Walk More with These 5 Easy Tricks
Walking is one of the most powerful and effective tools at your disposal. It is great exercise, gets your blood flowing, and helps keep your joints loose. The benefits of walking truly cannot be overstated. Because it is low impact, it is the one exercise that is fit for everyone no matter what shape you are in, how old you are, or what preexisting injuries you have.
Sadly however, the average person only walks 3,000 to 4,000 steps a day. If you have ever used a device that counts your steps (your phone probably has one), you know that 3,500 steps is not a lot. At all. It is a sedentary day.
Why don’t we walk more?
Many of us have desk jobs which forces us to be sitting for the better part of 8 hours a day. Factor in another 8 for healthy sleep and that’s already 2/3rd of your day gone. Sitting down to eat 3 meals a day brushes off probably another hour. With only 7 hours left in a day it’s hard to get in any steps at all if you have hobbies that don’t require a lot of movement or physical activity.
The good news is even if you set a goal of walking 7,000 steps a day you are already double the national average!
10,000 seems to be the “gold standard” for most individuals, however 7k is still a very solid step count and in my opinion, a more realistic goal to strive for in the beginning.
If you can start by hitting 7,000 you can eventually increase your goal to 10,000 if you’d like. Since my job requires me to be in front of a computer most of the day, this is the goal I started with. After some months, I am now consistently hitting 10,000 steps and there are usually a few days of the week where I am hitting 15,0000.
So how can we increase our goal count – whether it is 7,000, 10,000 or even more?
1) Park Further Away
How often do we arrive to our destination and try to find the closest parking spot to the front door? I have been guilty of doing this before, even when going to the gym! I’m literally going to work out and move my body but I would try to avoid walking a little more.
Parking just a little bit further is an easy way to get more steps in during your day without really having to make any major life changes.
(Just be careful you don’t park TOO far away. I made this mistake living in Houston, and the car I was driving got broken into!)
2) Take the stairs
If you were thinking that parking further away will waste time during your day, I have good news for you. Taking the stairs will help you get that time back!
Not to mention, there is something about walking up a flight of stairs that can put even the best performance athlete out of breath! For this reason, going up the stairs consistently will help you build endurance.
This simple switch from taking the stairs as opposed to an elevator or even an escalator will not only increase your step count but also improve your quality of life.
3) Walk more on your weekend/off days
If you have a desk job, it might not be realistic to hit 7,000 – 10,000 steps during the week. This is where utilizing weekends becomes so important.
Look at your steps on a weekly basis, not a daily one. This means if your goal is to walk 7,000 steps a day, your real goal should be to walk 49,000 steps per week.
So, if you are only able to walk 5,000 steps on busy workdays, you can walk 10-15k on the weekends to compensate.
Weekly Goal Steps = 49,000
5,000 steps Mon-Fri = 25,000
Remaining = 24,000 steps
Hitting 12,000 steps on Saturday & Sunday would get you to your weekly goal of total steps.
4) Walk to nearby places
If somewhere is within walking distance, ditch your car and walk there!
You will save on gas, feel healthier, and get your steps in.
My rule of thumb is if I can walk to my destination in 20 minutes or less, I’ll opt to walk there rather than drive.
5) Multitask walking
If there is something you can do while walking at the same time, then do it!
I love catching up on podcasts and listening to audiobooks while I go for my walks.
If it’s too cold to walk outside, try walking on the treadmill while you watch your favorite TV show on your phone.
Other multitasks options to do when walking is that you can call your friends/family, pray, plan out your day, or just think about life.
–
–
What tricks do you use to walk more and hit your step count? How many steps are you walking on average? Let me know in the comments or at eric@ericgolban.com!
Best,
Eric
