10,000 steps a day seems impossible??

[Walkwalkinthelight]

Just started a 'healthy living ' programme (weight loss, well being, fitness etc).
One of the goals is 1000 steps a day??

I work from home, mad busy and sit at desk all day then gym at night. I've only done 1300 steps by teatime.

How the hell does anyone with a desk job do 10000 steps a day!!

My teenager walks to school and back and round a massive school all day and he only does 7500!!

I rarely hit 10000on working days. I cycle to work which doesn't contribute, or work from home, and although I walk up and down to and from 2nd floor a few times a day when in the office, and go for a lunchtime walk when I can, it still often only racks up about 4500-6000 steps.
Since new year I have been trying harder and will pick up hand weights in the evening and 'dance', march, stretch etc while watching TV, also dance/move around while brushing teeth, to try to hit the daily target. I do run 4 or 5k 2 or 3 times a week but still seems hard to hit target regularly without a really concerted effort .

The easy answer is get a fit bit, not a pedometer.

All the people saying they get 10k steps easily just pottering or running round after the kids will have fit bits which log your arm movements as steps. My pedometer only logs a step after you have taken ten in a row so a morning's housework in which I am on my feet all the time but stopping and starting, will log very few steps.

But someone at the top of the thread said something that resonated with me - thank you whoever you are! - that you have to choose walking over sitting reading or watching telly. Just about every night I come in and sit and read for half an hour before starting the dinner, frankly for want of anything else to do. I think I will make that my walking time from now on.

Desk job here. I walk to and from walk. It’s 1 mile there and back. Easily hit 10000.

This. I do struggle when I WFH, unless I walk to do both school runs (there and back is 2.5 miles).

When I worked in London, I only just got to just over 10k and that was a mile walk to the station, 1.25 mile walk the other end and the same in reverse, (so 4.5 miles), a walk out at lunch and around the building (and we were on the 14th floor so would often include taking the steps!).

So unless you're doing a dedicated nearly two hours of walking each day, it's hard to reach it just by pottering around.

I think sometimes people's step counters are inaccurate - my DH's often used to get to 10,000, whereas we'd only done about 5-6,000.

I also have desk job and drive to work. After work I do workouts, some usual housework etc. and never get above 5000 steps. I think it's bullshit people make 10000 steps without even leaving the house, unless they live in Buckingham Palace.

I think sometimes people's step counters are inaccurate

People love to kid themselves though. You must know, if you haven't been out for a run or walk that day, that if you hit 10,000 "steps" you haven't racked up that 5 or so miles just in walking around the house.

Say your house is very big. Huge. It's still not going to be more than 50metres between your bedroom and your kitchen.
But take that very generous 50m as a baseline. A mile is 1600m so you'd have to do that distance 32 times to cover a mile.
And 10k steps is round about 5 miles. So even in this huge house you would be moving between the bedroom and the kitchen more than 150 times a day - or 10 times an hour over 15 hours of being awake - to rack up 10,000 steps.

So walking 50m every six minutes. For 10 hours.
Not likely is it.

I think sometimes people's step counters are inaccurate

Yup

@UsingChangeofName did I say that’s all the walking I do? No. I did not.

I used to do 15 min walk before work (incorporating school drop off) and then 30 mins at lunch. I lost a decent chunk of weight, and felt fitter, but it did trigger old issues with my hips, so I’m back to swimming, Pilates and yoga. I don’t need to lose any more weight now, so it’s all good.

I walk around on work calls and do steps around the house in the evening. Can easily do 13/14k. Weekends 20k

I can but it involves 2hrs minimum walking up and down my landing to get the steps in. Just doing normal chores. Not likely

Yes walking on work calls really helps

I never sit down for a phone call now. Work or personal. I pop my headphones in and walk up and down, really gets the steps in. I lost a lot of weight just changing my habits, eating and exercise

I can't walk around for work calls as I need to be at my computer, but for personal calls if I'm making the call I actually make sure I've got some one handed household jobs I can do at the same time.
I can sort laundry, tidy the kitchen, put groceries away, clean the bathroom, dust all while on the phone.

Get some wireless headphones then you’ve got both hands and can chat too - game changer

Wouldn't I need a headset (with a bit to speak into), otherwise I'd still have to carry the phone around with me, no? I can see how I could be do a stationary, two handed job this way, but not one where I'm walking about.
I've got bluetooth and wired headphones, but I use those when I'm listening only, not talking.

I use my air pods and can leave the phone nearby, don’t need to carry it. They are linked up with my phone

They have a microphone in my AirPods - not sure if other wireless headphones do. People hear me talk just fine

Ah right. I don't have AirPods and my earphones don't have a microphone.
Something to consider when I need to replace them.
I sounds a bit of a techno-fool, don't I! I'm not, it's just not something that I need so much.

When I was commuting, I'd do about 15k steps a day as I'd have to walk to / from the station at each end, and I'd also go for a walk at lunch time. Now I'm WFH, I don't do anywhere near as many. (Though we've just got a dog, so my step count is up, even if it's not as high as it used to be.)

This is great if you have lots of "chats" where you don't have to record anything, but when I am on a work call, I need to be recording the information I am being given, so need to be typing away on the laptop whilst on the call, so unfortunately wouldn't work in my job.

Yes I largely do this when my staff phone me. As we don’t have cameras for ad hoc calls or I dial into teams and have my wired headphones in my work phone and keep the phone in my pocked when walking. It doesn’t work for video calls though of course

17,432 today but that is because of three walks.

It may be possible to clock up loads of steps wandering around taking phone calls... and this is obviously better than sitting down.. but in no way comparable to steps running or walking at a brisk pace.

Surely the effort needs to be considered, not just the number