Walking is an excellent exercise that everyone can and should do regularly. It not only helps you to lose weight but also helps you to maintain a healthy life. Without your motivation, you do not need anything else to start implementing walking in your daily life. Sneakers can be an exception; I am just joking!!! Some benefits of walking:
- Improves heart health
- Helps to keep diabetes in check
- It improves mood and also keeps blood pressure lower
- It helps in maintaining weight
- Improves endurance
When we talk about walking, usually the follow-up question that comes up is: How much should you walk? There is a common urgency to know the ideal number of steps an individual should take daily. This question has no magical answer; it varies depending on various aspects.
If you are familiar with fitness, then you must have heard that 10,000 steps is the magical number that will fast-forward your fitness goal. This is not completely true. The idea of 10,000 steps was a marketing gimmick to sell the first pedometer in 1965.
However, it is not that you will not benefit from walking 10,000 steps. The question here should be whether you need to walk 10,000 steps or whether it is too much or too little.
How can you determine the optimal step count?
You need to understand your goal and then plan accordingly. 10,000 steps usually take 45 to 60 minutes of walking at a moderate pace, which, depending on the individual, burns roughly 500 calories.
On average, people walk between 3000 and 4000 steps a day. As per your goal, you should set your daily step count. If you want to lose weight, 5000 steps a day would be a good place to start. Do not rush; do it at a moderate pace. Like every other exercise, make small progress weekly.
For example, if you walk for 5000 steps, then in the following week, add as little as 200 or 250 steps to it. It will not stress your body. You can progress weekly and gradually increase it to 10,000 or more steps daily.
However, if your goal is to build muscle mass, you should not increase your step count too much. In this case, you can stick between 5000 to 8000 steps daily. Otherwise, it might create an obstacle in reaching your goal.
Remember, walking is another tool in your arsenal that will help you reach your fitness goal. It will only help you if you do not help yourself, which means you need to maintain your diet alongside it. If you eat an additional 1000 calories and burn 500 calories by walking for an hour and expect a fat loss, then you will be delusional. You also need to maintain other aspects to get the most benefit from walking.
Tracking step counts daily and monitoring progress will give you all the data you need to understand if you need to tweak your schedule or if you can go along with it.
How can you track your step counts?
In recent times, tracking your daily step counts has become as easy as buying anything online. Many mobile apps are available that can track your daily steps, and different kinds of fitness bands are also available on the market that can track steps.
Do they give you accurate results? In our personal experience, almost all of the apps’ pedometers provide quite decent results. However, we suggest you get a fitness band, and believe us, you will not regret it.
Numbers keep us motivated, and when you reach your daily goal, your motivation goes through the roof. You can check if the band is correctly measuring your steps by just monitoring whether it registers a step when you take one. Taping on the screen and seeing the targeted number will help you stick to the daily walk, as you would have a target to fulfill.
There are many popular fitness bands, like “The Apple Watch” or “Fitbit.” However, if you want to get one on a low budget, you can go for MI Bands. I use MI Band 5. The latest one that they launched is MI Band 8, which has a lot of new cool features.
How can you reach your daily target if you lack time?
This is a fundamental question, as many of you might do desk jobs, which forces you to live a sedentary life. Also, time becomes a big obstacle, and if you need to create separate time for walking, then it becomes hard to fit it into your schedule. There are some tweaks you can make in your daily life so that you can complete your daily steps and do not need to make any additional changes to your daily schedule.
Walk while scrolling
Most of us spend a hefty amount of time scrolling through social media, whether it is Facebook, Instagram, or any other social media. On average, if you spend 45 to 60 minutes scrolling through social media, just think how many steps you can take at that time if you walk while browsing social media.
If you use social media, just incorporate this habit. It will not only help you fulfill your daily step count but also motivate you, as you will not feel like exercising.
Use Stairs
It might seem like you will not accomplish much, but if you need to get up and down from level 3, it will take you an additional 200 to 300 steps each time.
If you do it 4 to 5 times a day, then there would be an additional 1000–1200 steps that you just added to your routine without changing much.
Walk and talk
People usually attend 3–5 calls daily unless they are lonely like us. If an average conversation takes 5 to 10 minutes and you walk while talking, then you will just walk for an additional 30 to 50 minutes.
However, be safe and do not walk or talk on the streets. Always do that indoors or in a safe place.
Pet Walks
If you have a pet, you can go for a walk with it. It will help both of you. You will not only get your daily step count but also the gratification of your beloved pet.
Walk to your office
However, it will only be a viable option for some, as many people have far-away offices. If you are one of those lucky people whose office is nearby, walk to your office. It will save you money and improve your health.
You will also not need to spare any extra time to meet your daily step count.
In the comment, let us know how many steps you walk in a day with proof.