Scott Danberg
 Director of Spa & Fitness at the Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa
Avid athlete, fitness coach, wellness educator and designer of customized exercise programs, Scott Danberg has inspired thousands of men and women to make exercise a part of their lives. Scott recently represented the USA in Greece at the 2004 Paralympics Games, and helps guests at the Pritikin Center achieve their fitness goals with a dynamic combination of exercise training and spa therapies.
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Question: “I just bought myself a pedometer. Do you have guidelines for getting the most out of it?”
Answer: “First of all, congratulations!” says Scott Danberg, MS, Director of Exercise at Pritikin. “Pedometers are wonderful, especially during the busy holiday season when it might be more difficult than usual to devote large blocks of time to exercise.
“With a pedometer, you’ll be able to add up all the steps you’ve taken during the day, not just steps during structured exercise. Yes, even steps while holiday shopping count! The more steps you take, the more calories you burn, and the fitter your cardiovascular system becomes.”
Begin, advises Scott Danberg, by setting step goals. Here’s how:
- Wear your pedometer for a full week, maintaining your typical activity levels. Record the steps taken each day.
- At the end of the week, calculate the average number of steps taken each day. Your purpose? To establish a physical activity baseline.
“But always keep in mind,” says Scott, “that more important than knowing the total number of steps taken is knowing that as little as 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity on most and preferably all days of the week starts yielding health benefits. And if you’re pressed for time, you can divide that 30 minutes into bouts of 10 minutes or more.”
Accumulating 30 to 90 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity on a daily basis will provide the most health and fitness benefits. More time engaged in physical activity is better for you, and of course, more time will produce more steps.
Also: Consider the quality of steps taken. An adequate speed is brisk walking, or, as President Harry Truman used to say: “Walk as though you have somewhere to go.” Aim for 100 to 150 steps per minute, which translates into approximately 3 to 4.5 miles of walking per hour.
Optimally, each day you want to tally up 10,000 steps (about 5 miles) or even more.
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