Newsletter #3

Its a bright but showery morning here in Suffolk, I have been out with the dogs and now getting stuck into some laptop based stuff for a couple of hours.

My subject today is steps, no not the god awful pop group from the late 90s (a link for any younger readers fortunate to not know who the band is https://www.stepsofficial.co.uk/), but the physical kind that you can track during you day.

So why am I jotting some thoughts down about steps? Well for me, its a constant metric that I track daily for my own health and wellbeing but its actually at the forefront of my views this week due to this rather eye catching title of The Diary Of A CEO podcast…..

Obvious the title is just to grab your attention and once I had listened to the podcast it became obvious that the Professor didn’t actually say 10k steps a day is a lie, he just indicated that 10k a day has no science behind it to be some magical figure. But even so, I thought the title was a bit naughty and would undoubtedly lead to lots just writing off the importance of tracking steps and probably not even bothering to listen to the episode as a result?!

Why do I bother tracking my steps?

Nearly 2 years ago now I had my surgery to rebuild my left ankle from a horror football injury. 6 weeks in a cast and then another 6 weeks in a boot left me being as unfit, and heavier then I had ever been.

Once I was walking again I set my Garmin sport watch to have a target of 6000 steps a day, this was a number I plucked out of thin air. In Jan 2022 (at my heaviest weight of 99.7kgs) I changed that to 10k steps a day.

Setting that 10k target, again it was just a figure I set myself, was a game changer. All of a sudden it become a goal for each day, it was a focus and most importantly, it was something I was doing for myself. Some days when I was mostly in the farm office or in meetings etc, I might of only added up to 3k steps - I was horrified at this tbh. Without tracking I would of had no idea how low my movement was some days. On these low days when I was coming back into he house at the end of the day on say 3k steps, I would grab a couple of the dogs and head back out for a 5k walk etc to get to 10k minimum. Having a target, and measuring it kept my motivated and accountable.

What does research say?

The study linked below found, In this cohort study of 2110 adults with a mean follow-up of 10.8 years, participants taking at least 7000 steps/d, compared with those taking fewer than 7000 steps/d, had a 50% to 70% lower risk of mortality. There was no association of step intensity with mortality regardless of adjustment for step volume.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2783711

Steps - My number 1 constant.

A lot has changed in my life over the past 10 months, and it will continue to evolve over the coming months as well. But for me, tracking my steps is one of 3 daily non-negotiables I have. I can skip a gym session or 2 a week, I can have a few days of not eating so well, I can have a few days of rubbish sleep….but getting a min of 10k steps a day in keeps me MOVING FORWARD. Mentally, physically and emotional, its the best thing I do for my overal wellbeing EVERY SINGLE DAY.

I am now down to 86.9kgs (12.8kg / 2 stone down in 18months) and I put a huge amount of that down to my daily steps. I currently focus on averaging 14k a day, spread over a 7 day period. It allows me to have a couple of lower days (12hrs on a combine is a bit restrictive on the steps front!) but then motivates me to get out for long walks when circumstances allow it.

So many of my farming friends will be very familiar with the term “if you don’t measure it, how can you expect to manage it?!” and thats exactly how I look at tracking steps and improving my health.

Having been aware of my steps for quite a while now, I know that 1km of walking for me is 1300 steps. and 1km of walking takes me about 11mins. That is a really useful guide and I know that a 5km walk for instance will get me easily to 10k steps/day, along with the added steps we do every day.

My top 5 tips for getting the steps in

1. Get out with the dogs first thing (if you have them, if not I have a ginger cocker who you can hire…) and get 3 or 4km in. Get out before the rest of the house wakes. Its amazing for physical and mental wellbeing.

2. Don’t park outside the office door. Create extra steps for yourself, don’t make life to easy. Same goes at the supermarket etc.

3. If you take a phone call that you know will take 10mins+ of your time then get out and walk during it. EASY steps!!

4. If you are tied to a desk, give yourself 15mins every couple of hours to get outside and walk around the yard / office block etc. Twice a day should be 2.5km approx and 3000 steps.

5. Set yourself a challenge. Do something for YOU. In Jan23 I walked an intentional 5k walk every day, that month totaled 479,979 steps or 15,483 av a day. I also did a 30 day step challenge, which was 1000 steps day 1, 2000 steps day 2 etc etc finishing on a 30,000 step day. It pushed me and it was tough, but I understood a lot about myself in them 30 days.

So for me, tracking my steps has been a hugely important tool for me to regain control of my mental and physical wellbeing. Its a daily challenge that keeps me focused and accountable. I totally appreciate some people will be racking up high numbers of steps each day with their physical jobs, herdsperson / agronomist etc, which is great - but don’t loose sight that steps at work might not be as beneficial for your mental wellbeing as steps outside of work, where these steps are on your terms etc.

I really hope these thoughts and ramblings inspire you to get out there and be a bit more active. If you don’t have a smart watch, facebook market place is your friend for affordable Garmins!! Get the watch on, get it calibrated and see what you can achieve step wise over a period of time - good luck!

Ben

_{*The content above does not constitute direct advice, I am just sharing my experiences and what works for me!}

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