How to Easily Achieve Your Daily Fitness Target of 10,000 Steps

To hit your health and fitness goals, you gotta literally put one foot in front of the other time and again. Sitting is the new smoking in our lives, even if you’re into structured workouts every day, your health relies more on movement than prolonged sitting. That leads to the need to walk more. When it comes to daily count of steps, people talk about the health benefits of 10,000 steps, apart from the usual exercise routine, with great enthusiasm. But how to walk 10,000 steps a day?

The number may seem daunting at first, but let’s break it down and simplify it all for you. Health Shots got in touch with Dr Apoorv Dua, an Orthopaedic Consultant, to understand easy ways to complete the 10,000 steps with a desk job or otherwise.

Completing 10,000 steps a day has been celebrated as the magic number to achieve on the pedometer or fitness tracking device for long. But there is no scientific evidence as such of the benefits of walking 10,000 steps in a day. Recent studies have pointed out that a lesser number of steps are also enough for moderate exercise daily. The 10,000 fitness goal is more of a marketing gimmick. The good thing it does is to motivate people to walk more.

Getting 10,000 steps a day in our daily lives can be challenging if you’re too used to sitting for long. However, our expert simplifies it for us with these easy-to-follow steps:

1. Groove to your favourite tracks: Not only does it uplift your mood, but with every dance step or move you make, you get closer to your 10k steps goal. Play a song of your choice and dance your way out.

2. Indulge in a sport you like: It can help you clock the numbers. You could also get your partner involved to make it more fun.

3. Perform household chores: On an off day from your gym or yoga class, consider lending your helping hand in daily household activities. Activities like sweeping, vacuuming, mopping, dusting, and cleaning can help you make more steps than you can imagine.

4. Make the most of cooking time: While waiting for the kettle to boil or the microwave to ping, walk around and make the most of those lost minutes.

5. Walk and talk: When you’re having an idle conversation, not demanding any task to be done, walk and talk, literally. This is one of the simplest ways to ace the ’10k steps in a day’ goal.

6. Get moving during TV ad breaks: Instead of wasting your energy on advertisements, get up and move around during the ad breaks.

7. Sit less, move more: If you’re in a work-from-home job, make it a habit to sit less and move around more. Don’t keep a water bottle nearby, instead, get a glass of water every hour. Avoid online delivery apps and walk to the local stores for your orders.

8. Walk to work: If possible, walk to work instead of taking a car or public transport. Park your car away from the office or the furthest in the parking lot of a mall. Get off at an early bus stop or metro station and walk the rest of the way to your office and back home.

By incorporating these simple steps into your daily routine, you can easily achieve your daily fitness target of 10,000 steps. Remember, every step counts towards a healthier you!