Want to do 8K steps a day - but how is it always possible? Thoughts pls!

[Thebrutalstage]

I already do exercise 3/4 a week in the gym (mostly strength work). But I'm trying to build up movement. But some days it just seems impossible to get 8K steps in.

Any thoughts for cheats/ways you do it if you already have a lot on in your day?

I thought that, I'm trying to up my steps and walked 6.5 miles on Saturday and that earned me 14k steps - how you get 8000 just pottering around the house doesn't ring true

I walk to a pub about 40 minutes away, works out about 9k steps there and back.

Of course I need a G&T at the pub to rehydrate, hydration is very important.😎

Podcasts or audiobooks help with the boredom of walking.

A mile is, give or take, two thousand steps. Walk at three miles an hour for an hour and that's 6000 steps. Recording much more than this probably means innacurate counting (or very short steps). Walking does need to be reasonably brisk to get a good benefit, not sure if clocking up a few thousand ambling around the house really does much, but maybe I'm wrong.

Most I ever did in one day was 23000 sightseeing around Vienna. Pleasure and exercise!

Big time. I can't do long walks without a good audio book. If it is a good one I usually end up extending the walk.

I will often walk when I'd normally get the bus or tube. I listen to podcasts while I'm doing it. Most days I get above 15,000 steps.

I do around 12,000 steps a day by just walking everywhere and not driving much. I walk the kids to school, I walk to and from work (2 miles each way), I walk to the shops.
Some days I work from home and try and walk in the morning, at lunchtime or in the evening.
I realise some people live too far from work or school to walk but I do think loads of people jump in the car when it's not necessary.

I aim to walk at least 50k steps a week (on top of 4 x exercise classes), which can be difficult with a desk based job, working from home. Especially now the dc take themselves to school but need driving around in the evenings.

I try and walk before work - if I leave at the same time as the dc, I can walk for 30-40 mins before starting work - say 4k steps.
Then lunchtime and after work or after tea.
Sometimes if I have a meeting where I need to mostly listen, I'll do that whilst walking.
If I go to an office, I get off the bus earlier than I need to, or park further away and always take the stairs.
If I am taxi-ing the teens in the evening I'll go for a walk whilst I'm waiting.
Jogging on the spot or star jumps whilst waiting for the kettle!
I have been known to run up and down the stairs a few times before bed!

You can use Google fit on your phone. Just keep it in your pocket... or the MiFit bands are quite cheap as a starting point.

I do 10000 a day, mainly in 3 sessions, 2 home to school and back (about 1 1/4 miles each), and then an evening walk. Weeke ds can either be really easy or much more challenging depending in what we are doing though. You'd probably find your classes get quite alot of steps. 10,000 is only just over 4 miles, so about 80-90mins even walking slowly.

Little things I do to boost my steps is not take everything from a room to another. Make several trips, even if you need to go up and down the stairs a few times. Don't take short cuts when out and about, go the longer way round.

20 mins in the morning (school run)
30 mins lunch time walk
general walking about the house, cleaning up etc
walk around supermarket
pop to shop for basics I’ll walk
if I haven’t got my steps I’ll go and do 15 mins before bed, walk around block or my mini treadmill if weather bad

I do min 10k steps daily and have done for years

My smartwatch doesn't count my steps unless my arms are swinging. I think it's really counting arm-swings and then making an assumption that this accounts for steps. If I take a walk with my hands in my pockets, it doesn't count those. If I exercise for an hour then it counts fewer steps than if I just walk for 30 min. think this is because it doesn't count things like leg-lifts as steps. Only if my arms are moving. So I take the step-counter's estimate of my steps with a grain of salt.

By systematically measuring how my steps changed with walks of different durations, I worked out that a 30 minute brisk walk gives me about 3000 steps. A sedentary day at home gives me about 3000 steps. If I am home all day but do a lot of housework then I get a total of about 6000 steps for the day. Running errands is tiring but gives me fewer steps than you would think because a lot of it is sitting in the car. Volunteering at school for a couple hours gives me the most daily steps, about 10 000, even if the rest of the day is very lazy. (Teachers must be getting lots of steps because when working with kids it seems like you never sit down!)

Basically I try not to have sedentary days at home, and I try to get a 30 minute walk in a few times a week. I try to volunteer at least once a week. The other days, I do an exercise workout at home and then I don't worry about how many steps are counted on my smartwatch for the day.

I have an ancient wrist band (my SDs cast off Fitbit) that counts my steps and buzzes my wrist at 10 minutes to the hour if I haven't done 250 steps in the hour. I spend most of my days almost stationary, reading and reviewing reports, so I try to stand up for that 10 minutes and walk on the spot. If I have trainers on I can almost jog on the spot, and 1000 steps takes less than the 10 minutes. It makes getting the total up much easier, and is pretty much the only exercise I get.

Someone else said it but walk everywhere you can . Do you have a dog? That’s an easy way to get your steps in haha.

Get a dog
walk instead of car journeys
or even train or bus instead of car

i bought a fitbit counter from CEX for £20

I do virtually none but I do weights and spin classes at least so I get some movement in and cardio

At a desk all day and no time to walk at lunch and I don't really want to walk around at night after work so I do indoor exercise instead

I struggle with steps. I do 4 martial arts a week and 1 - 2 yoga sessions but it's my daily activity I worry about. I have no where to walk to because I work from home. I'm glued to the desk 0800 - 1700 and then straight into food / classes etc. If I have a lunch break I prep food for dinner.

I have no idea how many steps I do - barely any. I do have a desk riser so not sat down all the time.

Wow, 20 minute walk is about a mile and a quarter for me which counts as about 3000 steps when I borrowed my son's garmin!!

I WFH, some days I did 2.5K steps all day. Now I stick a You Tube indoor walking exercise on twice a day. I’ve done two today, I’m currently on 7551 steps. They last about 10 mins. Sometimes I use my weights too.

I have a Samsung phone which has the Samsung Health app. If you download an app and keep your phone on you, you can keep track of your steps.

Part of it is down to how active you can be within the constraints of your job. I'm usually easily on 8k by the end of a day, but I'm a primary school teacher who does pe lessons/up and down to assembly/break duty etc. On my planning day when I'm sat at a pc for much of the morning it will be a lot less.

Thank you all! So much helpful stuff to read through properly

I'm so confused by people's high count who don't leave the house (unless you have a house with wings and it's enormous ) for me 2000 steps it's about a mile which takes me around 18 mins to walk at a normal pace. If I walk to collect my son from school and work all day, I would end the day on about 5000 steps. I have to genuinely walk for hours to get to 10,000. I just use the one on my phone is that total rubbish? And I don't have a car so I do walk!

I WFH and wouldn't get close to 8000 without doing a walking workout in the morning. There are loads on YouTube - check out Leslie sansone walk at home xx