It happened again today. I was minding my own business, not hurting anyone, just trying to get from one place to the next. My smart watch buzzed, which usually means someone is trying to get in touch with me. Because of the inclement weather, I had on a fleece jacket topped with a parka, which meant that getting to my wrist was problematic. No matter: I slid my phone out from my pocket to see who needed me. But there were no popup indicators of any kind: no emails, no calls, no texts. Yet something had summoned me. I stepped out of the line of march, leaned against a wall under an overhang and peeled up my sleeve layer by layer to see what was going on.
"Congratulations! You've achieved your goal!" it read. For the record, my only goal was to get to my next appointment on time (also to eat less cookies, but that's an issue for future discussion). The goal my watch was trumpeting was based on a built-in program to which I pay no mind, but many do. If you look around you will see lots of folks with bracelets on their wrists pursing that objective, one that is supposed to be the mark of the fit and the energetic: 10,000 steps a day.
To be sure, anything that gets you off the couch is a good thing. For years doctors and researchers have been encouraging us all to make physical activity a regular part of our lifestyle. Or as the official Health and Human Services recommendations say "Adults should move more and sit less throughout the day. Some physical activity is better than none. Adults who sit less and do any amount of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity gain some health benefits." And no, going to the refrigerator while the next episode of "Game of Thrones" loads doesn't really count.
According to those guidelines, adults should engage in 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, or half of that if it's more intense. That works out to about 30 minutes a day and sleeping in on weekends, or punting the gym Monday to Friday, as long as you take some serious bike rides on Saturday and Sunday. It's also not necessary to do it in a block. You can spread those minutes out over the day, using the stairs vs. taking the elevator, getting off a stop early on the subway and hoofing the rest of the way, and the like.
Nowhere in any of the guidelines does the phrase "10,000 steps" appear. That's because it's not a fitness goal with any scientific backing, but rather a marketing slogan from the 1960's. In an attempt to capitalize on the popularity of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, a Japanese company called Yamasa designed the world's first wearable step-counter. Looking for a catchy name, they called it "Manpo-Kei" which translates as "10,000-step meter." Designed like a pocket watch that hung on your belt, it wasn't encouraging people to use 10,000 steps as a goal, that's just how many it counted before it turned back over to zero.
Just as Malcolm Gladwell's "10,000 hours of practice leads to greatness" oversimplifies that concept, so too has 10,000 steps become an inexact proxy for fitness. Research hasn't shown anything magical about the number: it might actually be that 8,000 steps can add years to your life, or maybe 12,000 is the number it takes to live to 100. In fact, studies have confirmed that these numbers are associated with health benefits not because they signify reaching some amazing threshold. It's simply that they are a lot of steps, and the more the better. But we humans like round numbers and goals, so 10,000 it is.
As to my watch and your Fitbit or whatever wearable you have, they are good as indicators if you care to track these things, as millions do. And so if the little flower on the display growing, or the watch face lighting up, or a display like mine congratulating you on your "achievement" helps you to huff and puff a little if not actually develop a sweat, then by all means use what works. Peloton is making millions with your ilk in mind. As for me, I'll take the stairs, but I won’t count them.
-END-
Marc Wollin of Bedford tries to work out everyday. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
"Congratulations! You've achieved your goal!" it read. For the record, my only goal was to get to my next appointment on time (also to eat less cookies, but that's an issue for future discussion). The goal my watch was trumpeting was based on a built-in program to which I pay no mind, but many do. If you look around you will see lots of folks with bracelets on their wrists pursing that objective, one that is supposed to be the mark of the fit and the energetic: 10,000 steps a day.
To be sure, anything that gets you off the couch is a good thing. For years doctors and researchers have been encouraging us all to make physical activity a regular part of our lifestyle. Or as the official Health and Human Services recommendations say "Adults should move more and sit less throughout the day. Some physical activity is better than none. Adults who sit less and do any amount of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity gain some health benefits." And no, going to the refrigerator while the next episode of "Game of Thrones" loads doesn't really count.
According to those guidelines, adults should engage in 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, or half of that if it's more intense. That works out to about 30 minutes a day and sleeping in on weekends, or punting the gym Monday to Friday, as long as you take some serious bike rides on Saturday and Sunday. It's also not necessary to do it in a block. You can spread those minutes out over the day, using the stairs vs. taking the elevator, getting off a stop early on the subway and hoofing the rest of the way, and the like.
Nowhere in any of the guidelines does the phrase "10,000 steps" appear. That's because it's not a fitness goal with any scientific backing, but rather a marketing slogan from the 1960's. In an attempt to capitalize on the popularity of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, a Japanese company called Yamasa designed the world's first wearable step-counter. Looking for a catchy name, they called it "Manpo-Kei" which translates as "10,000-step meter." Designed like a pocket watch that hung on your belt, it wasn't encouraging people to use 10,000 steps as a goal, that's just how many it counted before it turned back over to zero.
Just as Malcolm Gladwell's "10,000 hours of practice leads to greatness" oversimplifies that concept, so too has 10,000 steps become an inexact proxy for fitness. Research hasn't shown anything magical about the number: it might actually be that 8,000 steps can add years to your life, or maybe 12,000 is the number it takes to live to 100. In fact, studies have confirmed that these numbers are associated with health benefits not because they signify reaching some amazing threshold. It's simply that they are a lot of steps, and the more the better. But we humans like round numbers and goals, so 10,000 it is.
As to my watch and your Fitbit or whatever wearable you have, they are good as indicators if you care to track these things, as millions do. And so if the little flower on the display growing, or the watch face lighting up, or a display like mine congratulating you on your "achievement" helps you to huff and puff a little if not actually develop a sweat, then by all means use what works. Peloton is making millions with your ilk in mind. As for me, I'll take the stairs, but I won’t count them.
-END-
Marc Wollin of Bedford tries to work out everyday. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
No comments:
Post a Comment