{"id":1866,"date":"2025-01-18T12:44:12","date_gmt":"2025-01-18T12:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/14-creative-ways-to-reach-your-10000-steps.html"},"modified":"2025-01-18T12:44:12","modified_gmt":"2025-01-18T12:44:12","slug":"14-creative-ways-to-reach-your-10000-steps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/health\/14-creative-ways-to-reach-your-10000-steps.html","title":{"rendered":"14 Creative Ways to Reach Your 10,000 Steps"},"content":{"rendered":"

Part of reaching your health and fitness goals is literally putting one foot in front of the other\u2026 again and again and again.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve all seen the ominous headlines blaring that sitting will kill you and how sitting is the new smoking.<\/p>\n

But before you throw out every chair in your house (and office), it\u2019s important to remember that it\u2019s more about the lack of movement than the act of putting your butt in a chair that\u2019s not good for your body.<\/p>\n

That said, sitting for extended periods of time isn\u2019t great even for people who exercise on the regular: According to 2015 research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, constant sitting \u2014 during your commute, at your desk, or on the couch\u2014 may blunt the positive effects of your workouts.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s partially because long bouts of inactivity inhibit the flow of blood and nutrients to your muscles between exercise sessions, explains Jason Raynor, C.S.C.S., a Nike Master Trainer with the Spa at JW Marriott Chicago.<\/p>\n

Performing regular activity like walking throughout the day, however, can help your muscles recover and reduce exercise-induced inflammation, Raynor says.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, outside of your workout, your non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT)\u00a0\u2014 the energy you burn doing things like walking from point A to point B \u2014 is the biggest source of your daily caloric burn, says Kimberly Mills, owner of FitPossibilities Personal Training and Nutrition Coaching in Missouri.<\/p>\n

And remember: Hitting 10,000 steps a day is not a substitute for exercise \u2014 pair your workouts with regular movement throughout the day.<\/p>\n

Do You Really Need to Take 10,000 Steps a Day?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing magical about the 10,000 number,\u201d Dr. Campbell says. \u201cThe number came from pedometers sold in Japan in the 1960s. They were marketed under the name \u2018manpo-kei,\u2019 which translates to \u201810,000 steps meter.\u2019 The 10,000 step count then just kind of caught on since then.\u201d<\/p>\n

That said, performing regular movement \u2014 taking more steps than you did last week or last month \u2014 is the goal.<\/p>\n

Related:<\/strong> How Many Steps Do You Walk Per Mile?<\/p>\n

Research published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity suggests that most healthy adults rack up between 4,000 and 18,000 steps per day, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) doesn\u2019t even bother making a step recommendation.<\/p>\n

Instead, it recommends that adults do strength training and 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week, which is roughly 8,000 steps a day, according to Campbell.<\/p>\n

14 Easy Ways to Get You to\u00a010,000\u00a0Steps<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Here are some simple tips for increasing your step count throughout the day.<\/p>\n

1. Get a dog<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"woman<\/p>\n

Nothing will get you out of the house faster than a puppy that needs to do some business. Not sure if you can commit? Check your local animal shelter or pet rescue sites for foster home programs; you\u2019ll be doing your body and a homeless pooch a favor.<\/p>\n

2. Take the stairs<\/strong><\/h3>\n

At work, at the mall, at the train station, anywhere. If you wear a fitness tracker, you\u2019ll score both steps and flights.<\/p>\n

3. Take a moving break<\/strong><\/h3>\n

During your lunch break, go on a 15-minute walk around the block. Not only will you get your steps in, but you may feel more focused at work. And remember to get up frequently during the day, not just at lunch.<\/p>\n

4. Get a treadmill desk<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"at<\/p>\n

Check with your company to see if they provide treadmill desks (yes, it\u2019s a thing) for employees. Walking while you\u2019re typing takes some getting used to, but it\u2019s worth it.<\/p>\n

5. Park far away<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Every couple of hundred steps walking to or from your car adds up quickly. Plus, if you park at the back of the parking lot, you\u2019ll help save your car from dings and dents.<\/p>\n

6. Take the long way<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When you\u2019re at work and need to go to the restroom, skip the closest one and take a detour. Hit the stairs and use one on a different floor, or just take the longest route there. The same goes for doing errands (on foot) or strolling to a friend\u2019s house.<\/p>\n

7. Take a post-meal walk<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"man<\/p>\n

Put your shoes on after you put down your fork. Taking a 15-minute walk after dinner can help you digest your meal faster, too.<\/p>\n

8. Get off the bus or train one (or two) stops early<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Two birds, one stone: You\u2019ll help reduce carbon emissions and do your body good at the same time.<\/p>\n

9. Play with your kids<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Hide and seek can run up 10,000\u00a0steps alone!<\/p>\n

10. Walk and talk<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"woman<\/p>\n

Take your business calls on the go, or skip the conference room and have walking meetings with your colleagues.<\/p>\n

11. Don\u2019t fast forward your DVR<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The next time you binge-watch \u201cThe Walking Dead,\u201d don\u2019t fast forward through the commercials. Stand up and march in place or pick stuff up around the house until the zombies get walking again.<\/p>\n

12. Drink up<\/strong><\/h3>\n

You need lots of water anyway, and all of those trips to the water cooler at work\u2014and the restroom\u2014will make a big dent in your day\u2019s step total.<\/p>\n

13. Go on a walking date<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"couple<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a kind of a throwback, but there\u2019s something charming about taking a stroll, especially a sunset one, with your S.O. (If it\u2019s a first-date-gone-wrong, then you can keep walking\u2014away.)<\/p>\n

14. Take extra trips<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When unloading grocery bags from the car or carrying laundry to the bedroom, it\u2019s tempting to try to take as few trips as possible. Instead, try taking one more trip than you absolutely have to.<\/p>\n

With all the technology and machinery available to move us around with the least amount of effort, it\u2019s easy to get in the \u201cwhy walk?\u201d mindset.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re not saying you need to pull a Forrest Gump and traverse the U.S. on foot, but you\u2019ll be surprised at how fast you\u2019ll hit your daily goal (whatever it is) when you use your feet for what they were meant to do.<\/p>\n

\"people<\/p>\n

Save<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part of reaching your health and fitness goals is literally putting one foot in front of the other\u2026 again and again and again. We\u2019ve all seen the ominous headlines blaring that sitting will kill you and how sitting is the new smoking. But before you throw out every chair in your house (and office), it\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1867,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[91,93,116,182],"class_list":["post-1866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","tag-fitness","tag-fitness-tips","tag-lifestyle","tag-walking"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}