Do you walk 10,000 steps a day?

[nordica]

I've dusted off the Fitbit recently and tried to get more active but I'm finding it's surprisingly hard to get anywhere near the recommended 10,000 steps a day goal. How many people actually do? How much/how long for do you have to walk to reach the goal?

I don't know if this is because I'm short and have shorter strides so can't cover as much in the same time as someone taller, or if it's because I'm unfit and my brisk walk isn't fast enough. Even when I go out for a 30-45 minute walk, at best I get to around 6000 steps a day. The other day I walked for over an hour and still didn't reach 10k steps for the day. My job is sedentary which doesn't help of course (and I'm working from home so there is very little walking to do as part of my usual day).

I remember thinking the same in the past, especially as people so often seem to say "oh 10k steps a day is easy, just go for a short walk".

I do because I have a dog who needs walked twice a day. I know how many steps approximately are in each walk route I do so I can make sure I hit my target.

I just did an hour of Nordic walking this morning and only clocked up about 7000 steps. Bit disappointing really.

When I worked in London, I regularly did well over 10k steps.

Back in the days when I used to go out to work, my step target was 13,500 a day. I have a sedentary job, but used to hit that most days just by commuting to and from work (got the bus so had to walk to the bus stop etc), having a walk at lunchtime and just daily activity. If I managed to get to the gym or have a run it'd be even higher.

Now I'm working from home my step target is 6,000 and I struggle to hit that some days.

What I've found is that I need to be fairly constantly active throughout the day. It's really not enough to have one short (less than an hour) daily walk. I need to do that, plus get up and walk around the house on a regular basis. It was easy when I worked as even walking to the coffee machine or the ladies racked up the steps...much harder in the house!

I do. most days it's 15k-20k steps. On the days I know that I can't walk as much I go for a 5km run in about 30mins and that gives me 6K so potentially I could just be at home pootling around and then go for a run, so that'll be over 10k.

If you are shorter you will be doing more steps to cover the same distance, not fewer!

I find that even though I was in an office job before I have "lost" about 2000 incidental steps now I'm wfh...toilet, kettle etc is only 10-20 steps rather than down a corridor, not going for a lunchtime walk or wandering around to find a file or ask someone a question....

I reckon on 10 minutes brisk walking being 1,000 steps. So that’s actually quite a lot of time to fit into your day if you have a sedentary job.

It’s a serious walk if you do it in one block, but more manageable if you do it in three or four chunks. Back in the before times when I had a ten minute walk at each end of my train commute and sometimes a school run as well, it was pretty easy, but now with no actual reason to leave the house it’s tough.

www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/05/10000-steps-rule/590785/

I usually do about 15k. I think 10k is achievable

My fiancé claims people with shorter legs have it “easier” when hitting steps targets. I’m not especially convinced and with a 33cm inside leg then my legs aren’t that short! I think he’s just annoyed that l usually do more steps than him

I don't usually clock it in the school holidays but when I'm doing school runs I do 12-18k a day.

I don't drive so walk everywhere!

No. Even when I walk 4 miles a day, takes about 1hr 20 minutes its only about 6k steps
I've given up aiming for 10k.

Yes becauseI have a big dog

Lightweights. I do 15k before breakfast. It's easy.

Yes, most days, but only when I make an effort to go for a walk. It’s particularly difficult as I also have a sedentary job and I have a 3 year old and 6 year old. Now they can manage a 10k walk in 90-120 minutes it’s much easier.

Most days, yes. I run 3 x a week, around 5-10k a time so on a run day i will hit close to 20k steps with the run and general running around and on days I don't run i will make sure I go out for a walk to get as close as i can. My rolling 7 day average is around 12,000 a day (I have a garmin watch for running so it tracks for me).

I easily clock up 6000 steps though even if I don't leave the house as I can't sit still and am always doing something. Even though my job is currently desk-based at home i get up a lot and go upstairs/out washing in and out/ make tea or food, etc.

My DH does 24,000 steps on an average day as a teacher in term time - that's 6+ hours of constant walking/running after kids

I did a 2 hour walk yesterday (who the fuck has 2 hours to exercise a day !) and did 7,800 steps

It's REALLY hard unless it's part of your job or you don't work

I rarely hit 10k steps but I try and do 6k minimum and usually average around 8k per day. I only get to 10k and above when going for a long walk of at least 90 mins.

On a good day I manage 3k a day 😂 I am waiting for back surgery though so that's my excuse!

The stride length thing is funny as it changes depending on which way you think about it. I'm tall, soit take me less steps to walk a mile. But if you think about number of strides per minute, it's irrelevant - over an hour we'd do the same steps, I'd just have travelled further. And we'd be equally tired despite that (everything else being equal) because it's the number of steps that wear you out.

Anyway, I do about 1000 steps in ten mins, so takes an hour 40 mins to get to 10,000.

And agree with pp it's better really if it's spread out (not don't sit for 10 hours, walk 2 and sleep the rest!)

Walking is just NEAT. Plenty of other activities can also count towards your NEAT for the day, including doing chores, cleaning, taking the stairs, standing instead of sitting, cooking etc.

10,000 steps a day means absolutely nothing, in reality. Some days you’ll do 3,000, other days you might do 15,000. As long as you’re keeping active throughout the day and not just sitting at a desk > sitting on the sofa > sitting ALL the time, you will burn a lot of calories through NEAT. And of course, actual exercise is more important from a general fitness perspective.

@IWentAwayIStayedAway

15k plus a day. Start doing the youtube walking videos. Can do 1k steps in about 15 mins max. Good luck

They sound fab I'll have a look later - thanks

OP I usually do 9-12k steps on a work day.

Some weekends when just pottering I'll do 2-3k!

A good brisk 30 minute walk 5 times a week and focus on that would be better than worrying about the steps.
Ideally you'd walk 5k 5 times a week so 25k in a 7 day period. So could do less distance and up frequency.

It takes about 20 minutes to walk 1.5k at an average pace. So I'd aim for 2-3 k a day and build from there.

Plus if you are short then technically you should do more steps per KM than a talk person! Hence why distance rather than stops is a better measure.

My school run is about half a mile so 2 miles a day (at toddler pace) gives me around 6,000 steps on a school day. Generally very easy to make my steps as I've not got that many more to find.

Non school day (lockdown) and a basic walk with the kids (1 mile in about an hour plus standing around at the park) is only about 2k steps and disastrous -even a 5k run doesn't get me to my step target!

Yesterday we were at home except I did a 6.5k run, just under 10k steps!

The only time I've managed 10k steps without leaving the house was right at the beginning of lockdown 1 packing to move house - 4 bed house with a converted loft so plenty of steps, plus quite long house. Current modern 3 bed semi would be very tough to get lots of steps in, even packing to move!

Firstly, it doesn't matter what I do

10,000 steps is very roughly 4 to 5 miles, depending on your stride length. So if you were to walk that in one go, you're looking at 1 hr 20 mins at the very least (more if you don't walk fast).

10,000 steps is a random figure they plucked out of midair to get people going. It's a bit like the 5-a-day fruit and veg (not actually enough)! 10,000 is just an easy-to-remember figure they think is achievable for a lot of people if they stretch themselves.

Just aim to push yourself. If you normally do 6000, aim for 8000 every day next week, and so on.

@Gerla

I couldn't work out why my husband had so many more steps than me. Turned out it's because he keeps his phone in his pocket. You do a surprising number of steps just pootling round the house.

Yes, this!

During lockdown I was going out for long walks every day and only managing 6500-7,500 steps. I just happened to buy a few pairs of comfy joggers with zip pockets, and started keeping my phone in one of the pockets. My step count went up to 9500-10000 steps without even changing anything.

I average about 9300 steps a day, so most days I do around 10000 and then others I might do less. And I do it without leaving my house.

4.5 years ago I was diagnosed with a serious heart condition, and at that point I couldn’t walk more than about 100 steps without becoming breathless. Everything I did involved physical effort, if I walked upstairs I had to sit down for at least 5 minutes when I got there to allow for my heart rate to slow down and to get my breath back.

Then I had some intervention after a lengthy hospital stay, which meant the breathlessnesss was severely reduced. I went into cardiac rehab, and from there I walked everywhere to try to get my fitness back.

And then we went into lockdown and I had to shield. But I was determined not to let my fitness slide, so I wandered around the house. If on the phone, if listening to an audio book, while waiting for the dinner to cook, and just doing that I have got my step count up to around 9300 a day. It’s a bit tedious, but it really does work.

I was up at the transplant clinic a few weeks ago, and while there are obviously still issues and I am expected to relapse at some stage and need to go on the list, at the moment they’re happy with me. Similarly I had my ICD checked and I am only pacing at 1%, meaning my heart is beating for itself.

And I am certain that much of it is down to the fact I have kept my fitness up where possible.

I agree it is a lot more than you think. People with desk jobs and no pets to walk who claim to do 20k + a day make me .

I did a 3 hour walk across the moors at weekend and it was barley 20k. On a busy work day (drive to work and back) I will be at less than 1000. I try to make up for it at weekend but I don't average at 10k a day