Is 10,000 steps a day too much?

I'd be lucky to do 10,000 a week never mind a day

Iwtwab12bow sorry to hear about your problems and of course you should take it easy. Walking poles seem to come recommended by our local walking group not just to help overcome the fear of falling, but to add upper body exercise as well.
Re the 10,000 steps. We live on quite a long steep hill, but the man who jogs up and down 3-4 times a day is probably fitter than me and he doesn’t do 10,00 steps.
The physios recommended you set a smaller target for motivation. One than you know you can achieve and will give you an added boost on the days you exceed it.
Setting yourself up to fail is never a good motivator.

Iwtwab12bow

How I envy all of you. I was very fit 10 years ago then a heart attack struck me down unexpectedly when I was getting ready for a keep fit class. To cut a long story short I have ended up in the past 15 months hardly able to walk at all due to a total hip revision, then 6 dislocations . I would LOVE to get out and get fit. The fear of falling, the fear of failing, I need motivation.

I'm so sorry to read your post, I hope your hip is performing better now and you are no longer getting the dislocations which must be so painful. I think many of us lose confidence in our bodies as we get older. I had a silly slip a couple of years ago broke my wrist and generally jarred myself up quite a bit. Even though it all healed quickly and easily I found myself being extra careful rather than striding out in my usual fashion. Have you thought about buying walking poles? I'm considering getting them for the winter when it's wet and muddy on my walks, just to give me a bit of extra stability. If you have a friend or neighbour to walk with you, perhaps also wanting to rebuild confidence, so you can take it slow and very steady together, that might help. My GP surgery has a couple of walking groups especially for helping people to recover from illness or injury, I wonder if your GP has the same? Don't give up, take little steps if you can and enjoy being outside in the fresh air. Good luck!

Georgesgran

Just another thought …. werent the ‘safe drinking’ levels just a made up number too?

....and the 5 a day!

Never mind what it tells you online etc listen to your body if you feel like that then you are over doing it and you’re body is telling you to take it easy

How I envy all of you. I was very fit 10 years ago then a heart attack struck me down unexpectedly when I was getting ready for a keep fit class. To cut a long story short I have ended up in the past 15 months hardly able to walk at all due to a total hip revision, then 6 dislocations . I would LOVE to get out and get fit. The fear of falling, the fear of failing, I need motivation.

Do you have a local walking group that you could join ? They are often advertised in doctors and community centres. While your chatting and walking you have soon done plenty of steps ,good for your mental health as well

I think anything over 7000 is beneficial. Don’t beat yourself up, any exercise is better than none.
Having said that, I am 67 slim, fit, walk every day, jog do yoga, eat 30 plants a week and still had a minor heart attack last week…… I would like my money back for all the avocadoes I have eaten!

Just another thought …. werent the ‘safe drinking’ levels just a made up number too?

I'm with you !!

I understand that cardio-vascular benefits peak at 7,500 steps. I love my 10,000 steps but they do take a long time and I don't have that time every day. At 72, with four dogs I walk more than I ever used to! 10,000 steps is an invention, but I quite like that to aim for

I listen to my body, some days it allows me to go further than it does other days. Most days the body insists on an afternoon nap.
My treadmill behind my couch in my living room from which I can watch tv is my friend, 5 mins here, 5 mins there.
I find outdoor walking boring unless with a friend or 2.

I get about 7000 steps with dog walk, but then I am up and down our stairs, house, garden- all day long. Should try and keep phone on for full day to see what I get to. So ceetainly not too much, but possibly not necessary either to keep fit.

Hetty58

My friend has bad knees, so doesn't walk too much. Luckily, though, she enjoys swimming twice a week instead. There's a value in any exercise and it's best to choose something enjoyable.

I have bad knees (terrible car crash in 1970!) and 2 knee replacements, including a painful one (the one crushed in accident) - but the more I walk, the more I keep active, the less pain I get. With a lot of painful things- the answer (and it is certainly NOT easy at first) is to move, move, move.

I am reading all these posts with interest. I like the idea of listening to an audiobook or a podcast as I have actually just bought wireless headphones which would be ideal. At the moment, with the dog here, I am doing 3 half hour walks. When the dog returns home I shall use the headphones. My dad lived to 97, never did any walking, and had a sedentary job, but I am not depending on being like him and managing to reach old age regardless of not being active. Presumably he had good genes.

I think you should just do what you can comfortably. Some days I walk a mile or two on others I have a shorter gentle stroll. If you’re on the go around the house or in the garden it all counts. I have spinal issues so some days just pottering is enough, I pay the price if I over do it.
I believe in keeping active but I don’t count steps.

My Fitbit rules my life. Rather than steps counted I find the 'Active zone minutes' more useful. You're supposed to do a minimum of 150 per week but I set 500 as my goal and alway seem to do more than that.

My watch is set at 6000 which I do most days and sometimes more, especially if the Grandchildren are visiting as they love to walk to the park which is a mile away from our house, the last time we went I did 12000 steps. Very occasionally I have a lazy day which I’m sure does me no harm.

My friend has bad knees, so doesn't walk too much. Luckily, though, she enjoys swimming twice a week instead. There's a value in any exercise and it's best to choose something enjoyable.

Best to vary exercise, to include strength building and aerobic like cycling. I never count steps, pointless tbh. I see dog walkers with straps on their wrists and they just stroll along. Two miles daily at a good pace is optimum if walking is your exercise

I walk quite a bit as I’ve got a dog, but don’t count my steps, I think the important thing is to keep your leg muscles as strong as you can so you are stable. A static bike is good for this too. My mum is very elderly now, and she’s struggling with walking so she uses one of those chair exercisers, although she hates it.

I'm finding it more difficult now. My back affects my walking and at 86 I would think 10,000 is unrealistic. So I'll just do what I can. It's sad though because I used to love walking.

I don't worry about number of steps but I do focus on having about an hours exercise of some sort every day. I met up with a younger friend yesterday for a walk and realised her idea of a "walk" was very different to mine as she walks at half the speed that I do. I try to increase my pace going up a hill, if I'm out with the dog off the lead, I will jog up a hill whereas my friend needed a rest part the way up. She's a regular walker, goes out as part of a group but I think they "stroll", so for me it's not really about distance it's more about intensity and effort. I do a couple of pilates sessions weekly to try to keep me supple with a strong core as I'm still a keen rider which gives me plenty of aerobic exercise.

The size of steps and other facts matter too.
DGS walking the 2.7 miles to our house takes more steps than I do walking the same distance to his house, probably because most of the way to our house is uphill. Going the other way, mostly downhill takes him far fewer steps.
On holiday this year we walked an average of 7 miles per day, (over 10,000 steps, but the road into town was flat and lined with pretty houses. Walking down/up hill the shorter distance into town here doesn’t have the same appeal. Thank goodness for our dog.

One thing I think being older brings is the wisdom to understand that the latest fad/fashion can usually be totally ignored without any harm done whatsoever.

I think the general advise to keep mentally and physically active is sound but this as far as I’m concerned does not mean going to mind numbingly boring gyms or tramping out for miles - to me it means keep moving -

so I have an hours stroll with the dog every day, and occasionally more, I garden most days, I housework, I potter, I enjoy! And I keep my mind active by my political interests and reading and learning new stuff every day.

Further than that I will not do! Life is too short to worry about such mundane things. Mum lived to 101 and I doubt she had ever heard of 10000 steps😄😄