Do you do 10,000 steps a day?

[Fantina]

As the thread says. I’ve been trying to do this and I have massively upped my activity levels this year but I’m finding it so hard to find the time to do this many walks.

I am a single parent who works full time in a sedentary job but even by making all the changes I can, such as going for a walk during their extracurricular activities instead of watching them, I’m not often hitting 10,000 steps.

do you manage it? If so, how?!

I have a mini trampoline that I jog on whilst watching TV in the evenings if I haven't done my steps during the day. 30min at a reasonable pace usually does it.

45 minutes is 2,700 seconds, so to reach 10,000 steps you’d need to do 3 or 4 steps per second.

Get up early and walk for 45 minutes. Then walk to work and back 30 minutes in total.

Generally yes - either slightly under plus some other form of exercise (stationery bike), or 10k+ steps a day. SAHM. Just housework and school run, occasionally manage to go for a walk in the day.

I don't drive anywhere and walk everyday. I guess I just live too close to everything!

I don't walk far either tho! I'm just really busy. I'll have a few thousand just running around, tidying up, getting washes on, floors hoovered in the early morning rush.

I don't see steps as a marker of exercise (for me) and focus on my actual exercise (run / hiit / Spin) for that.

I also know because I use my arms a lot, a busy day of Teams meetings & no movement = lots of steps so I have to discount this too!

No, I WFH and don't leave my desk!
Probably 2000 steps a day
I exercise though so I'm not fussed

Forgot to add - I did this while wearing a pedometer which routinely came up with 130 to 140 steps when I had definitely counted 105.

Yes I do. I try to walk for an hour and a quarter which is about 7,500 and then pottering about seems to take it to 10,000.

If I only have time to do my 45 min walk which is 5,000 I use my mini trampoline to do the rest.

@KangarooKenny - have you checked that your pedometer is calibrated properly? Unless you're about 8 inches tall that doesn't seem right?

Yes. Live in the hill, have dogs. Takes me about 1hr 40mins. 45 minutes really isn't possible.

Regular activity is really important fir your health, regardless of your exercise. Build in some which breaks from your desk + a walk at lunchtime & it will make a huge difference.

2000 is incredibly low - surely just getting to & from your exercise plus the steps while doing that would yield more?

Yes but I built it up really slowly. I think I started on 3000 and build it up by a couple hundred a week.

I walk from the station to and from work, take a brisk walk and lunchtime, go to the gym 3 times a week and do a decent hour walk once at the weekend, this is enough for 70,000 a week, including one v lazy and one below par day.

I think doing it slowly is key. This is the first time I’ve manage to keep it up.

I go on 2 dog walks per day - first one is around 40-45 mins & second one is 30 minutes. This usually still comes just under the 10,000 steps recommended! 🙈

I could easily only do 2000 on a wfh day. Often 8-6 back to back teams meetings only breaking for a drink, wee or sandwich.

I go to the gym after work for classes and to socialise/use the gym but the idea that 2000 isn’t possible is daft.

It’s all about choice isn’t it. I don’t want to extend my working day by taking a longer break to go for a walk on my own. I’d rather crack on, finish my day at 6 and go to the gym with my pals.

'Nowhere near. I wfh and detest "going out for a walk". I've lived in my house since 2004, "going out for a walk" holds 0 novelty for me.'

Well as long as you get plenty of other physical activity and aren't overweight that's fine but many people want to keep their weight down and a brisk 10k steps a day is cheap and easily done. Going to the gym holds 0 novelty for me.

It is a bit dull walking alone for miles on pavements yes but with friends or with your favourite playlist blasting on the beach or the woods it really is a good way of keeping a bit of fitness.

Usually yes. Less at the weekends but done 15,000 a day in the week.

Easily! Some days I do 20k+. Single parent and working too. My secret is I can't afford a car :)

I love walking though and we have a 25 min walk to school and although I walk from home if I am doing the school run twice a day and, say, also walking into town for a coffee or shopping. Some days, admittedly, I have to get a cab if we are running late and at other times I get a bus into town if I am short of time but the trick is just walking everywhere.

My aim is 6k. I normally manage around that, with occasional days of much more, and even more occasional days with much less.
I have a desk job, so I don't tend to do much steps as a standard thing, but occasionally I have a day dashing around at work and I've done 6k by lunchtime just going up and down stairs.

@EarringsandLipstick no, I exercise at home
I can't take walk breaks because every min of my day is monitored and apart from my 25 min lunch I'm expected to be at my desk (bar making a cup of tea/toilet of course!)
By the time I've finished work, done a spin class and weights, had tea, showered I'm wiped. Have health conditions and that's as much as I can manage in a day

I'm a dog walker so yes, very easily

I average between 18-24k steps a day.

Yes as a sahm. I'm constantly on the go.

I think this is what’s key, unless you have dogs or are a runner it’s really time consuming to find over an hour to just walk, but if you make it part of the journey then it just builds into your day. Obviously it takes longer but then you are getting your exercise and it’s good for mental health and Vit D too. But best to build it slowly as above. Also I wouldn’t start limiting fruit too much as some PPs have said it’s true you should have more veg, but eating a rainbow is the best approach. Fruit is not responsible for the obesity crisis.

If I don't actively try and do it then no it's hard. I've managed before without going for a walk by doing a lot of house work but otherwise no you have to actively try.
Waiting for the train- walk around the station and look like a weirdo (fine by me)
Walk on the spot whilst watching telly
Get up every hour and do house work.
Walk whilst on a work meeting

I did all of this before getting a dog. Going for an actual walk is easier.

I was once really proud of myself for hitting my target steps. Then realised 2000 was actually maximum calories.
So no. 10,000 is not happening at the moment....

Always aim for 10k. I'm on Mat leave so it's pretty easy at the moment. Around 6k done before lunchtime then 3k pottering round the house. Then another 5k if I walk to the gym and back.

I feel sluggish if I don't do at least 6k in the day.

Frankly I'm shocked on days I've ended up doing more than 3,000!!