steps a day when you started but are now walking 7,000 steps a day, you know you’re making progress.

Step counters are given out on some Get Walking Keep Walking programmes and you may also be able to borrow one from your doctor's surgery as part of the National Step-O-Meter programme. You can also buy them from outdoor and sports shops.

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