Pedometer Challenge

Every step counts!

Research shows that walking 10,000 steps a day will significantly improve your health. For many people, just ten minutes of brisk walking is about 1,000 steps.

You can reach your 10,000 steps through all kinds of physical activity - not just organised sport and exercise. It includes all of the walking you currently do around the home and at work.

For some people, 10,000 steps may not be a realistic goal, wheras for others, it may be too low. The good thing about the pedometer challenge is that it focusses on increasing the number of steps you do as an individual, so whatever your starting point, you can focus on becoming more active.

Join the Active Living! Healthy Hampshire Pedometer Challenge…

Over 4 weeks, the challenge will help you increase your daily steps on a gradual basis. All you’ll need is a simple pedometer, a record card and an appetite for a challenge!

You can get hold of a free pedometer and a record card by finding us at one of our summer events, and you can also download the record card.

Challenge yourself, or get a group of friends, colleagues or family members together for a team challenge and see how much you can increase your walking activity in a month.

Check out the walking page for information and links on walking routes to help you get out and about and explore Hampshire on foot.

How it works…

Without changing your activity pattern, use the first week to measure the number of steps you usually take. Record it on the record card. Then, over the next 3 weeks, see if you can gradually increase your activity levels and the number of steps you take.

Set yourself a target of increasing your steps by just 500 per day – resulting in an extra 3,500 over the course of the week.

Using week 1 as your starting point, can you increase your weekly total by 7000 steps? Walking just 10 extra minutes per day could amount to the 1000 steps / day needed to make this happen!

In the final week can you increase your steps by 10500 over the whole week? That’s a 1500 step increase from the first week! Compare your progress on the record card – how much have you increased your walking over the last month?

It needn’t stop at week 4 - make walking a habit and see how you can progress your activity levels.

Tell us how you get on

Drop us a line or give us a call and let us know how you're getting on with the Pedometer Challenge.

sporthampshireiow@hants.gov.uk
01962 845178

Food for Thought

A walk after your evening meal could help you shift a few pounds, sleep a little better and increase your Pedometer Challenge score!

Don’t forget

Make sure that you have a pair of comfortable shoes to walk in and if you aren’t used to being active, start slowly.

If you're worried about your joints or any existing health condition,talk to your GP.