Starting from the first day of June, I took up the 10,000 Steps Challenge.

A few quick facts

• 8,000 deaths per year are attributable to physical inactivity
• 65% of males and 74% of females are not sufficiently active for health benefits
• 52% of Australian women and 67% of Australian men are overweight or obese

For some time we’ve been told that a 30 minute walk will keep us at a recommended level of fitness but that’s been changed to the idea of 10.000 steps. It basically means walking 10,000 steps every day.

This simple regime

• boosts energy levels and improves mood
• reduces risk of chronic diseases
• reduces stress and tension
• improves balance and flexibility
• improves sleep
• assists in weight management
• increases muscle and bone mass

Just exactly what we need at this stage of our lives.

Sounds simple enough, just walking round the house must surely take up half of that, but I was wrong.

On my first day, after walking round the market shopping for this and that, I only clocked up 2000 steps. I’m definitely going to have to step out some more.

Walking is still the easiest way to get exercise – and the cheapest. All you need is a good pair of shoes.

If you don’t exercise, you build dangerous visceral fat — fat that shows up in your abdomen and surrounds your vital organs including your liver, heart and muscles and is linked to heart disease, diabetes and stroke, among many other chronic diseases.

So no matter what you do, make sure you get moving. A recent study on exercise and visceral fat used walking as the main type of activity, and this is a fine choice for those of you just starting out.

Ultimately, however, you’ll want to start to vary your workout while increasing its intensity.

If you do the same exercise day-in and day-out your body will adapt to it and when exercise becomes easy to complete, it’s a sign you need to work a little harder and give your body a new challenge.

Women who remain physically active after the menopause can reduce their risk of developing breast cancer by as much as one third.

I’m always going on about exercise! I nag my friends constantly to get up out of that chair and do something!

Brief Summary
Professor Dr. Jenny Chang-Claude and colleagues studied data obtained from 3,464 breast cancer patients and 6,657 healthy women between the ages of 50 and 74 years about their physical activity levels at two periods in their life – during 30 to 49 years of age and 50 and over.

They found that women who were the most physically active were approximately one third less likely to develop breast cancer compared to women who were the least physically active.

Physical activity in the postmenopausal period was found to be particularly beneficial for reducing breast cancer risk

The results also showed that regular gym sessions are not needed to reduce breast cancer risk. Women who were the most physically active walked for a couple of hours each day and cycled for one hour, whilst those who were the least physically active walked for just 30 minutes or so each day.

“In our calculations we have also taken account of activities such as gardening, cycling, or walking to the shops. Our advice to all women is therefore to stay or become physically active also in the second half of your life”.

There you go. Not only does exercise reduce your risk of breast cancer, but your bones, heart and brain also benefit from it.

Reduced breast cancer risk: Physical activity after menopause pays off : Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres.