“You are walking too much,” said no one ever.
As a personal trainer with over 17 years in the trenches, I have seen many fitness fads come and go. However, the 10,000-step challenge is different and it has only grown in popularity with time.
Even though I spend most of my days in the gym, identify as a highly active individual, and lift weights six days a week, my daily step count is way less than I would like to admit.
My Apple health data tells me that I walk around 2,500 to 3,000 steps on average daily.
So I decided to walk the walk and committed to the 10,000-step daily challenge.
In this article, I share how walking 10,000 steps daily impacted my weight loss, mood, and cardiovascular endurance. I’ll also take you over the challenges you might face if you are thinking about following a similar 30-day challenge and how you can overcome them.
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The Story Behind 10,000 Steps
Although the 10,000 daily step goal has gotten widespread recognition, only a handful of people know its origin story.
The 10,000-step goal isn’t some arbitrary number pulled out of thin air. While its exact origin is debated, many trace it back to Japan in the 1960s, when a company introduced a pedometer called the “Manpo-kei,” which translates to “10,000 steps meter.”
This ignited a national fitness craze, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Planning and Preparation
My day job requires me to stay on my feet, and I’m busy enough throughout the day that I cannot make the time to get in all the 10,000 steps in one go.
Since I was planning to make this 10,000 daily step goal a part of my lifestyle, I started this challenge alongside my usual strength training program. To achieve this, I had to break down the 10,000 steps into two mini-workouts. I walked the first 5,000 steps after breakfast and the remaining in the evening after dinner.
The exact implementation for everybody will vary slightly and you must figure out what works the best for you.
Besides the post-morning and evening meals, you can also incorporate a walking workout during your lunchtime. In fact, you can also go out for brisk walks during your short breaks. If this too does not work out, you should find creative hacks to get all the 10,000 steps in. You can park further away from your office, take the stairs, and go for small strolls whenever you have a few minutes.
Coach Tip: Invest in a quality fitness tracker to monitor your daily steps. Also, always start a ‘workout’ to prime the tracker’s sensors and get the most accurate data.
Physical Benefits Observed
In my experience, one month is enough time to develop a new habit if you practice something daily.
Weight Changes
Many people start walking 10,000 steps a day in hopes of losing weight. But does that actually work?
While physical activity can help shed the spare tire, it alone isn’t enough to help you achieve your fitness objectives.
A calorie deficit is the holy grail of weight loss. It involves expending more calories in a day than you consume. Walking more can definitely increase your calorie expenditure, but you must also follow a balanced diet to shed the excess body fat.
In my case, I did not lose a ton of weight at the end of the 30 days. However, that wasn’t even my goal as I was already at a healthy weight.
Remember, the scale isn’t the only measure of progress when it comes to overall health and fitness. In fact, the number on the weighing scale can be quite misleading.
Although the number on the scale did not budge, my clothes, especially my jeans, fit much better. This signals a favorable change in my body composition, meaning I lost fat but also gained lean muscle mass tissue, thanks to my strength training routine.
A pound of muscle tissue is more dense than a pound of fat. Even if your weight remains the same, muscle takes up less space, leading to a smaller waistline.
So, even if you’re not trying to lose weight, but want to improve your physique aesthetics, walking 10,000 steps a day is a step in the right direction (pun intended).
Cardiovascular Wins
When it comes to the benefits of walking 10,000 steps daily, the biggest improvement I witnessed was in my cardiovascular health.
Even though I have been training for close to two decades now, I’d huff and puff whenever I had to climb a few flights of stairs. I knew I had to work on my endurance and stamina, which was one of the biggest reasons I took on this 30-day challenge.
Now, I usually prefer taking the stairs instead of elevators or escalators. I have also witnessed a significant improvement in my overall functionality, leading to better performance in day-to-day activities and sports.
I can now do so much more without feeling winded.
Plus, it is very much more about this physical comfort. Increasing my daily physical activity makes me feel more energized and vitalized throughout the day, improving my productivity and output.
Walking, even at a moderate pace, strengthens the heart and lungs, improves circulation, and enhances the body’s ability to utilize oxygen efficiently.
Surprising Perks
To be honest, I was expecting an improvement in my cardiovascular fitness and body composition. However, I had no clue about its effects on digestion.
I usually feel bloated whenever I eat a big meal. Surprisingly, increasing my daily step count significantly lowered these occurrences.
Regular movement can influence the gut microbiome, the complex bacteria living in our intestines. Experts often refer to the gut bacteria as the second brain, signaling its importance in our overall health.
A flourishing gut microbiome can improve digestion, nutrient absorption, and overall well-being, and I experienced all these benefits firsthand.
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Mental and Emotional Changes
Most people often overlook the mental health benefits of regular exercise. They come for weight loss and muscle gain but usually stay for mental and emotional health improvements.
Make no mistake, walking 10,000 steps a day isn’t easy. It requires consistency, dedication, and discipline.
Here is how it improved my mood and sleep:
Mood
I won’t lie; I have an anxiety problem. The more I think about it and the more I try to ignore it, the worse it gets.
Many great thinkers went for long works to clear their minds, enhance their focus, and get a fresh perspective on things. While I initially thought all of this was just a myth, experiencing its benefits blew me away.
Scientific evidence shows that exercising outdoors can improve your mood and boost endorphin production, which can naturally elevate your mood and combat stress and anxiety. (1)
Walking involves a rhythmic motion and requires you to focus on your breathing, which is a form of moving meditation that puts your subconscious mind into top gear, getting your creative juices flowing.
Sleep
While increasing your physical activity is a crucial aspect of improving your overall health, it is not the be-all and end-all.
Sleep is when your body recovers and it balances its hormone production.
Our bodies have an internal clock called the circadian rhythm. Exposure to natural light, especially in the evening can help regulate this clock and promote better sleep. I recommend going out for your walk during the evening instead of doom-scrolling on your phone. (2)
Tip: Keep your phone handy during your walks. I often found solutions popping into my head during my walks, seemingly out of nowhere. I use the Voice Memo app on my phone to take notes.
Going for evening walks helped me unwind and de-stress before bed, resulting in improved sleep quality.
My smart watch data confirms that my REM and deep sleep, improved significantly, leading to more restorative eye-shut time. I woke up feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the day every morning.
Challenges and How I Overcame Them
Walking more is easier said than done. Expect the following obstacles while trying to adopt this challenge:
Motivation Slumps
If you are like me, you absolutely dread, the treadmill and there is no way that you are walking 10,000 steps daily on a treadmill.
That said, walking outdoors has its own fair share of disadvantages. There were several days during this 30-day challenge when it was raining, and I had to really dig deep to find the motivation to go out for a walk.
On other days, the sofa looked so comfy, and I couldn’t stop thinking about what would happen in the next episode of my favorite TV show ‘Severance.’
No matter who you are or what you do, you have likely found yourself in a similar situation.
I have found the perfect solution to this problem. Often, the hardest part of any fitness routine is taking that first step. I just tell myself to lace up those sneakers and go out for a five-minute walk. If something does not feel right, we will just come back. To this day, I have never cut a workout short.
Once you start a workout, you often find a rhythm, the weather turns better, and the TV show loses its allure.
Best of all, you experience a boost in your energy levels and mood after finishing a workout. These are things that your comfy sofa or the TV can never provide.
Physical Hurdles
Many people underestimate the physical demands of walking 10,000 steps daily.
Since I went from walking around 3,000 steps a day to 10,000 steps overnight, I had to endure sore feet, aching muscles, and a blister in the first week of this challenge.
Walking 10,000 steps typically takes about 70 to 100 minutes for most people, depending on their walking pace and stride length. At a moderate pace of 100 steps per minute, it would take roughly 100 minutes, or an hour and 40 minutes.
It took me around 80 minutes to complete the 10,000 steps. There were days when life got busy and I had to tackle work, family, and social commitments. You will probably face the same challenges.
I cannot overemphasize the importance of investing in good quality walking shoes if you are serious about this challenge.
Furthermore, even though you will be walking at a moderate pace during your workout, you must never skip a proper warm-up or cool-down routine. It improves your performance and reduces the risk of muscle strains.
Initially, you can also add Epsom salt baths to your routine to boost recovery.
Coach Tip: Multitask during your walks to improve your productivity. For example, I like to listen to my favorite podcasts during my walks or catch up on some work calls if I am behind schedule. This also makes the time fly by.
Conclusion
Walking 10,000 steps a day for 30 days can deliver a multitude of benefits, including weight loss, an improvement in your body composition, mood, sleep, and a boost in your cardiovascular health and digestion.
While committing to 10,000 steps daily might sound and feel intimidating, all it takes is putting one foot in front of the other. Beginners can start with more realistic goals like walking 4,000 steps daily and gradually increasing the daily step goal until they hit the 10,000-step objective.
Don’t limit walking 10,000 steps daily to 30 days. Make this a part of your lifestyle to get in the best shape of your life. Best of luck!
References:
- Wicks C, Barton J, Orbell S, Andrews L. Psychological benefits of outdoor physical activity in natural versus urban environments: A systematic review and meta-analysis of experimental studies. Appl Psychol Health Well Being. 2022 Aug;14(3):1037-1061. doi: 10.1111/aphw.12353. Epub 2022 Mar 8. PMID: 35259287; PMCID: PMC9544808.
- Shen B, Ma C, Wu G, Liu H, Chen L, Yang G. Effects of exercise on circadian rhythms in humans. Front Pharmacol. 2023 Oct 11;14:1282357. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1282357. PMID: 37886134; PMCID: PMC10598774.