Village residents in Western Australia are walking more and sitting less after researchers at Curtin University (ACT) introduced group walking activities to get them up and moving.
Recruiting 116 residents from 14 different retirement villages across Western Australia, the 16-week Residents in Action Trial got residents who were already frequent walkers to go for three weekly group walks (and independently walk twice a week if possible) for the first 10 weeks.
For the last six weeks, this went up to five self-organised weekly walks – and the results were fantastic.
The residents’ daily walking increased by 750 steps and their motivation by a huge 20 per cent – while their prolonged periods of sitting down dropped by 7 per cent.
It just goes to show – exercising with a friend or group is the way to go if you want to increase your fitness.
