7-Day 10,000 Steps A Day Challenge

How many steps are you taking?

Health is about more than salads and stair climbers. Every choice we make in our day-to-day lives, from our snacks to our transportation, affects our well-being. Even our go-to coffee order plays a role. All of these small decisions add up. Every time we make the right choice, we take a step toward a better, happier, healthier version of ourselves.

This week, we want to bring you a new challenge, one that will push you toward a more active lifestyle. Your challenge is to walk. The average American takes as few as 2,000 steps a day. Ideally, they should be walking five times as many!

We want to challenge you to take 10,000 steps every day for a week. We’re giving you tips and tricks to increase how much you walk in a day. These small changes will have big results. If you’re ready to take on this walking challenge, don your shoes and get started on your 10,000 steps.

How to Track Progress
Pedometers are available in any budget range. If you’d like to get a pedometer, you can find them at a department store, a sporting goods store, or online. Another option is a step-tracking app. There are several smartphone apps that keep track of how much you walk.

How to Reach 10,000 Steps
10,000 steps can seem like a lofty goal if you have a sedentary office job. Unfortunately, most people do. Take every chance you get to log extra steps and check out these 6 tips for upping your daily step count.

1. Pace as you work.
Many office tasks keep you in front of your computer. For those that you can accomplish while walking, pace around the office. You can pace while reading, talking on the phone, or brainstorming.

2. Park far from the door.
At home or the grocery store, park your car as far away from the doors as possible. This will force you to walk to and from your car and help you get a few additional steps in.

3. Or leave the car at home.
If you’re going somewhere close by, walk instead of drive. Before you know it, you’ll be racking up miles.

4. Leave the house.
It’s tempting to spend all your free time snacking in front of the television, but it’s much more rewarding to go outdoors. You don’t need to run sprints or long distances. Strolling through the park at a comfortable pace will help you achieve your step goal. You can even log steps by window shopping through the mall!

5. Start and finish your workout with the treadmill.
Warm up and cool down by walking or jogging. If you spend 15 minutes warming up and 15 minutes cooling down, you’ll have spent 30 minutes walking. At a comfortable pace, that’s over one mile!

6. Get addicted to a new series – with a catch.
Start watching a new online series, but make a rule that you can only watch while you’re walking on the treadmill. Take your tablet to the gym with you and you’ll find that the series is all the motivation you need to keep on walking. The same trick works with books and podcasts. Just stick to your rule and limit your new addiction to the treadmill.

What You Will Get
Unlike most fitness challenges, this 10,000 step walking challenge is not about spending hours at the gym. It’s about leaving behind sedentary habits. It pushes you to make small, long-term changes that deliver big results.

By the end of the week, you’ll have walked 70,000 steps. For an average person, that’s about 35 miles! You will have walked about 10 miles more than a marathon.

Since this challenge pushes you to be more active, it’s also likely that you’ll burn more calories throughout the week. If you’re trying to lose weight, this is the perfect way to start your fitness journey. Walking isn’t just good for your waistline – it’s also great for your heart.

Where Do I Go From Here?
Once you’ve completed our 10,000 steps challenge, use that motivation to push through new challenges. Check out our 30-Day Skinny Plate challenge or browse our fitness workouts. Always keep working toward the best version of yourself!

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Sofia Lopez

Sofia received her BA from Cornell University and her MFA from San Francisco State University. She creates workouts and fitness challenges. Her hobbies include running, hiking, and listening to audiobooks from the exercise bike.

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