8 Tips For Getting 10,000 Steps A Day

8 TIPS TO GET 10,000 STEPS A DAY _ Kaitlyn Moorhead

Want to know how to get 10,000 steps in a day… every day?

It’s absolutely possible to create this habit. But, you need to take the right approaches + be smart about how you go about it.

Just waking up one day + deciding you’re going to walk 10,000 steps every day when you maybe normally walk 6,000 steps a day is not the best approach.

In this post, I give 8 actionable tips anyone can use to create a habit of walking 10,000 steps a day for life!

An easy way to start your fitness journey is to focus on walking because there are so many health benefits. But, many people face challenges with getting 10,000 steps if they can't get to a gym to walk on a treadmill. This post breaks down 8 realistic tips for how to walk 10,000 steps a day. With use of a fitness tracker + these ideas, you can easily create a plan for daily movement that keeps you motivated + inspired to get into shape. Click to learn my hacks so you can workout more every day!

1 | USE A WEARABLE FITNESS TRACKER

If you don’t wear a fitness tracker like this one, then you have no clue how much you are moving every day. Just like, if you don’t track your calorie intake as a beginner with healthy eating, you really have no clue how much you’re consuming.

So, invest in purchasing one you can wear on your wrist day in + day out so you can work on getting 10,000 steps a day. They even make them now in super-slim designs so it barely looks like you’re wearing one.

Or, you can rock a watch fitness tracker. Regardless, the first + best tip for getting 10,000 steps a day is to actually track, log, + be able to look back on how many steps you’re actually taking each day.

Click HERE for a post all about my favorite fitness trackers.

2 | SCHEDULE WALKS LIKE THEY’RE MEETINGS

If you follow me on Instagram, you know I love talking about fitness habits as if you’re your own boss. Schedule times of movement each day as if they’re meetings + you’re the boss — bosses don’t cancel! Take them seriously. Better yet, pick the same exact times every day to take your walks.

For me? I walk every morning when I wake up at 6am for about 30-45 minutes to get 10,000 steps a day. I also walk at 11:30am while my daughter eats lunch in the stroller every day. I KNOW I can bank on those steps + how much I will rack up. Then, I try to move enough for the rest of the day to equal the remainder.

Click HERE for my 2 free fitness planners.

3 | DO IT WITH OTHER PEOPLE

Another tip to get 10,000 steps a day is to do it with someone else [or more than 1 person]. Get yourself an accountability partner. Someone who has similar goals to you or is a few steps ahead of you when it comes to their fitness habits.

You want someone to MOTIVATE you to move. So, try not to pick someone who typically gives up, makes excuses, + will most likely talk you out of getting those steps, too.

You can physically walk with someone each day or send pictures, texts, voice memos, etc as accountability for each other. Better yet, if you get my fitness tracker brand HERE, their app is awesome because you can create + join step challenges which are a great motivational factor. Especially if you’re competitive.

Click HERE to read about why you need accountability to reach your health + fitness goals.

4 | GO FOR A WALK FIRST THING IN THE AM

Just like workouts, the best time you can walk is the earliest time you can make to fit it in. I repeat… the time YOU CAN MAKE. It’s all a choice. You are either going to do it or not do it. So, get up + move when your willpower is at its greatest + highest point — the beginning of the day.

Every hour, minute, second that goes on as the day goes by is filled with less + less willpower + motivation. So, start to make a habit of going for a walk as soon as you wake up so you can fit in at least 10,000 steps a day.

Whether that means you walk around your block, go to a track, walk at a gym, or have to purchase a treadmill to walk on in your home. The earlier you can start to knock down those 10,000 steps, the easier it’ll be to clock them all in by the end of the day.

Click HERE to learn my best hacks for working out in the morning.

5 | START SMALL + BUILD OVER TIME

Where are all my “all or nothing” people at? I see you. That’s your biggest downfall when it comes to getting healthier — thinking you need to do the entire habit from day 1. Well, let me tell you… probably the biggest mistake you’ll make.

Stop rushing — start slowly building your habits. That includes while trying to walk 10,000 steps a day. If you truly want to be able to walk 10,000 steps in a day, you need to just beat 500-1,000 steps a week from where you currently are.

So, if you know you walk 6,000 steps a day. For 1-2 weeks, aim for 7,000. When that comes easy, add another 500-1000 steps… + so on + so forth… until you reach a goal of 10,000. It might take 2 months. WHO CARES!? The slower you take, the more likely you’ll actually create a habit out of it.

6 | STACK IT WITH ANOTHER HABIT

Habit stacking is absolute gold if you want to get on the fast-track in some form when it comes to walking 10,000 steps a day — or any other healthy living habit. Habit stacking just means taking the habit you want to create + pairing it with one you already have.

For me? I love watching crap reality TV shows. Yep… no shame over here. So, I work out + walk in the treadmill with my show on in the background. I already know I want to watch it. So, might as well move while I consume mindless entertainment.

Same with when I go on lunch walks with my daughter. She’s going to eat at 11:30am every day. So, might as well put her in the stroller with her snack tray + let her eat it there! Find something you love to do + just pair your steps with it.

Click HERE to read a post of 150+ healthy habits you can start to create for a healthy lifestyle.

7 | LISTEN TO A PODCAST OR AUDIOBOOK

If you already don’t listen to podcasts [really??] ok ok… I am not judging. If you want to create any sort of healthy habit + to bread bad habits, your mindset needs to be worked on. The same goes for creating a habit of walking 10,000 steps a day.

If you want to walk 10,000 steps a day, listening to a podcast or audiobook will help pass the time while your mind pays attention to what’s coming through your headphones. I love starting my day walking + listening to a motivational podcast if I am walking outside with the dog. Makes the time FLY BY compared to if I am walking without listening to one.

The same goes for if you want to listen to an audiobook. You will be so occupied by what you’re listening to that 45 minutes of walking will feel like nothing.

Click HERE to read a post about why you should listen to podcasts + HERE to read about some of my current favorites.

8 | PARTICIPATE IN STEP CHALLENGES

I mentioned it above when I talked about not doing it alone. But, this deserves its own tip. If you are a competitive person, you absolutely want to jump on step challenge groups. You can either create your own where people you personally know send pictures of how many steps they get by the end of the day.

Or, if you get this brand fitness tracker, they have a build-in widget for step challenges in their app. You can join current ones with strangers or you can create your own with others that have the same type of fitness band. Not sure of other tracker apps because I have had this brand for over 7 years. Highly recommend!