Taking ten thousand steps a day is the goal of many people who want to be healthy. But that may not be necessary at all in your case. To find out exactly how much you have to move to stay healthy, the biggest exercise research ever in the Netherlands begins.
“Ten thousand steps are not scientifically substantiated. And it is actually a marketing trick of the first pedometer that has ever been marketed,” says Thijs IJsvogel, senior lecturer at the Radboudumc. He leads the Activelife project, whereby the exercise behavior of 60,000 participants is examined, with the aim of tailoring exercise advice.
For participants, a small, black cupboard is stuck on the thigh. That is a exercise meter that keeps track of how much that person moves for eight days. Richard Philips from Zuidlaren is one of the first to use it.
“I think the temptation is to move a little extra because it is measured,” he says. “But I think I will exercise enough, so I will just keep doing that.”
According to the researchers, it is something that they often hear from participants. IJsvogel: “The first day you are very aware of such a meter on your leg and you might do your best more. But we know from numerous studies that it will flatten afterwards. So the first day we might have to take a grain of salt. But the days after are reliable.”
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