Health Coach Q & A
Question: I can't increase my steps due to knee problems. Can you translate the steps recommendation into walking in the pool?
Response: Absolutely! Aim for as many minutes as possible of “moderate” intensity activity. When in the pool, work to increase your heart rate to be in your “target” zone. You can visit an online calculator to find your target zone, which is around 70-80% of your max heart rate (example calculator: https://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/health/target-heart-rate-zone-calculator.php).
For example, if you have a goal to increase your steps by 500 per day, add about 5 minutes of moderate intensity pool walking or running (performed in water at least chest deep. You can use hand weights to further increase the intensity). You can also try other activities outside of the pool to increase your daily steps such as seated or standing marching in place.
Question: Why is an older person having as much benefit with less steps?
Response: As we age, our metabolism changes and we lose some muscle mass. A single step expends more energy for an older adult compared to a younger adult. Thus, older adults receive similar health benefits at a lower step threshold.
Question: My daily steps fall between 5000 and 7000 - I'm not consistent with a specific number but do always try to get at least 5000, and if I go over I feel it's a bonus. How should I approach increasing - add 250 steps over the day before?
Response: Since we generally don’t take the exact same number of steps each day, you can calculate your goal based on the average number of steps you usually take. Calculate your average steps per day from the previous week. Let’s say that number is 6,000. Add 250 to 500 steps (so between 6,250 and 6,500 total) and strive to get at least that many steps every day of the following week. You might find that it is easiest to target 250 additional steps on the days you are less active and 500 on days you are more active.
Question: How do you transfer dancing into steps?
Response: Dancing tends to be more intense than regular steps. We can therefore count dancing as “healthy” steps! If you dance for 5 minutes, that is equivalent to about 500 steps that also count as moderate-intensity exercise! If you wear a fitness tracker, you should see it track the steps you take while dancing, and it may even award you more steps than you technically took if the movements you make are vigorous (e.g., bouncing).
