Chances are if you’re reading this, you’re having trouble reaching your goal of 10,000 steps a day.
The good news: incorporating more movement into your day and reaching 10,000 steps can be accomplished by making several small changes every day. Also good news: this extra movement in your day has major health benefits! Boost your mood, improve your immune system, burn extra calories, reduce stress, and more, without needing to go to the gym every day.
Continue reading for 7 easy ways to hit 10,000 steps a day.
Start Your Day With At Least 500 Steps
Do you start your day by waking, showering, and getting in your car? Or maybe you wake, get the kids off to school, and then sit at a desk? How you start your day can set the tone for the rest of the day.
What if you took 5 minutes of your morning and focused only on your steps? You can do this inside or outside, actively walking or walking in place. Put away the dishes one dish at a time if you need to do something productive! The point is to move your body and to start your day with the intention of continuing this movement throughout your day.
Stop Trying To Save Yourself a Trip
Women especially are prone to multi-tasking all day, every day. But adjusting your habit of taking the smallest amount of trips throughout your day could lead to hundreds of extra steps, in only a few extra minutes.
Try carrying in your grocery bags two at a time, instead of ALL at a time. Disperse paperwork throughout your office several times a day instead of bundling it into one trip. In general, stop piling everything together and space it out.
Move Every Hour On The Hour
When I first started using my Fitbit, incorporating this habit into my day was a game-changer for me. I was at a desk job and could get so wrapped up in what I was doing that I would sit for way too long.
Following the rule of moving at least 250 steps every hour for a select 9 hours out of your day will add 2,250 steps to your daily total.
Program Your Step Tracker To Achieve Your Goals
I’ve been using a Fitbit for years and credit it with keeping me accountable for staying active. Tracking your steps is just one of the many features of a Fitbit.
You can program it to remind you to walk at least 250 steps every hour, for a select 5-hour to 14-hour window of your day.
Most Fitbits will allow you to connect with friends through their own Fitbit. This allows you to create some healthy competition to get those steps up! Create challenges with friends to see who can get the most steps in a day, week, or weekend.
Whether you use a Fitbit, Apple Watch, or a pedometer, they’re all tools to get your steps in if you use them to their fullest!
Take The Long Way
Most people are creatures of habit and tend to do what’s quickest and easiest. I’m sure you’ve heard the tip, “Park your car furthest from the entrance” to get more steps in your day.
What if you also used the furthest bathroom from your desk throughout your day? Whether at an office or at your home, this habit alone could help you gain hundreds of steps throughout your day. Making this change can help you see where else you might be taking shortcuts during your day.
Remember the NEAT Technique
NEAT stands for Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. In short, these are all those little movements you make during your day besides eating, sleeping, and exercising.
Cooking a big family dinner, folding the laundry, walking to a co-worker’s desk instead of sending an email, cleaning, shopping (!) – any of these small movements can make a big dent in your step total at the end of the day.
Stay Mindful Of Your Habits And Challenge Yourself
Instead of trying to leap from 4,000 steps a day to 10,000 steps (and potentially giving up before you hit your goal), take stock of your own habits first.
Do you tend to sit too long during your workday, or feel too burnt out after work to want to move? Analyze your behavior for a few days and identify areas where you might fall short incorporating movement in your day.
If you’re sitting too much during the day, take baby steps to move every hour. When you’ve made that a habit, move on to the next habit!
Do you sit more in the evening and zone out in front of the TV? Make it a point to challenge yourself to take 250 steps during a half-hour show, whether walking in place or moving around your house during a commercial. When you’ve mastered that habit, take 250 more steps!
Final Thoughts
Keep in mind that reaching 10,000 steps a day is not a hard and fast rule for everyone. Most women may find themselves somewhere south of that, and that’s okay!
But making a goal of a certain number of steps per day is far better than just telling yourself to “walk more”. The more specific you are about what you want, the easier it can be to get there.