How 3 AIA Vitality members get their step counts up

Looking to step up your AIA Vitality Points earn? Three members share their strategies for reaching their daily walking targets.

There are plenty of benefits for incorporating more walking into your day. As Kate Allott, National Fitness Manager from Anytime Fitness, has shared on OneLife before, hitting around 10,000 steps a day goes a long way to negating the negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle, including reducing your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and other cardiovascular-related illnesses.

On top of that, it’s a great way to earn AIA Vitality Points to contribute to your Status. Each day, members earn 50 Points for taking between 7,500 and 12,499 steps, and 100 Points for taking 12,500+ steps.

Below, three AIA Vitality members share their trips, tricks and strategies for reaching their step targets.

“For starters, I spend a lot of my life running after my toddler, which gives me a good baseline for my step count. I also work in a multi-level office so I try and make sure I’m getting in as many steps as possible within work hours. It’s small things, like taking the stairs instead of the lifts, booking the furthest away meeting room and offering to take my colleague’s dog downstairs at lunch. I also have a Garmin which gives me hourly reminders to get up and move, so I’ll use that as a prompt to refill my water.

“I also live in Victoria’s Dandenong Ranges, so I do the 1000 Steps Walk at least twice a week and I organise weekend hikes with friends to keep me accountable.”

“I’ve recently found a great way to not only get more steps into my day, but also save me money. While I prefer to ride my bike to work, since becoming pregnant I’ve felt more comfortable driving. I used to pay for parking every day beneath the office, which was around $10 a day, but I was finding it hard to get my step count up when I’d get home in the evenings. I’ve now started parking in the free parking spots that are about a 10 minute walk from work, so not only do I get my step count up by default, but I also save a significant amount of money each month. And I get some Vitamin D on the stroll to work.

“On top of this, I like to walk my dog while listening to music and I try to schedule weekend friend catch-ups within walking distance so I don’t feel compelled to drive.”

“My friends and I are pretty into hiking, especially multi-day trips that we need to train for. Because of this, I’ve set a pretty strict schedule of longer walks that I include in my weekly routine. I find it helps to schedule them into my diary like a meeting so I’m less likely to break the commitment. Some people like walking with others but I much prefer to put on a good podcast and then just walk for the entire length of it.

“Most of the podcasts I listen to go for about an hour so it’s really easy to hit your step count if you time your walk to it.”

Staff writers come from a range of backgrounds including health, wellbeing, music, tech, culture and the arts. They spend their time researching the latest data and trends in the health market to deliver up-to-date information, helping everyday Australians live healthier lives. This is general information only and is not intended as medical, health, nutritional or other advice. You should obtain professional advice from a medical or health practitioner in relation to your own personal circumstances. The information in this article is general information only and is not intended as medical, health, nutritional or other advice. You should obtain professional advice from a medical or health practitioner in relation to your own personal circumstances.

Disclaimer:
The information in this article is general information only and is not intended as financial, medical, health, nutritional, tax or other advice. It does not take into account any individual’s personal situation or needs. You should consider obtaining professional advice from a financial adviser and/or tax specialist, or medical or health practitioner, in relation to your own circumstances and before acting on this information.