How do you do 10,000 steps a day when working in desk job?

[Littlemiss74]

I’m thinking of doing a charity challenge (Alzheimers Society) of 10,000 steps a day during September. I need to get back into regular exercise so I thought this might help give me an incentive.

I know to many people 10,000 steps a day is the norm but it isn’t for me. I work in a desk job 4 days a week and normally most of my steps during those 8 hours are to the kitchen & bathroom!

If you do 10,000 steps a day and have desk job please can you tell me how you do it?

For me that’s an hour’s very brisk walk or 90 minutes at a reasonable pace. I do it at lunch or after work.

Walk before and after work - if you drive to work park further away and walk some of it.
Walk during your lunch break?

My daily goal is 15,000 : walk in the morning before work, at lunch and in the evening. I do a lot of calls, so rather than sitting down for them, I walk around or step on the spot

Walk to work, or part of the way.

I want 40 mins each way, no idea of steps, must be about right? On days I wfh I walk before work, for 1-2 hours.

It’s impossible!

Should say I walk 40 mins each way.

@Goofers

It’s impossible!

It isn't impossible!

It's really hard to walk just for the sake of walking. Even a 60-80 minute brisk walk isn't enough to get me to 10k.

If you WFH then you probably have to create a commute so walk somewhere 15 mins away and then back home again. Plus a long walk in the middle of the day if you can.

I don’t do 10,000 steps a day but if I did (and perhaps I should!) I would plan to walk either before or after work for 1hr + and then a quick walk at lunchtime.

You can get extra steps in on the spot as well in between things/waiting for the kettle etc

I wfh but walk the school run - 3k round trip am and 3k round trip PM. One of the directions is also up a steep hill.

Getting past 7k (add on another 1k of at home walking around) is impossible though - I try and just get to 70k over the week.

lie

Usually I can do about 7000 in my lunch break and then I have a walk to my local Tesco and back on the evening which does the rest.
If I walk to Morrisons, half an hour away, and come back then I will do 10,000.
To my mum's and back is about 8000 steps.
I usually listen to a radio 4 program on BBC Sounds or an audio book to keep my from getting bored.
It's not too bad once you get used to it.

When I had a Fitbit ("lost" it during lockdown & gained loads of fat so must find it again....) I used to set alarm every hour at work and go for a quick walk around the building. Also, a standing desk helps, where you can march while on phone etc

I tend to find most the time that if I go for a 30 minute walk, that’s 3000 steps, 60 mins = 6000 steps etc so would need to do 1 hour 40 mins of walking a day as a guide maybe?
Walk in the morning, lunch and evening like others said. Also set an alarm (my Fitbit has one built in) for 10 to every hour, at that alarm try and go to the bathroom, get a glass of water etc. All adds up.

I'm watching a Moroccan potter giving it some welly on his his traditional potter's wheel on the Food Network right now. Ainsley Harriot had a go and it's definitely hard work and counts as steps!

So while a traditional potter's wheel might be going too far is there some way of doing some under-desk 'stepping'? Like a baby treadmill?

Sorry if this is the most ridiculous idea anyone's ever come up with in the history of Mumsnet.

Get off the bus / tube / tram one stop earlier in the morning and walk the difference; same in the afternoon, walk from work to one stop further away.

I get mine in when I run. As PP have said if you don't naturally do the 10,000 steps then you have to go out of your way to do so. A colleague of mine gets up an hour early to go for a morning walk. Walk at lunch, walk at night.

I do ‘Get Fit with Rick’ walking workouts on YouTube.

I wfh (for now) and do a 'commute' of 2k of so each morning. takes me 20 minutes.
another walk or run in the evening.
don't have a car so walk or cycle to the shop. it all counts.

If you commute by car then it’ll take you at least an hour of planned walking on top of general pottering around. The only question is when?

@Dashdotcom

I tend to find most the time that if I go for a 30 minute walk, that’s 3000 steps, 60 mins = 6000 steps etc so would need to do 1 hour 40 mins of walking a day as a guide maybe? Walk in the morning, lunch and evening like others said. Also set an alarm (my Fitbit has one built in) for 10 to every hour, at that alarm try and go to the bathroom, get a glass of water etc. All adds up.

Same here, 10 mins is 1000 steps. Sometimes after a long day at work it’s very difficult to have the energy for a 1 hr 40 minute walk!

Get one of the step counters that posters have that has them convinced they do 2,000 steps "pottering" around making breakfast.

Though in all seriousness, the step counters can vary massively so a step goal, while still something to aim for isn't a set target. Aim to have 20 mons brisk walk several times a day.

I find it impossible. I leave the house at 7am, have a commute along a road I couldn’t park on to walk the remainder into the office and only have a half hour lunch break, so nowhere near long enough to get 10k steps in. I do a bit of a walk at night, but again, nowhere near enough, esp on the evenings I’m ferrying DS to something.

I have worked at an office I commuted to by train and walking, so it was a doddle then - but it all depends on your commute. Otherwise you have to set your alarm for much earlier - which might be impractical, esp if you’ve got kids to get out of the door etc.

Are you wfh? If not you need to walk part of your commute if possible. Get off a couple of stops earlier or park a distance away.

If you're wfh you need to walk in the morning, lunch and evening basically. I get mine in doing the nursery run! Or the alternative is to do something like couch to 5k, running will get your steps in more efficiently.

I do an hour walk before work which does about 7500 steps.