PICKLEBALL...The fresh and Fun way to exercise and keep active

Jackie from Taradale

Hi Everyone - An article (see photos & see the end of article circled) - ) in the paper on Saturday confirms Pickleball (the fastest growing sport in the USA) is a great sport for keeping active when you are older and it is easy to learn. We play 4 times a week in the Hawkes Bay, Thursday mornings at Pettigrew Arena 10 - 12 and have a following of over 100 people last count - already exploding -- See our Facebook page "Pickleball Hawkes Bay" for days & times - 1st time is FREE & every Saturday in Hastings is FREE - you only need court shoes, everything else is supplied -- as one of my friends just said ""This has changed my life"" -- come & give it a go.
also just saw this in an article from "What Doctor's Won't Tell YOU" WDDTY.com
Forget 10,000 steps, just 4,400 a day will help you live longer

Forget the 10,000 steps dictum—you can get most of the health benefits by walking around 4,400 steps a day.

You'll get more benefit by walking a little further still—to around 7,700 steps a day—but after that you're just walking for walking's sake, say researchers from Harvard Medical School.

They looked at the walking habits of 16,741 women, with an average age of 72, who agreed to wear a tracking device that counted their steps. During the four years of the study, 504 of the women died—and they were the ones who moved the least, often averaging fewer than 2,700 steps a day. As the number of steps walked increased, the mortality level dropped until it plateaued at 7,700 steps.

"We were quite surprised that such a relatively small number of steps would be associated with such a substantial reduction in mortality," said researcher I-Min Lee.

The speed of walking didn't seem to be so significant. Many of the women strolled, and still saw the same health benefits as the few who walked more speedily.

The findings question the idea of walking 10,000 steps a day, which seems to have come from a Japanese clock maker who made an early pedometer whose name translates as "10,000 steps".