In a blow to those obsessively watching their steps and celebrating that 10,000-step milestone – it’s not enough.
The England Public Health Review just added a new evidence review stating that muscle and bone strengthening and balance activities are also needed for general health benefits in adults and older adults.
Port Elizabeth health coach Tanya Wyatt said in her opinion, two things mattered.
“The first is movement throughout the day. This doesn’t necessarily mean taking steps, but it does mean being on your feet more often.
“Sit-stand desks are big business internationally and with very good reason. It is estimated that the average person sitting uninterrupted for six hours or more through an average lifetime will lose approximately five years off their life.

“This is because standing up [and] bending down increases the force of gravity on the body, which is key to counteracting cellular degeneration that occurs when sitting.
“Moving also creates a pump action in the vascular system, aiding good heart health,” she said.
“The second thing is that resistance training offers many health and body shape-changing benefits – pretty much the same benefits that cardio training does. In addition, training with resistance in a functional manner [like gardening, carrying shopping bags, etc] as well as taking part in sports or dance, massively stimulates the nervous system, which impacts on further neural development in the brain,” she said.
The good news is that the extra requirements for optimum health are not too strenuous, especially for those who had been obsessively walking around the house at night to get to their 10,000 steps quota.
According to England Public Health, performing simple resistance-type activity – such as press-ups or light lifting – twice a week, improves muscle strength and stability. It also helps prevent the development of muscle and skeletal disease and it supports further brain development in adulthood.
Research done by Nelson Mandela University in partnership with the Novartis Foundation, known as the DASH study, found that children who were active for at least an hour a day six to seven days a week, or even just active for two to five days a week, had lower body fat percentages and a lower risk of being hypertensive.
Sirdashia Govender, from the South African Society of Physiotherapy, said she thinks that 10,000 steps a day is a good place to start for many people who are sedentary or don’t have the time to include structured exercise into their routine.
“Safe outside areas for exercise play a big role in getting people healthier.
“Research shows that there are a number of benefits to exercising outdoors. Try your best to get outdoors and exercise – you are more likely to keep it up if you enjoy it. Try exercising as a group for safety.”..