In early April 2013, my travels took me to Atlanta, Georgia to give a talk at the National Association of Basketball Coach’s (NABC) Annual Convention. This meeting is held each year in conjunction with the College Basketball Final Four. I spoke to the coaches about the importance of exercise to their health. Even though most coaches spend a good portion of their day in a gym, they tend to be very busy and often fail to get the exercise they need. The goal of my presentation was to alert coaches to the dangers of inactivity and I also arranged to give each of them at the convention an Every Body Walk! pedometer.

I think pedometers are a great to tool to help you monitor your exercise. Adults should shoot for 8-10,000 steps per day as a goal for daily walking. Studies have shown that people who wear a pedometer each day tend to walk more than those who don’t wear one. It seems that the simple act of measuring how much you walk provides great incentive for you to do more.

While in Atlanta, I also got the chance to participate in a Dribble event held in conjunction with the Final Four. Along with the mayor of Atlanta and NBA legend Kareem Abdul Jabbar, I spoke to over 3,000 kids and their parents about the importance of exercise and sports to their health. Kareem and I then got to lead these kids on a 1 mile walk thru Atlanta while dribbling a basketball. It was a fun event and a thrill to get to meet one of the greatest athletes of all time. I had a good amount of time to talk to Kareem and it was interesting to note the exercise remains a central part of his life and has helped him remain healthy and active as he turns 66 years old.

I hope that each of you are also keeping daily walks a central part of your life and getting the steps you need each day to be healthy.

Keep walking my friends!

Bob