Day 18: Steps Evaluation
Another Rest & Recovery Day!
Last week we learned about exercise tolerance, intolerance and finding your baseline. And over the last week, you have been tracking your basic day to day steps. Today, we are going to start the process of figuring out what your baseline is and where to begin.
Tomorrow will be our first day of cardio. You have been doing a fantastic job tracking your steps- and today I am finally going to show you what to do with it.
Let’s talk about cardio training. There are many different ways to do cardio. Walking, biking, swimming, hiking, running, dancing, even HIIT exercises or water aerobics. I like to start with walking, because it’s the easiest to measure and from a stress perspective, it has the lowest stress (cortisol) spike, which means it puts us at the least risk for flare. However, if you prefer biking or swimming or something else, you can do that too, and I am happy to help guide you- so just let me know.
First, I want you to gather up all of your daily step tracking that you have been doing and take a look at it. We are going to answer these questions first:
As you look at the steps over time, do you find that you are taking about the same amount of steps each day, or are the big variances in your day to day routine?
If you are taking about the same amount of steps each day, this process will be a little easier to navigate. Your cardio activity will be to add an additional 50 to 100 steps to your day. If you fall into this category, I want you to plan your cardio out for tomorrow. You now know how long it takes you to warm up and cool down. So, carve out the time. When are you going to get your cardio practice in tomorrow? How many steps are you going to do? 50? 100? 150? Pick a goal that feels small- but a little more than you have been doing before. Don’t forget to mark it on your calendar, so you make it happen.
Now, if you are finding that your days vary wildly, pay attention here. The goal for you is to look a little more closely at this wild swing. Why is it swinging so wildly? Are you overdoing it one day and having to rest and recover the next? It’s important to understand this pattern before adding more to it. I recommend here- adding 50 to 100 steps to your cardio on one of your slow days- and also, removing steps from your busy ones. That is going to get you to a place of better stability.
So, I want you to have a plan of action for tomorrow. Take a minute to write it down somewhere. What is your plan of action for tomorrow’s exercise? I want you to list out exactly when you will do your cardio, and how you will do it. Remember, it should include a warm-up, a little bit of focused cardio (50-150 extra steps if that feels good for you) and a cool down.
My recommended plan of action looks like this:
I will exercise at x:00 time tomorrow.
Before I begin my exercise, I will check-in with myself, practice a few deep breaths, and then proceed to the warm-up. After the warm-up, I will put on my sneakers and go outside and do x amount of steps. When I get home, I will drink x amount of water and do my cooldown routine.
Post on Facebook or share with me! This is your opportunity to ask questions about your plan, get feedback, and get comfortable and confident in your plan for tomorrow.