I remember when the FitBit was all the rage — I got one as a Christmas gift along with several other family members. For a minute there, we all competed in these challenges and tried to get to 10,000 steps a day. Nevermind the fact that my wristband broke shortly after, and then the technology part of it stopped working, and I called it quits on the whole thing (even after trying to fix it). But if that wrist tracker taught me anything, it’s that it’s really, really hard to achieve a daily step goal.
This Goal Wasn’t Made for Desk Workers
I know a very easy way to maintain your health and get your exercise in (without ever really thinking about it) is to get 10,000 steps in a day. I have no idea where this number specially comes from, but I don’t think it really matters — it’s all about getting that movement in, right? But I don’t think this number was created with desk-workers in mind. I do have my own flexibility-related goals and I workout two or three times a week doing barre, but having a career that requires you to sit and type on a computer naturally means you don’t move around a lot during the week.
I’m Trying to Improve My Overall Fitness
My newest personal project is to work on my own personal fitness and nutrition. I’m generally trying to eat better and cut down on certain foods — dairy, red meat, processed foods, desserts and sugar — and trying to increase my daily step count. I started wearing my Apple Watch and using the step counter feature to get an idea on how much to move around on a given day. Turns out, that is a horrible idea and doesn’t work at all; when you type, the watch thinks you take a lot of steps because your wrist is moving so much. Great, right? It was back to the old school pedometers on Amazon for me and as I suspected: working at a desk is about as sedentary and you can get.
Let’s Start Small With 5,000 Steps
They do make walking pads for under-desk areas, but I don’t think I can comfortably type any coherent sentences or work on Canva designs while walking and with sweaty hands. That idea’s out for me. But I’ve added a nearly-daily outdoor walk for about 30 minutes or so after work where I talk or just listen to my audiobook. This is a small stepping stone to getting 5,000 steps a day; a more attainable target to work toward until I find a way to reliably increase it. So far I haven’t been perfect by any means, but getting closer to 4K-5K by the end of the day since I started tracking; I even busted out an old aerobics adjustable step deck in case I need it.
Let’s Check Back On My Fitness Goals
I’ll see if 5,000 steps is close enough to helping me achieve my fitness goals or if I really will need to up it to 10K after a while. I think it’s a good start given my career and a good compliment to barre (which works the body but does not result in a lot of actual “steps”). Let’s check back in later to see how I do!
