Walk the Read
We challenge you to embark on a 10,000-step adventure of literary landmarks.
Categories: Featured Travel Stories
By: Meghan Saar 03/01/2008
Do YOU KNOW the history behind...
...the pedometer craze sweeping across the nation?
Look to the Old Order Amish, who naturally log more than the recommended 10,000 steps a day a pedometer helps walkers measure. These folks pretty much live like many did on the frontier: they rely on horses for farming and transportation, wear traditional clothing and live a life without electricity and telephone access.
When the Amish were recorded as having the lowest rate of obesity of any community in North America, scientists inquired why.?They packed up their equipment and headed to an Old Order Amish community in Ontario, Canada, to study Amish people ranging in age from 18-75, in March, a month for moderate activity (not during the more strenuous harvest season).
Scientists discovered that in their daily activities, men logged an average 18,000 steps per day while women logged an average 14,000 steps. Their averages only dipped as low as 10,000 on their day of rest:?Sunday, according to a report published in the August 2004 Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.
The guide established from these results is: younger folks, up through their 20s, should probably walk 15,000 steps (boys)?and 12,000 (girls). For those older, 10,000 steps should be sufficient to keep a healthy Body Mass Index?(BMI).
How can we inspire you to walk 10,000 or more steps a day, especially if you’re not a person whose job involves physical labor that more easily allows you to achieve this?
Nothing gets people walking like a destination worth reaching. So we came up with literary landmarks worth visiting, as a companion guide to any vacations inspired by our article on the books that will launch your trips across the West.
Visiting the sites you’ve read about or spots that are associated with famous Western authors is a perfect opportunity for you to turn on the pedometer, as much of what you will want to see is going to involve legwork on your part. You can also aim for your 10,000 steps-a-day goal by taking part in our geocaching adventures.
If you have favorite literary landmarks we have not covered, please add your comments below, so others can enjoy your favorites as well!
Walk the read, True Westerners! Twain, London, Cather, Sequoyah and many more authors await you.
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