Start now. STEP IT UP!

Be Active, Eat Smart.

Walking 10,000 steps per day can improve your heart health and help with weight management. How far is 10,000 steps anyway? The average person’s stride length is approximately 2.5 feet long. That means it takes just over 2,000 steps to walk one mile, and 10,000 steps is close to 5 miles.

A sedentary person may only average 1,000 to 3,000 steps a day. For these people adding steps has many health benefits. A reasonable goal for most people is to increase average daily steps each week by 500 per day until you can easily average 10,000 per day. For example, if you currently average 3,000 steps each day, your goal for week one is 3,500 each day. Your week 2 goal is 4,000 each day. Continue to increase each week and you should be averaging 10,000 steps by the end of 14 weeks.

Research indicates that children ages 6-12 yrs need more than 10,000 steps to stay in a healthy Body Mass Index (BMI) range: girls need 12,000 steps and boys need 15,000 steps.

How many calories are burned walking one mile?

This may vary depending on the speed and terrain/incline. An average is 100 calories per mile.

How many calories do I need to burn to lose one pound?

One pound of body fat is equal to 3500 calories. In order to average a weight loss of one pound per week it would be necessary to burn an additional 500 calories per day.

What is a good fitness walking pace?

An average fitness walking pace is close to a 15 minute mile.

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