The simple path to 10,000 steps a day

“Every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from illness; I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it… By sitting still, one comes closer to feeling ill. Health and salvation can only be found in motion; if one just keeps walking, everything will be alright.”
-Philosopher Soren Kierkegaard

No single activity has had a more positive effect on my mood, focus, and energy levels during the workday than standing up from my chair and walking. Walking gets your blood flowing, improves cardiovascular health, boosts creativity & mood, promotes recovery, helps with digestion after meals, burns fat, and much, much more.

Unfortunately, there are tons of barriers to walking outside during the workday.

Maybe you have a packed schedule.
Maybe you live somewhere where it rains a lot, or has brutal winters.
Maybe you live somewhere with awful air quality.
Maybe the area you live in just isn’t walkable.

I’m currently working from home in a high-rise with broken elevators, so it can take 10 minutes just to get outside. We’re also inching closer to consistent 100-degree+ weather here in Austin, which is another deterrent to walking.

Regardless, I hit around 10,000 steps a day without much effort and I firmly believe you can too. I’ll outline the strategy I use - please take it and make it your own.
(Spoiler alert: the strategy revolves around a walking pad and a standing desk.)

There’s nothing magical about 10,000 steps per day, but there are many documented health benefits of getting in the 6000-8000 step range. 10,000 is just a nice number that’s easy to remember. 

Turns out that the 10,000 steps goal was actually popularized by a Japanese company marketing a step-counter tool, which had the slogan “Let’s walk 10,000 steps a day.” The Japanese character for the number 10,000 also happens to look kinda like a person walking: 万 (!)

Anyways, back to the strategy:

Walking at an average pace for 10 minutes typically = 1000 steps. Under normal circumstances, walking for 100 minutes a day would get us to 10,000 steps.
I move much slower on my walking pad since I’m doing work at the same time, so we’ll assume that 10 minutes on the walking pad = 500 steps.

• 1) Before work, I walk for 10-ish minutes around the block and mess around on my phone. Step counter: 1000

• 2) I usually have 1 open hour before my Zoom meetings start. I walk super slow on the walking pad while I chip away at my first task of the day.
  Step counter: 4000 (+3000 steps)

• 3) I go for another 10-minute stroll outside after lunch. Step counter: 5000 (+1000 steps)

• 4) I usually also have the last hour of my workday open for random tasks, so I’ll hit the walking pad one more time. I like finishing the day walking, because the late afternoon is usually when I feel most drained from sitting. Plus, I can leave the walking pad out & jump right on the next morning. Step counter: 8000 (+3000 steps)

• 5) Miscellaneous steps from walking around my apartment throughout the rest of the day + any errands in the evening will usually add up to another ~2000 steps. Step counter: 10,000!

If I can’t walk outside (ex: it’s pouring rain), I’ll just spend a few extra minutes on the walking pad.

The beauty of this system is that we’re hitting close to 10,000 steps without accounting for any traditional workouts.

While other forms of higher-intensity exercise are critical (and ideally, we’d walk while not glued to a screen), things will inevitably interfere with making it to the gym or going for a run outside. By integrating movement into your existing workday with a walking pad, you’ll sneak in thousands of steps without noticing, even on the busiest of days.

Some of my favorite times to use the walking pad:
-When I’m watching a recording
-When I’m on a call that doesn’t require video or much talking
-When I’m brainstorming

You can find a walking pad for $100 new on Amazon or even cheaper on Facebook Marketplace. It’s personally the best $100 I’ve ever spent. I’d highly encourage you to try one out. They take a few days to get used to, but it’s all gravy after that.

Talk again soon - until then, let me know if I can help in any way.
Nico