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?!

No.

I work full time and don't get breaks on which I can just go for a walk. I have young children and a shift working husband so can't get out in the evenings either. Not worn my smartwatch for a long time but was averaging about 6-7000.

Exercise is more important than step counting. As long as you're managing that regularly.

I don't count my "daily living" steps, just my exercise walks.
I've seen research saying brisk walking for app 5000 steps that raises your heart rate and makes you puff is far more beneficial than 1000 pottering about doing housework or walking your children to school.
I definitely don't count my dog walk steps, one of mine spends 20 minutes out of a 30 minute walk sniffing, I'm stood still for a lot of that 😁

Pretty much. I make a point of trying not to take thr car if pop to shop etc.
School isnt far but adds up.

Id say 5 out of 7 days i do.

Tomorrow id normally drive to the pet shop 3.5 miles away. But im going to walk it with 3yr old in buggy. If they get bored ill bus back.

@tinfoilk I'm not doing any at the moment and it's a big concern. New job started a couple of months ago and I'm doing a lot of work in the evenings and weekends for it. Mix in children's activities, trying to keep on top of housework and trying to get enough sleep, and it's hard to make the choice to exercise rather than something else.

I'm hopeful that things will calm down in time!

Two/3 times a week I hit 8000

Yes, average between 18,000 and 20,000. Before getting the dog it was about 10,000. I’m lucky enough to be within walking distance of work which helps.

I aim for 10k but usually do between 8-12k depending on the day. I like to do at least 8k a day.

We need a 'how many active minutes or zone minutes or exercise minutes' thread!! 😀

Steps are far less important if that's all people are doing. I'm genuinely concerned so many people might think it's enough. I know of so many unfit people, who don't exercise, and manage their 10,000 steps + per day and do think that's fine.

I am currently smashing my steps and I find it's because I have way more time on my hands right now. So I walk to the gym, walk to the shops etc etc. when working FT and with all the stuff going on with the kids that's much harder and shortage of time often means you need to use the car instead.

I am often surprised that on days when I think 'I should go for a walk' how few steps I do. But on days when I use walking as my
Mode of transport for example I do amazing amounts of steps without really trying.

Aim for an increased weekly average if 10,000 a day is hard. It is hard if you work full time and your job doesn't involve much movement. I also know someone who used to step on the spot watching tv. Personally I also wear wireless headphones and move around during calls whenever I can and if the call is a catch up often suggest a walking meeting so the other person can get some air too. I've even seen offices with a walking track.

But it sounds like you are already making positive changes and have increased your activity levels which is way more important then an arbitrary 10k target.

Pretty much always, and more, ( often around 15000) just with my usual daily stuff.

@PetitPorpoise , I’m similar, it’s so hard to fit . Husband leaves for work at 5am so no chance of morning walks and kids are up shortly after 😬😬

Happy to hear tips though of achievable ways to fit them in.

I am not a natural athlete. Thinking about exercise makes me tired! I bought a treadmill pad to fit under the cheapest IKEA manual stand/sit desk that I could find. Now I have no trouble getting all of my steps after being an absolute slug.

It took a while to master typing and walking, but depending on what work I'm doing, I can walk at a fair clip. The bonus is that I don't ever need the heating on; I walk faster. 😅 It's also fantastic for concentration.

The best bit is that I finish work without the gym looming. I have a set of weights in my kitchen that I used each time I make a cuppa during the day, so I can slug about all evening, guilt free, if I want.

I really believe that finding an activity that matches your innate athlete or slug tendency is key.

I walked in my lunch hour for about 45 minutes every day when I was working, I did work on a beautiful University campus that looked like a stately home so was very pleasant. Previous campus was not so pretty but still plenty of greenery. We also took DS hill walking, when small, he got chucked in a back pack.

Now I’m retired I walk a lot and am in hiking groups, I do have an issue currently with plantar fasciitis but it’s improving as I use a foot massage machine. I’m doing the 1000 miles in a year challenge and am currently on 110 miles for January. I do a voluntary job and they were short staffed so I worked three days one week.

I did a huge amount of sport when I was young. I can still hill walk 10 miles but when younger did up to 20 miles. I also cycle but only in fair weather. Longest walk I did last week was 21,000 steps. I use Komoot, the free version of the app.

Oh yeah I do loads of walking at weekends and on holidays, children in backpacks when smaller etc. we’re talking about the working week though mostly aren’t we?

How about when DCs are doing their afterschool clubs? My DCs swim (amongst other things), and for 2 of DD1's sessions there is a Masters session at the same time, so I do that. When DH takes them instead, he goes to the attached gym or does a spin class whilst they're in the pool. I know a number of other parents who go for a run whilst their DCs are training. Or evening classes/gym/swim once DH is home?

I know of so many unfit people, who don't exercise, and manage their 10,000 steps + per day and do think that's fine

Absolutely this. Especially when lots of those people will be reaching their "10k steps" by waving their arm around. My MIL is entirely sedentary but insists she gets 10k steps a day - the truth is she just waves her Fitbit around a lot until it gives her a reading she likes.

@SkankingWombat , thank you. My children are not at the stage yet they can be left at extra curricular clubs but hopefully in a few years that sounds like a great idea. I tend to have a lot of work to do in the evening once kids are in bed but trying hard to make time for myself a couple of times a week so will definitely try and fit exercise in. I appreciate the ideas.

But regularly doing so little activity, as opposed to exercise, is unhealthy. The regular incidental exercise is as important in its own way as the targeted intense exercise.

Sorry, but this is a load of tosh!!

I've only averaged just over 4,000 steps per day for the last 7 days and most of those were walking the dog once a day.

But in that same period I've swam 7km, cycled 200km, done 2hrs of pilates/yoga type stretching and spent 90 minutes (over 2 sessions) doing weights in the gym.

All told, over 16hrs physical activity of varying intensity.

Still want to try and tell me that's "unhealthy" compared to getting my 10,000 steps a day in?

I think it's fine to focus on getting 10,000 steps a day in if that's the ONLY physical activity people do. It's a good way to get started and motivated and relatively speaking it's the "easiest" thing for the average person to do (you don't even need to leave the house!)

But it's not the be all and end all and there are other ways to be physically active and fit.

I have a sedentary job, working from home and around 4 years ago I realised I was hardly moving at all. Made the decision to walk before work and at lunchtime both for around 30-40 minutes. I also pace around the house/do walking videos on YouTube etc.

In 2020 I took up running again and about 4 or 5 times a week will run instead of one of the walks. I tend to do a 5k parkrun on Saturdays and a longer run on Sundays - the day I have fewest steps is often Saturday as I’m out of my workday routine and a 5k run is fewer steps than I feel it should be!

Today I’ve done over 20,000 steps but I did run 15km this morning 😀

Correct 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

I'm either way over at around 16/17k or 5/6K. I work long hours stuck at a desk so most days it's a big of a struggle to meet 10k then I make a conscious effort yo up my game

Not since my dog got old. He can manage a couple of miles a day which takes about an hour. I could probably go out again for another walk but its stressful with the baby, getting him ready etc.

I think being generally active in the day is a different type of fitness to intense cardio in other forms. I considered myself fit - I run about 25 to 30 miles a week often including a half marathon length.

However I work from home and my kids are passed the age of needing to be walked to school. We do online shopping. 30 miles sounds great but it’s only about 4 miles a day which for me running is about 7000 steps, and it’s unequal so some days I don’t run. I only naturally do about 2000 steps around the house if working meaning some days that’s my step count 😳

So since the New Year I decided to up my general pottering to do at least 10,000 steps a day, with a hope of 15,000. On days I run at least 10k this is easy. On other days I’m exhausted! It feels like a different type of stamina and muscle use. And it’s a real mind shift to being active. I realise how much I use the car for short journeys. I’ll starting to feel a lot fitter though.

Ah, yes when they're very little it's extremely tricky. My exercise in those days consisted almost exclusively of kitchen discos and chasing them around the play frames at softplay!
I don't know how old your DCs are, but at 3yo mine did gymnastics that involved leaving them for an hour - hopefully you aren't too far off that! 🤞🏻😃