Is it 3500, 5000, 10,000? It’s 10,000.
- 10,000 steps for improved health.
- 10,000 steps for improved strength, mobility, mood and sleep.
- 10,000 steps because it translates to the Surgeon General’s recommendation of accumulating 30 minutes of activity per day.
Sadly though, the average American only walks 5,100 steps per day – a level that is considered sedentary. Increasing your daily step count isn’t as daunting as it sounds. If you take a few hundred steps in around your office every hour, park farther from the door, or take a walk during your lunch break, you can get there.
To increase your daily activity, take it slow. You want increased movement to be a lifestyle change, not something that becomes too overwhelming to stick with. So, follow these steps — pun intended 🙂 :
- Invest in a pedometer. There are many different types available. My recommendation: A Fitbit One or a FitBit Charger HR. Both of these pedometers seamlessly interact with myfitnesspal, a free food/calorie/water tracking app.
- I have a Fitbit One and love it. It clips to a pocket and tracks my steps, stairs, and estimates how many calories I burn in a day.
- The FitBit Charge HR wristband tracks workouts, heart rate, distance, calories burned, floors climbed, active minutes and steps. Because it tracks your heart rate, the calories burned would be more accurate than with the FitBit One.
- Track how many steps you take on a regular day for several days in a row. This will become your base.
- Increase your steps by 20% each week until you reach your goal. For example, if you find that you are getting about 6000 steps per day, increase your step goal for the first week to 7200 (6000 x 1.2). Increase by 20% each week until you reach 10,000 steps or your goal.
- Set a weekly goal. Some days it is easy to get your steps in, other days, not so much. So set a weekly goal of 70,000 so life evens out some.