You’ve heard the buzz - the habit of tracking your steps is the newest way to exercise and ensure you're getting enough physical activity each day. There have been countless amounts of research that show measurable benchmarks in fitness can help improve outcomes and help you reach your goals (Hint: Wodify Perform). So, what’s the magic number? Well, technically, there is no magic number for the amount of steps to take in a day, but fitness experts often recommend that 10,000 steps a day are the best daily step target for healthy adults to achieve ideal health benefits. In this blog, we will give you some unique ideas and reasons to get up and accomplish your step goal, no matter what it is!
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This is the best way to give your steps a huge boost for the day. Walking just for 15-20 minutes can give you 2-3k steps (which is what some people get in an entire day!). If you can do 30 minutes instead, or a smaller walk twice, you can get more than half your daily steps goal and it makes the rest of the day easier. You can accomplish this boost with a morning walk, a lunch break stroll, or a family post-dinner walk. You can do this by yourself or you can bring a friend with you either in person or on your phone! If a friend is unavailable, try listening to Wodify’s recommended podcasts. This can keep you accountable on days when life seems to get in the way. Setting a time for a walk can keep you on track with your goals. By simply tracking your daily steps, you’ll feel the need to get moving no matter what.
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In addition to your intentional walk, try adding a quick workout before or after. If you strength train you can add another 3-4k just by walking back and forth between your equipment and a solid 10-minute warm-up jogging on the treadmill. If you love cardio, then a jog, quick-paced cardio machine session or indoor dance workout lasting around 30 minutes will give you 3-6k steps. On days when you are taking a break from working out (which you should definitely do!), just go for a longer walk than usual.
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This may seem like a no-brainer, but the idea of walking instead of driving can be daunting at times. Walking isn’t always practical for long distance travel, but it all depends on your lifestyle. Can you walk to the grocery store instead of driving? Take public transportation? Park in the back of the lot on purpose? You could even walk your kids to soccer practice and take laps around the field. The opportunity for more steps is endless!
Pro tip: If you work at home or in an office: Set a timer for 20 minutes on (40 if you’re really focused), 5 minutes off while working. During those 20 minutes, 100% of your time is focused and intentional, and use 5 minute breaks to walk around, use your phone, grab a snack, go outside, whatever you can think of to get moving.
An oldie, but goodie “health rule” to start putting into practice if you don’t already is to ask yourself: are you physically able to take the stairs today? If the answer is yes, then skip the elevator and get some steps in. You can also challenge yourself with the typical routes you take doing everyday activities. If your work is a direct shot from your home, always take a longer, nonsensical route. Extra fresh air, sunlight and movement is ALWAYS better.
Pro-tip: Use this website to pre-track your route to work or to run errands. It’s a great way to gauge how far the new route will take!
The good news is that increasing your current step count by even a few thousand additional strides most days could be a reasonable, sufficient and an achievable goal. It all centers around prioritizing movement. Yes, you could roll your chair over to the printer, but getting up to walk over puts you in a different posture for a bit. Offer to go get your kids’ iPad that they left upstairs again because you don’t mind the trips up and down the stairs anymore. Also, try adding steps to daily activities. Instead of reading this blog sitting down, try walking around your living room. Scroll your news feed while pacing instead of horizontal on the couch. Dance while doing the dishes. Just try to keep your feet moving whenever it makes sense!
