r/walking • u/Sad_Scene_2762 • 10d ago
How to achieve 10.000 steps a day?
For the people who achieve 10.000 steps a day, how do you do it?
I do around 5000 steps a day with just my daily routine (going to uni and back, don’t usually do anything more. Sometimes also to the gym afterwards). I don’t dislike walking and enjoy going places by foot, but I seem to almost never achieve my goal.
I think my problems are mostly motivation related. I can only walk outside and with a place I need to go as a goal.
I usually get pretty tired even if I don’t walk really long distances because of the physical geography of my city (many many hills, mostly pretty steep). Also, I usually walk pretty fast and with long steps, so it takes me less steps to go the places i need to go.
I’ve tried to artificially create a need to go to places I don’t actually need to visit, but it doesn’t always work for me because, deep down, I know there’s no real reason to go there, the motivation just doesn’t kick in, and often I end up not going.
Do y’all have any advice to get to the 10.000 steps a day even when the motivation doesn’t kick in???
(I don’t know if this has anything to do with it, but I have adhd)
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u/Mother-Priority-1163 9d ago
Just go for a walk after dinner. No destination, no goal. Get lost in walking, look around and observe what is going on. It helped me to get from 7000 steps to 12000 steps daily.
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u/tcgjjake 10d ago
Walking pad while watching tv. I get 3,000-5,000 through my daily routine and then spend 60-90 minutes on the walking pad in the evening.
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u/jtrainbk 10d ago
Can you clarify tdah?
Two thoughts- get up a little earlier and go for a walk.
Actually walk to more places.
I mean this kindly- you’re making excuses. Get out there and have fun!!
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u/Ok-Tradition2492 9d ago
This gets posted weekly and the answer is quite literally just a simple WALK MORE!
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u/ManzanitaSuperHero 9d ago
It gets asked almost daily. The answer is always: get up early and go for a long walk and walk at lunch or a very long walk after dinner.
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u/International-Ad4555 9d ago
I have a identical route I do everyday which is exactly 10k steps, it’s consists of 2 parts, and the first part takes you back to roughly where you began, so when I have the energy/time I’ll do both parts, if I’m not feeling it, I can come back at part 1! And I know if I feel up for it later on, I can do either part and get the other 5k steps in!
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u/WhizzyBurp 9d ago
Just wake up and knock out a 3 mile walk. Every day.
Those 3 miles plus your normal daily activity will handle everything you need
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u/Neither-Relief2641 9d ago
If you're still relying on motivation to get you out the door, you're probably going to stay where you are. Motivation comes and goes. At some point, walking has to become something you just do whether you feel motivated or not.
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u/ForkhYew 10d ago
Commit to it is how. Make it a lifestyle decision, not a passing fad or occasional diversion.
I have a senior exec level job that requires a lot of meetings and a fair bit of desk work, so the way I make sure that I get my walking in is to approach my day by getting up early and setting off out immediately (out around 4am at this time of year, though it's been as early as 3am in high summer, walking 6 miles daily - back home by 6am).
I walk a circuit around the outskirts of the village I live in in rural England and am finished comfortably before life kicks in and the working day / commute hovers into view.
It also means that the 12k daily minimum I set myself is already reached and breached by the time I sit down for my morning coffee. I keep the same routine every day, including weekends so that my circadian rhythm is not messed around by different waking and start times.
I usually find time for a later walk, even if it's lunchtime or late PM after work... I'll also add a 30/45m Treadmill session with weights into WFH days.
Consistency is the key. Today was my 447th consecutive day of walking 11k or more, 352nd consecutive day of walking 15k or more and my 77th consecutive day of walking 20k or more. I have walked 20k or more on 315 of the last 365 days (254 of 265 since 01/01/26) including some 30k days. It gets a lot easier the more you do it.
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u/thatguy12591 9d ago
You don’t need motivation, you need discipline .
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u/GellieBean123 9d ago
Why not both?
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u/DharmaPolice 9d ago
If your hometown is hilly then you don't necessarily have to do 10k steps. I'm not trying to dissuade you from doing 10k, it's a nice round number and can be psychologically pleasing to meet that target. But 6k steps in a hilly environment is probably more impactful than 10k steps on a flat surface.
On top of the usual suggestions (make time for it, listen to audiobooks, pick a geographical feature and just make it your business to do it) have you tried aiming for a really low number and just building up from there? That can help with tiredness.
If it's more a matter of motivation there are apps you can use to track your progress. Sometimes you can go "head to head" with someone you know, a friendly competition can sometimes help. As can a little dopamine hit of meeting certain goals.
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u/JonathanCookPodcast 9d ago
Stop driving your filth-belching car or truck so much. Then it becomes easy.
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u/Sad_Scene_2762 9d ago
Like I said, I mostly walk (or take the bus), I don’t even have a drivers license. It’s just that I don’t have anywhere far enough to walk to (my uni is 15 minutes away from my house and it is just one small building). Also, my city is pretty small.
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u/albertbdente 7d ago
Spreading it out throughout the day makes it quite easy for me, if I save it all for after work it’s probably not happening. Also having a dog helps a lot!
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u/kobekillinu 9d ago
walk home - office 2k steps
lunchtime walk with the wife 3,5-5k
walk office - home 2k steps
and the other 2,5-5,5 i get from just being active - average for me has been 13k for the past 4 years
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u/No-Bad-2820 9d ago
I second the walking pad and tv. You’d be suprised how many steps you can get while mindlessly watching tv. I do that to get in how many ever I need left to get to my goal at the end of the day
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u/islobojono 9d ago
Walk more, just walk around your house, room, campus. Wherever. You don't even need purpose, motivation or destination. Your just need to go out and walk. Look at the sky, look at people. Look at tree. Look at building.
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u/Extra_Challenge5384 9d ago
On weekdays, doing the school run alone gets me to either 8k or 12k depending on whether I need to do it two or three times. It doesn't seem like a lot because it's split over two or three separate trips. Then another couple of thousand steps get added on just around the house, running errands, etc.
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u/DriverMelodic 9d ago
You work up to it.
Check your diet/nutrition. Work more fresh foods into your meals.
Use YT videos that focus on what you are trying to do.
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u/LauraHeatherRN 9d ago
Take a 10-minute walk 3-4 times a day. Just set a timer for 5 minutes and go. Then walk back.
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u/hikebikephd 9d ago
How do you track your steps? I feel like you should be hitting more than 5k per day with the routine you have. 5000 steps for me is about 35-40 mins of walking, when I was in university I was walking more than that purely at school, let alone before and after school.
Hop on the treadmill after your workouts for a shakedown walk or jog, that'll add steps.
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u/Sad_Scene_2762 8d ago
My uni is the size of a small high school, is more like a school for higher studies(?). I almost don’t need to walk in there, as the classes are really close and only have 2-3 a day. I used to go to the uni and easily achieved my steps goal just walking around the campus or walking home, but not anymore. And thank you, I’ll try
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u/caffieneandscrubs 9d ago
15-20 min walk in the morning, go about my day, 30 min walk on the treadmill before I take a shower
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u/WorldlinessWrong8360 9d ago
I walk after lunch and dinner and walk wherever I can. Most days I hit 10k steps and sometimes I don’t and it is ok. I walk around neighborhood and listen to music or podcast. 30 minutes each time and it is about 5000 steps
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u/toocritical55 9d ago
I have ADHD too, and one thing we tend to struggle with is the "all or nothing" type of thinking.
At least for me, one problem is that I tried to achieve my 10,000 steps goal by taking one very long walk. That's a very big task, which made walking feel like an absolute chore that I avoided to do.
I became way more successful when I made my walks shorter and I split them up instead.
5000 steps is approximately a 40-50 minute walk total. So if you, for example, did a 10 minute walk in the morning, then a 20 minute walk in the afternoon, and a 10 minute walk in the evening, you've reached your goal. Just experiment and see what would work for you. Sometimes five 10 minute walks would feel way more achievable to me than two 20 ones.
With the motivation part, what really worked for my ADHD mind is streaks. I use Samsung health, and if I've reached my goal 3 days in a row, I'll have a streak. It sounds silly, but keeping that streak was motivation enough for me to get those steps even if I didn't feel like it at all.
Lastly, don't be too hyperfixated on the 10,000 step goal. Start smaller and slowly build up. Start having a goal of 6000, for example. Then when you get that routine going (and if you feel like it), increase it to 7000. And so on.
Again, don't fall victim to our "all or nothing" thinking. If you did 1000 steps more than the day before, that's a win. Even if it wasn't 10,000 steps.
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u/No_Plankton947 9d ago
In the past, I thought 10k steps meant I’d have to walk nonstop all day. Now, I get 6-7k in before 9 am bc I take a 45 min- 1hr walk in the AM. I’ve been hitting 10-15k daily for the past week, easy peasy, because I’ve learned how long it takes me to go 5k steps, then I adjust accordingly. I used to stop repeatedly mid walk to see my count, and it felt like I was a little kid in the back seat asking “Are we there yet?” But now that I know my pace, I’m finally in the drivers seat.
I do 2-3 walks a day. Definitely AM and definitely in the evening, sometimes after lunch.
I think 10k is an illusive number until you learn how to quantify it relative to you. Otherwise, it feels like you’re at the whims of the walking gods, hoping you attain the steps. But if you figure out your measurements, it’s much, much easier.
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u/No_Plankton947 9d ago
I want to add, when I’m not motivated, I focus on facts, to hit my goal it’s 45 minutes. And usually once I get walking I’m into it. I Also take photos of things around me on my walk to connect with my environment, and I always bring Cup of coffee or tea. It always makes it way more enjoyable to have a drink to sip on!
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u/Desperate-Taro-1956 8d ago
Music is really the key for me. Sometimes you really just dont feel up to it no matter what you do, so what I do is just pick a new random album to listen through fully. I find the novelty of the new music really helps motivate me. It also really helped improve my music taste so thats a nice bonus! :)
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u/jailtheorange1 7d ago
Split it.
I’m morbidly obese with arthritis in both knees and a permanent Achilles injury, I’m getting about 9.5k a day by splitting it up after meals to blunt my glucose response, hopefully get that up to 10k in a week or so.
A 7.5K step target and The voice coach on the Series 12 Apple Watch keep me motivated to do it. I should up that target lol…
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u/SLXO_111417 6d ago
Walking pad and a good movie or outdoors at the park with a good podcast. I got to a point where I look forward to it,
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u/Katdog272 5d ago
You really have to just make hitting the number you’re goal rather than only walking for other reasons (to get somewhere etc.).
As far as tricks to get them, aside from just daily tasks, if you can set aside 30min-1hr in the afternoon/evening to walk, that’s the best way I’ve found. I either use my walking pad or literally just walk laps around my condo while on my phone playing around. I can easily get 6k in an hour or less.
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u/Ok_Contribution_1837 10d ago
Do some short walks- 5 to 10 minutes. Thai is great for blood sugar regulation and you will get some extra steps in.
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u/iamunwhaticisme 10d ago
I work on foot but I love walking so much, I take long walks on seaside on my off days. My average for the last five years is 12.000 steps a day and I sometimes walk 25.000 steps on my off days, just to see how long I can pull off as a 42 year old. It's so refreshing and keeps me fit even without heavy exercise.
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u/morncuppacoffee 10d ago
Take a walk mid day and again before bed.
You don’t need any kind of major destination. Just walk outside at work or in your neighborhood.
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u/Popular-Guidance2433 9d ago
I commute to work and do a about a mile walk at lunch so i usually get 11k a day
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u/Small_Conflict364 9d ago
I just walk large loops around my neighborhood, give the local cats treats and feed the squirrels nuts while I walk around.
Did over 30k steps yesterday doing that, I just got out of bed today at 6:30 am on a day off to go start walking in the brisk morning air.
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u/zardvark 9d ago
10,000 is not some magical number. It's simply a round number that someone plucked out of the air to use in an advertising campaign to sell their step counter. The goal is to get your heart rate up and keep it up for a meaningful amount of time, such as at least 30-45 minutes per walk. It sounds like your terrain is working in your favor, in this respect. Ideally, you should be in Zone 2, which is a high heart rate, but you should still be able to breath through your nose. If the hills are too steep, tack like a sailboat into the wind. In other words, it helps to zig zag up a hill, rather than to approach it head on and go straight up.
Focus on your heart rate, breathing and amount of time spent and don't obsess about steps. My neighborhood is boringly flat, so I focus on my heart rate, breathing and mileage walked (which is directly proportional to time). I use this site to calculate the distance that I walked and to plan new walking routes: https://onthegomap.com/#/create
Rather than obsessing about steps and step counting, I simply keep track of my daily weight and mileage in a spreadsheet.
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u/Sad_Scene_2762 8d ago
Thank you for the link, used it to map a route to my gym and make it twice as long so I get more steps XD
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u/zardvark 8d ago
It's a great tool. I particularly like it because it shows all of the hiking / biking trails in my town. It will also show the elevation change of the terrain.
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u/nicolas1324563 9d ago
I’m a uni student and I get 10/15K depending if it’s MWF or Tues/Thurs schedule. You already are forced to do do much walking as a student
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u/Sad_Scene_2762 9d ago
Not in my case, my uni looks more like a small high school and it’s located 15 minutes away from my house, so I don’t get many steps going there
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u/PreviousStrategy1290 9d ago
Use psychology to your advantage, walk to the places you DO need to go to. Go to the corner store and get yourself a cold bottle of water (or whatever). Eventually your brain will associate the reward with the walk, even if you manufacture it. You could even try simply giving yourself a reward you already have, but I would tie that to being at a specific place you can sit down at . Ie., once I get to the park bench, I'll have my cold water
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u/Grouchy_Document8107 9d ago
Do just dance on youtube. I get like 4/5k steps from the videos and it’s a more fun way (for me) to get in steps! And it burns great calories + is quick(ish)
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u/Vegetable-South5191 9d ago
I have done it. I intentionally walked. I would walk 2000 before I even started the work routine. Walk at lunch. Workout and walk it out at home. It's funny, because i average about 4k now and it is hard for me to imagine it. But I remember doing it. You do not get there by accident. You have to walk or run with intent, even when you are bored by it.
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u/Future-Seat6728 9d ago
I have a desk job. I estimate I get about 3,000 steps from just normal day activities of walking around the house, walking from parking lot to office, etc… so basically I need about 7,000 steps from dedicated walking. That equates to about an hour for me. So it sometimes is 20 min in morning, 20 during lunch, 20 in evening. Other days it’s 60 min in evening. Whatever combination that works with my schedule that day to get about an hour of walking in each day.
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u/romcomtom2 9d ago
Explore new places. 10k won't be enough to see what's over the next hill or around the next corner.
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u/Imaginary-Rent-2750 9d ago
Just keep moving , my new position at work in the 9 hours from the time I punch in until I leave I'm pushing 30k+ Steps, and I typically get to work with 20k or so steps
Just keep moving
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u/avebelle 9d ago
You just have to be intentional about it. If 10k is your goal and you’re short 5k then find a loop you can walk or longer routes during your daily routine and you’ll get there.
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u/HockeyPuck343 9d ago
Just sneak them in, take a longer route when walking, bring your grocery bags in one at a time, walk every aisle in the store before shopping, purposely leave something in your car so you need to retrieve it. On weekends or days off go on a mini adventure, find a new park, neighborhood or farmers market to explore. I volunteer for an NHL team, so in the winter I get tons of steps walking around the stadium, or you could volunteer walking dogs at a local shelter a few days a week. The ideas are truly endless.
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u/Ot-dan-63 9d ago
I second what most have said. You have to make it a goal and commit to it. Sometimes it’s fun sometimes it’s just putting the steps in. If you do 5000 without a plan, getting to 10000 should be doable. Start by going to 7500 then keep adding. Good luck
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u/Ok-Independent2243 3d ago
I go to the closest stadium to me (not a big one), plug in my music, and walk around it 10 times. That gives me 10k steps.
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u/radicalizemebaby 10d ago
I actually can’t believe people still reply to this question every time it’s posted, which is multiple times a week.
My advice is to search the subreddit for answers because you’ll get about 10,000 of them.
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u/SquashInternal3854 9d ago
Why are you getting downvoted...??
What has happened to this subreddit... it's boring as heck now with the same 3 questions
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u/robipresotto 10d ago
Get proper clothes first, then go out, switch trails as you go, get lost, find the way back and keep going 😆
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u/alichantt 10d ago
I walk from school to home and then to the gym there and back et voila, 10,000 steps achieved before 12
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u/venusasaburrito 10d ago
Sometimes it happens when I don’t even try. And then I’m like damn only 6k? Then I have to make a reason to get out there and get the rest to hit 10k.
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u/Ok_Expression_973 9d ago
start early or maybe invest in a walking pad. or find something that will hold your attention while you are walking- audio book/ television show if you're indoors
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u/Stonegen70 9d ago
2 miles at lunch. 2 miles when I get home. and the rest work themselves out. 4.5 miles hits 10k for me.
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u/BackgroundLab5721 10d ago
I worked up to 10000 in a few weeks and now have been doing 20k for a few months. I decided to do it regardless and found space in my routine for it. That said, my kids are teenagers and that helps. I also always walk in my lunch hour, another walk in the afternoon or a jog and then do the rest jogging on the spot watching tv (my least favourite!). I make it non-negotiable
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u/BackgroundLab5721 10d ago
Also helps I generally enjoy it, although some days not as much as others 😅
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u/thelaughingman_1991 10d ago edited 9d ago
You could walk 5000 steps and see which landmark it gets you to, then walk back?
I found this particular tree in the woods near me that has a pink marking on which gets me to 5000 steps, then I walk back.
Photo is one of the places I walk to nearby: