No fitness routine is complete without this weekly habit

Arnold Schwarzenegger has two specific chinks in his wellness armor: A) he doesn’t drink enough water and B) he doesn’t get enough steps. In his application Q&A, he has expressed a sincere desire to improve in both. I found the last of his two confessions that he doesn’t think he’s supporting his workouts with enough walking to be surprising and fascinating. Because in recent years, health experts have expressed the exact opposite point: While walking is powerful, it can’t sustain a routine on its own. If that’s all you do, you need to exercise in other ways.

So why would someone like Arnold emphasize steps? Shouldn’t he be satisfied with his legendary lifts and fat tire bike sessions? Well, research indicates that even frequent exercisers should make sure walking is a hallmark of their weekly routines. Consider this cohort study, which came to a clear-as-day conclusion: “Walking 8,000 steps or more on at least 12 days per week was associated with lower all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, compared with on days without walking 8,000 steps”.

This is some robust data. Next, we discuss the merits of walking more steps, and specifically for those who already move their bodies every day. It’s less about getting extra fitness credit and more about establishing a healthy habit that will continue to serve you well when the rest of your routine gets tougher.

All athletes should walk more

Taking another peak at this weekly walking mandate isn’t asking much. In the past, we’ve dismissed the “10,000 steps a day” goal as random and unnecessary, and this research reinforces that point. Can you build up to 8,000 steps a couple of times a week? Of course it can. That’s all it takes to dramatically influence your mortality risks. But it will require some intention and effort.

Depending on the exercise you choose, it is quite possible to be a highly motivated and consistent learner who very rarely exceeds 5,000 steps or so in any given day. Yoga takes place on a six-foot mat, rowing on a machine, cycling from a seat. Even lifters like Arnold can only log a couple of hundred steps walking from one set of weights to the next.

And what is between these sessions or classes? Schedule at the desk, on a daily commute or on television. We are in the midst of a sedentary crisis; now there’s a biomeasure called “standing hours,” which tracks how many hours a day we get up just to move a minute. This is depressingly harder than it sounds.

That said, try not to think of it as exercise

Runners are probably the only group of athletes that doesn’t need to make a conscious walking effort, but they should do it anyway. The merits of walking go beyond longevity or cardiovascular benefits. Walking has the potential to be a lifelong vocation, as an activity you can take up in your late retirement years, once a regular habit of running, cycling or swimming becomes too stressful for the body. If you’ve always set out to walk more, chances are you just keep doing it without really thinking about it.

You can start cultivating walking as a “natural exercise without exercise” right away. The easiest way to make it a predictable and automatic mainstay of your routine is to combine it with other things you want to do or accomplish in your day.

For example: I do a digestive walk every day after lunch, no matter what. At this point, I’m already six hours out of my morning run and rise. I found it a good opportunity to stretch the body, to pay attention to what feels strong or stiff. I usually spend this time catching up on a favorite podcast or calling a family member. I don’t feel like exercising, nor do I feel like I’m in street clothes, walking around, rarely sweating.

I write a lot about walking on this website. I’ve actually linked to four articles I’ve written on the subject below (and there’s a lot more where this came from in my wellness archives). But usually, it’s from the framework of begging people to move and asking non-learners to stand up and take a few steps.

I wonder if there are more Arnolds out there though. People who exercise for an hour a day (and never miss it!), but otherwise sit still for the rest of their waking hours. Over time, how can it affect your back? your brain? Remember, no matter what you do or what you work on, make time to take a few extra steps, just a couple of times a week. No fitness routine is complete without it. I’m sure the habit will enrich your life and give you more, in the end.

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