Zach Hunt

In the Land of Oz - Dorothy's Fitness

Take a walk down the yellow brick road with Dorothy in the Land of Oz while you wear a pedometer to get healthy

Take a walk down the yellow brick road with Dorothy while you wear a pedometer. Studies show that people who wear a pedometer while they walk take about 2,000 to 4,000 steps a day which is about the same as walking 1 or 2 miles. If you are walking to get exercise, your next step should be to start a real fitness program.

If wearing a pedometer gives you extra incentive to exercise more like Dorothy did , you can reap the benefits of keeping your body at a healthier weight. Regular physical activity and a healthy weight also help maintain the body's blood sugar levels and a healthier heart.

Adding some type of daily exercise is also one of the best ways to lower your risk for cancer. It's important to remember that working toward at least 30 minutes of moderate activity (like walking rapidly) is what you should strive for. If you take a hike down the road for an extra 30 minutes each day, you can usually keep from gaining extra weight. Pedometers help solve the common problem of keeping track of your daily movements when you don't have the time to take a full 30 - 60 minute break each day for actual exercise. Wearing a pedometer will measure the smaller more broken up periods of time for you. Normally you don't think of it as much exercise when you walk from Toto's doghouse to the kitchen but since you are using your muscles to get there, it is considered as some form of exercise.

Of course, this isn't the kind of exercise that is going to tone up and build those same muscles but some movement is better for you than none at all, and if wearing a pedometer helps jog your thinking into some sort of "I need to move around more" mode, than it's worth it to wear one. Very few people realize that Dorothy wore a pedometer in the Land of Oz. The Tin Man thought it was a compass and let her borrow it. Well, eventually she got home!

Make sure you wear the pedometer correctly on your hip so it can measure your body's up and down movement. Each movement counts as one step. Pedometers work best when you are walking at a pace of at least 3 miles per hour or faster. The Wicked Witch of the West clocked Dorothy's speed at 12 miles per hour when the flying monkeys were after her.

The average person takes about 5,000 steps in a day. Doubling that amount may seem hard to do but if you gradually increase the number of steps you take, you will be walking further each day without hardly realizing it.

A starting goal to aim for is 10,000 steps a day, which is about 30 minutes. After attaining that goal, try to take 11,000 to 12,000 steps a day. Pedometers can make you more aware of your level of daily activity so wearing one is a great start to an exercise program. What better way to start an exercise program than take the same road that Dorothy followed.

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