Simple Ways To Get More Steps Into Your Day

As part of our #miomarch campaign, we are challenging each other to take 10,000 steps every day in March.

To break it down, 1,000 steps equates to approx 0.75km or 0.5miles. That means you should be walking a total of 7.5km or 5 miles each day.

Whilst this might seem daunting, the mio team have already been testing out the 10,000 step challenge in preparation of #miomarch and we assure you that it is possible!

To help you achieve your 10,000 steps a day we have compiled a list of practical ideas to get your walking (i.e. tips that don’t require you to take the laundry to the washing one piece at a time or walk around the grocery shop once before you actually do the groceries)!

Wear a pedometer

There are so many different types of activity trackers available to help you track your steps and you can get one at a very affordable price these days! For those of you with an iPhone, you may not know this, but the ‘health’ app has been tracking your steps daily without even having to turn it on. The trick with any of these trackers is to keep them on you all the time so you don’t have to ‘guestimate’ your steps!

Walk and talk

The next time you take a call on your mobile you should stand up and go for a walk. You’ll be surprised how many steps you’ll take whilst you are pacing up and down the hallways. Moving away from your computer while you’re on the phone will also help you to concentrate on your conversation rather than your desk distractions! That’s a win-win in our eyes!

Time’s up, get up!

Put a timer on your phone/ computer to make sure you get up from your desk every 20 minutes. Not only is it great to re-set your posture but it also means you can fit in some more steps! Use this little break to go grab a quick drink of water or pop around to visit a colleague instead of emailing them!

Find a friend (don’t just phone them!)

Instead of phoning a friend for a chat, why don’t you organise to go on a walking date together? Or if you have a friend that takes the some route home as you, then organise to walk home with each other. When you walk with a friend you’ll be chatting away and won’t even realise how many steps you are clocking up!

Break up the day

Without being too regimented about it, start to think about where you can get more steps in the day. You don’t want to get to the end of the day and realise you’ve still got another 6,000 steps to conquer!

Here is an example of how to break down your day, one step at a time:

– Walk up the stairs instead of taking the lifts (depends how high your building is! ~1000 steps)

– Walk and talk on the phone for 10 minutes (1000 steps)

– Walk a bit further away to get your lunch or take a walk after your lunch (1,000 steps)

– Get off the train or bus an extra stop before your normal stop (3000 steps)

By making these little changes you’ve just found yourself an extra 6,000 steps in your day. Add that onto the 4,000 average steps we ‘normally do’ and you’ve got a total of 10,000!

So there you go. It shouldn’t be too much of a chore to fit in those 10,000 steps each day! If you have any great tips on how to get more steps into your day then please remember to share these with us on our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts with the hasthag #miomarch!