Steps · Endurance
How to walk more steps every day
How to get from five thousand steps a day to ten thousand without thinking about it, which devices count them, and the 7-day 10,000 steps chart.
The movement
How to do one properly.
Every rep the same shape, so the numbers mean the same thing on day thirty as on day one.
- 1
Walk at a pace that lifts your breathing but leaves you able to talk.
- 2
Land under your hips and roll through the foot, arms swinging loosely.
- 3
Add walking to things you already do: the far entrance, the stairs, the long way to the kitchen.
- 4
Short walks count. Three ten-minute walks are the same steps as one of thirty.
- 5
Check the count at lunch, not at bedtime. The afternoon is where the gap gets closed.
The way up
How to walk more steps every day
Rung 1
5,000
A normal day with one deliberate walk in it.
Rung 2
7,500
Two walks, or one of forty minutes.
Rung 3
10,000
About an hour and a half of walking spread through the day.
Rung 4
12,500 and up
Walking becomes how you get places.
Add a thousand steps to your daily average every week or two, not all at once. The habit that sticks is the one that fits the day you already have.
Judge the week, not the day. Seventy thousand steps in a week is the target; a quiet Tuesday is paid for by a long Saturday walk.
How it is counted
On the board, however it got there.
Your watch or phone sends the day's total. Fitbit, Apple Health and Health Connect send it every day, and Garmin does while a step challenge is on. Nothing to type.
Worth 0.02 points per rep in the app, so a challenge can weigh it against anything else you count.
Questions
Asked about steps
Is 10,000 the magic number?
No. It is a round number that happens to be a good amount of walking. More than last week is the point; the ten thousand chart just gives the week a shape.
Do steps from a run count?
Yes. Your watch counts them in the day's total whatever you were doing. The run is logged as a run on top.
Does it count from my watch?
Your watch or phone sends the day's total. Fitbit, Apple Health and Health Connect send it every day, and Garmin does while a step challenge is on. Nothing to type.
Is there a chart to follow?
Yes. The 7-day 10,000 steps challenge is written for exactly this: a number for every day, a rest when it is earned, and a way to run it with friends in the app.
Is it free?
Yes. The athlete app is free: logging, challenges and every guide on this site. Coaches pay for their workspace; the people they coach do not.
Other exercises
Everything else we count.
Push up
How to do more push ups
Pull up
How to do more pull ups
Squat
How to do more squats
Plank
How to hold a plank longer
Sit up
How to do more sit ups
Dip
How to do more dips
Burpees
How to do more burpees
Lunges
How to do more lunges
Jumping jacks
How to do more jumping jacks
Skipping
How to skip rope longer
Extensions
How to do more back extensions
Battle ropes
How to last longer on battle ropes
Running
How to run further
Cycling
How to ride further
Swimming
How to swim further
Rowing
How to row further
Hiking
How to hike further
Football
How to get fitter for football
Basketball
How to get fitter for basketball
Tennis
How to get fitter for tennis
Dancing
How to build stamina for dancing
Yoga
How to make yoga a daily habit
Do more steps.
Let someone see it.
Get the app, log what you did or let your watch send it, and hand your friends the code.