Why 10,000 Steps?

It’s easy to get off track with the daily exercise routine. There never seems to be enough time in the day, and the last thing that most people want to do after a long day at work is come home and work more. There’s good news, though: exercise doesn’t have to be another chore. You can start getting the exercise you need to be healthy just by increasing the number of steps you take per day. Take the stairs at work. Walk down the street to get lunch instead of driving. Take the dog for a walk instead of letting him out into the yard. Add these little side-trips into your routine, and before you know it, you’ll be up to walking 10,000 steps per day. Why is 10,000 steps important?

Why 10,000 steps: fighting the sedentary lifestyle.
With an increasing number of Americans having office jobs, long daily commutes and numerous demands on their time, many have fallen into a sedentary lifestyle. Believe it or not, if you’re living a sedentary lifestyle, you may only walk 1,000-3,000 steps per day; 2,000 steps is approximately a mile. It’s important to get moving more, and walking 10,000 steps is a great goal that ensures you’ll start getting the exercise you need.

What about 10,000 steps vs. the 30-60 minute walk?
Other conventional exercise wisdom says to exercise for 30-60 minutes 3-5 days per week. How does this stack up to 10,000 steps? Exercise data indicates that people who go for 30-minute walks don’t reach 10,000 steps per day, and walking a few thousand steps a few times per week just isn’t enough to get you locked into a new fitness routine. When people commit to 60-minute walks, it’s much easier to find an excuse not to do it, as it can be difficult to find such a large block of time together or it can seem like a daunting task.

By committing to walking 10,000 steps, you commit to making healthier lifestyle choices. Walk more during the day. Park further away. Walk to visit friends and neighbors instead of calling them. When you commit to walking 10,000 steps per day, you can spread that exercise throughout the course of the day and you’re not relying on one tiny block of time to help you become more physically fit. Walking 10,000 steps per day is a lifestyle change, but because it’s fully integrated into your life instead of a little exercise routine that you can find a million excuses not to do, it’s much more successful in the long-run.

Anybody can walk 10,000 steps.
The bottom line is that walking 10,000 steps per day is an attainable goal. You don’t need special training. You don’t need to belong to a gym. You don’t even need special workout gear; a good pair of shoes will do it. Anybody can walk 10,000 steps per day, even without a good track record of being physically fit. Why 10,000 steps a day? Because it’s easy, and you can’t afford not to do it.