How do you get 10,000 steps a day?

Francl27

I don't think I hit the 10,000 steps most days anymore, as I've been using the bike more... but I used to reach it just doing things around the house, running errands, and doing a 3.5 miles walk.

I'd go for a walk on week ends!

Owlfan88

I've been trying to add some of the little things, like walking around the island while I'm waiting on the microwave and marching in place while brushing my teeth or drying my hair. Little things that don't seem like anything will add up to 1000 or more steps easily per day. Add in some laps around the kitchen and living room every time I have to get up to let the cat in or out. Mostly though it's all good as long as I can get in my roughly 2 mile walk, but on rainy days I struggle to get the steps in. I'm a little concerned about winter when it's cold and more often wet and fewer daylight hours and I just don't wanna go out. I'm going to have to work on the motivation to go out and just do it!

Unknown

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ebouchie

I have an office job so mostly sitting all day. Here is what I do to get to my steps:
- I commute by public transportation to a city. I get off one stop earlier and get on one stop later
- I use the bathroom in the office that is the furthest from my desk
- At the commuter parking lot I park as far away as possible
- During the day I take three or four 1,000 step walks for about 15 minutes each.
- When I have conference calls I use my wireless headset and either walk around the office or walk in place
- And at the end of the day if I am still short then I will walk in place while watching television

LivingtheLeanDream

I have a desk job but average 17k steps a day/ run 4 miles before work and the rest i get from moving when I can at work/around the home. A few days a week I do 21k, on those days I've usually mowed the lawn or went for a long walk

AllyBird82

About a year ago I changed jobs and now work from home. I went from easily getting 7,000 steps just at work to 2,000 on an average day. When the weather is nice I'll try to walk outside. When I'm able to walk around during meetings I will pace the house. When the weather isn't nice or its late I do walk all around the house. Sometimes I'll pick a show I'm watching online and only allow myself to watch it when I am walking. I watched about 2 seasons of The Wire on my iPad using that rule.

ekat120

shadow2soul wrote: »

Kalikel wrote: »

Mr_Knight wrote: »

I run at least 5k every day.

Done.

Does it say that you got 10,000 steps? My phone counts mine and gives me less than 10,000 for 8 miles.

@Kalikel -
Sounds like your phone is missing steps. You would need a stride length of 4'3" for that to be accurate.

While I don't think Mr_Knight gets 10,000 from a 5k (maybe 4-6k) it probably does take care of most of his 10,000 step goal.

I believe the average number of steps per mile is around 2k. It can be slightly more or less depending on stride length. Running strides are typically bigger so most likely less. The other day on a walk I was averaging 2132 steps per mile.

I get 2k per mile walking, but almost exactly 5k for 3 miles of running (so just under 1700 per mile). I try to plan walks into my days and/or run errands on foot. If I'm short and don't feel like walking around the house, I'll jog in place. My husband says it's cheating, but I say it's actually a little harder than just walking

Psychgrrl

One helpful things for me is my Garmin Vivoactive nudges me every 45 minutes if I haven't walked around. The longer I wait to move, the longer it takes me to reset it. I do a lap around my apt. complex which is 1000 steps. And the only way to reset it is steps--not waving my arms around.

tiffkittyw

I have a desk job and I'm also sedentary on weekends so I have to work hard to get my 10,000 steps in. On work days I drink lots of water to force me to get up and use the bathroom. I will work out before work and walk 3 times a day (2 breaks and lunch) at work. On weekends I will go to the gym, come home eat breakfast and then go back on the treadmill for 50 minutes to get the rest of my steps in. It's a lot of hard work for me, but worth it.

roseacea

Audio books or podcasts help me. I'm paying so much attention to the stories that I don't even realize I'm walking.

47Jacqueline

One step at a time.

Also, I raised my computer so I have to stand when I use it, which makes me walk while I think.

shadowfax_c11

I go to work. Usually I hit 10k steps by about lunch time and around 14k by the time I get home.

On my days off I have hit 10k bu going to the zoo for the day or to the museum or the botanical garden. Mostly thought I just hope to break 5k on my days off.

zdyb23456

Mr_Knight wrote: »

I run at least 5k every day.

Done.

Me too. Except I take Sunday's off. My daily run combined with a walk during my lunch break or running errands on my days off generally puts me between 12-15k steps per day. Sunday's are usually my lowest step day esp now that football is back on I still take a long enough walk to hit 10k, but then I park my butt on the couch and watch the games.

daniwilford

I love going for walks, I also give myself a true rest day even from 10,000 steps. There are some days when I do twice this many so I average them all out over the week to get 70,000+ in a week and call it good.

cupcakesplz

1. Running in the spot
2. Running after kids
3. Clean the house (it's a big house)

malibu927

For me it's a little easier, as I work in retail and can easily spend 7-8 hours running around my store, which is huge already (case in point: 13,349 steps so far today!). And when I go down to school, I park in a side lot instead of the main garage and walk the path through all the buildings, then take the steps from the third floor to the basement where the library is. That's close to 3/4 of a mile each way.

I'm trying to get back into the habit of walking on my days off...3-4 miles depending on if I have other obligations that day. Sometimes when I go to the mall, I walk the entire length and back and all the way around the anchor stores.

STLBADGIRL

Zumba helps me. When standing I step side to side to stay busy.

PeachyCarol

I'm doing C25K now (just started week 6), and on the days I do that, it's part of a 5.5 mile route which I finish out walking. The other days? I walk 3 miles before lifting. On my rest day, I just walk the 5.5 miles. That gets me to 10K. I'll often do an additional 2 miles or so in the afternoon. Walking is my stress reliever.

For additional steps, whenever I'm cooking something and there's time where I'll have to wait, I'll walk around the house. Waffle's in the iron for 5 minutes? Go walk. Potatoes have another 20 minutes? Walk around. Kettle's on the boil? Off I go.

When I put away laundry, instead of putting away a pile of something, I put each one away individually. I'll fold all the underwear, leave it on the couch, and then bring each pair up and put it away one by one. Tedious, but it adds up to lots of steps.

I'll do sort of the same thing when putting away groceries and things like that.

It's funny, we used to be told by all of the efficiency experts how to combine things to save time, and now I'm looking for ways to stretch things out to get more steps in!

I should add that for the most part, most of my steps are done as purposeful exercise, for all the fun steps I do with laundry and the like. I get a lot of calories from them because I'm either walking quite briskly or running.

When I'm feeling well, I usually do 20K steps a day.

100df

I rearranged the basement so I can do 33 step laps around the staircase. I often only walk there. I do have a treadmill too. Now that I am somewhat in shape I also walk outside up a 1 mile hill and back down. My goal to do that is 3 days a week.

I am working up to a goal of 12k a day. I consistently get 9k a day right now.

bwogilvie

The "step" is an extremely imprecise measure of activity, you know. For a typical person walking at a moderate pace, 2000 steps equals a mile. On my afternoon run today, I took 1442 steps per mile (my Garmin watch tells me that), so 1 running step equals about 1.4 walking steps.* (My running steps today were 1.12 meters per step, or 2.24 meters—7.35 feet—per stride.) When I step around my kitchen making an Indian dinner, I might take a lot of steps but most of them are pretty short. If I bicycle 90 miles, I don't take any steps except when I stop for potty breaks. How should I count that?

Point is: 10,000 steps is a target that can be met in many ways. Don't fetishize the number; instead, think about the underlying point: it's good to be active, both purposely (exercise) and in your everyday life (taking the stairs, biking for nearby errands instead of driving, parking at the first convenient spot rather than as close as possible, etc.).

* That's only in terms of distance. Running a 7-minute mile uses more energy per mile than walking a 20-minute mile, so in terms of metabolic expenditure, the running step is worth more like 1.65 walking steps.

47Jacqueline

As bwogilvie above says, don't make an issue of the count. The thing about the 10000 steps is it's just a suggestion get a person from sedentary to physically active. It only separates you from the 90% of americans who nothing.

OldAssDude

Do a lot of walking. At lunch I do a 3 mile walk. I walk about 7 miles a day on average. I am a computer programmer so instead of emailing, I walk over to the persons desk. When I get home from work, I walk before dinner. If I don't get my 10,000 in, I will go out and walk my apartment complex until I do.

Orphia

ebouchie wrote: »

I have an office job so mostly sitting all day. Here is what I do to get to my steps:
- I commute by public transportation to a city. I get off one stop earlier and get on one stop later
- I use the bathroom in the office that is the furthest from my desk
- At the commuter parking lot I park as far away as possible
- During the day I take three or four 1,000 step walks for about 15 minutes each.
- When I have conference calls I use my wireless headset and either walk around the office or walk in place
- And at the end of the day if I am still short then I will walk in place while watching television

Excellent! I love it when people use NEAT (non-exercise thermogenesis) tips.

PinkPixiexox

I'm so going to start the 'running on the spot' idea!!
I've got a fitbit flex - and I'm now on maintenance (well, slowly trainsitioning) and I never, ever get above 5000 steps even with work-out's (I have a very sedentary job). I'm going to run on the spot for 5 minutes each day like a crazy person and see if it helps heh

rainbow198

Way to go everyone!

I get over 10K exercise steps in 6 days a week. I like variety in my workouts varies so I do one or more of the following:

- Leslie Sansone Walk at Home workouts. I own over 60 of her DVDs and I do anywhere from 2 - 8 miles in a day.

- Jessica Smith TV walks on Youtube.

- Walking outdoors. I usually walk fast, but I also walk at a normal pace for about 3 miles on my active rest day or do intervals where I walk fast for a mile, walk at a normal pace for a mile and repeat once or twice. The weather is starting to change where I live, but I will be walking until there is snow on the ground.

- I get on my mini-stepper. 15 minutes done at a regular pace gets me one mile. I use it while watching TV or talking on the phone. I can go 30 minutes before I start to get bored, but physically speaking I could go much longer.

I have a sedentary IT job, but I do other small things to raise my TDEE like walking lunges from the front to the back of my home, parking further, standing and pacing instead of sitting at times, taking the stairs instead of the escalator, jogging/walking in place etc., but I don't include these extra steps as apart of my 10+K a day. They are just an added bonus.

segacs

Honestly, for me it's pretty easy: It comes down to choosing to live in a highly walkable area.

I walk for most things. I drive very rarely. I cycle or use public transit to commute and to get everywhere in my daily life. My social life, errands and day-to-day activities are all walking distance from me.

Now, I realize that's not an option for everyone. But the suburban drive-everywhere life combined with a desk job can be really brutal on NEAT. So if you are moving or considering a change, you can use https://www.walkscore.com/ to gauge how walkable your new neighbourhood is. It's also worth advocating for urban planning that prioritizes walking and other active modes of transport.

nlp154

I know on days when I work (at a restaurant) I definitely reach my goal. But on days when I only have school, I don't usually. A couple things I'm trying to do is walk everywhere instead of driving, or take the long route around the complex to get to the mail box, things like that. I hope I'm helpful!

unrelentingminx

I walk 30 minutes to and from work. At work instead of phoning my colleague down the hall or upstairs, I will go to their office and speak to them in person.

Ladybug_1794

Freckledmama1 wrote: »

I am a proud owner of a Fitbit flex and am challenging myself to achieve 10,000 steps a day on top of my exercise routine. I am a preschool teacher, during the week I more often than not reach my goal. But, on the weekend I fall way behind. I still do my exercise routine on the weekends. What are some ideas we have to get more steps in on days we don't work, or for mfp users who have a job that requires a lot of sitting?

Lol jog in place!!!

segacs

Ladybug_1794 wrote: »

Lol jog in place!!!

Jogging in place burns relatively few calories, though. And Fitbit will overestimate the burns 'cause it can't distinguish a step in place from a forward-motion step.