The Ultimate Guide On How To Walk 10,000 Steps A Day
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How Long Does It Take To Walk 10,000 Steps?
On today’s episode of Live Lean TV, I’m sharing the ultimate guide on how to walk 10,000 steps a day, including how long it takes to do, and if it is good for weight loss.
We also discuss the following:
- on average, how many steps do I walk in a day?
- how many miles is 10,000 steps?
- how many calories is 10,000 steps?
- is 10,000 steps considered a workout?
This was a question from #AskLiveLeanTV Ep. 015.
Here’s today’s viewer question:
Dex2Real on Snapchat asks: What is the average number of steps you take in a day?
How Many Steps Do I Take In A Day?
I would say, on average, I get at least 10,000 steps in a day.
However, my average daily number of steps has fluctuated over the years, as it really depends on where I’m living.
When I was living in Toronto, I definitely took more than 10,000 steps a day since I was living downtown and I walked everywhere.
Then when I lived in Los Angeles, I didn’t take as many steps in a day, because the city of Los Angeles is so sprawled out.
To get anywhere, you have to drive.
If you did walk, you would have to walk on the side of the highway .
Then when I moved to downtown San Diego, my steps went back up again, since I walked everywhere.
Finally, when we had kids, we moved the family to the suburbs between San Diego and Los Angeles.
Thus, my daily steps went down again.
Are you seeing a theme here?
If you want to increase your steps per day, my first tip is to move to the city 😂.
I’m kidding, not really.
How To Walk 10,00 Steps A Day
During quarantine, I felt like I wasn’t moving my body enough, so I started tracking my daily steps with my Apple Watch.
However, if you want a cheaper option, here’s a link to a highly rated step counter on Amazon for under $30.
By doing this, I quickly noticed my daily step count was way down from where it used to be.
At that moment, I decided that I needed to get more activity in my life, so I made it a priority to get back to walking 10,000 steps a day.
Another benefit of walking for me is getting my “me time”.
I love listening to podcasts, so when I go for long walks, it gives me a chance to catch up on all the podcasts that I don’t get to listen to when I’m at home all day.
Your steps will also quickly add up by moving as much as possible from:
- doing house work
- mowing your lawn and doing other yard work
- taking the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator
- take brisk walks in the morning before work to improve your mood
- go for another brisk walk during your lunch break to improve your focus
- after you get home from work go for a walk to clear your mind, lower stress, and start relaxation mode
Another one of the best ways to get outside and walk more is to rescue a dog.
Not only are you saving a dog’s life, you’re also going to get yourself healthier.
Plus, over the long term this could extend your life, or even save it.
How Long Does It Take To Walk 10,000 Steps?
Once I made this decision, I was curious to see how many long it would take to walk 10,000 steps.
The next morning, I went to nice outdoor field by my house and started walking laps.
Here were the results of my walking experiment.
In approximately 54 minutes, I walked 6,388 steps, which equaled 3.36 miles, and burned 292 calories.
When you break that down, at a brisk walking pace, I get:
- 6,388 steps / 54 minutes
- = 118 steps per minute
I equate a brisk walking pace to a speed you would walk if you were late for a meeting.
Based on these calculations, for me to get 10,000 steps a day at my brisk walking speed, it would take:
- 10,000 steps / 118 steps per minute
- 85 minutes to walk 10,000 steps
This means it would take approximately 85 minutes of brisk walking to reach 10,000 steps in a day.
How Many Miles Is 10,000 Steps?
Now let’s calculate how many miles is 10,000 steps.
Based on my calculations, 6,388 steps was 3.36 miles.
- 6,388 steps / 3.36 miles
- = 1,901 steps per mile
- 10,000 steps / 1901 steps per mile
- = 5.26 miles to walk 10,000 steps in a day
However, don’t focus on completing 10,000 steps at one time.
If that seems like a lot, chunk that mountain down into smaller pieces.
Do this by taking more frequent, shorter walks throughout the day.
Look at it this way, for me to walk 1,000 steps, it takes just under 10 minutes.
- 1,000 steps / 118 steps per minute
- = 1,000 steps in 8.5 minutes
Therefore you could take two 30 minute walks, one in the morning and one at night, then one to two 10 minute walks after meals.
By getting into the habit of taking shorter walks and staying more active throughout the day, it will easily put you over 10,000 steps for the day.
Walking after meals can also help improve blood sugar and insulin management.
How Many Calories Is 10,000 Steps?
The amount of calories you will burn from walking 10,000 steps depends on many different factors such as your body composition and how fast you’re walking.
For example:
- the more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn
- the faster you walk, the more calories you will burn
The answer to the question of how many calories is 10,000 steps will be different for everyone.
However, here are my calculations:
- In 54 minutes, I walked 6,388 steps and burned 292 calories
- 6,388 steps / 292 calories = approximately 22 steps to burn 1 calorie
- 10,000 steps / 22 steps = approximately 455 calories
This means, based on my body composition and walking speed, I would burn 455 calories after walking 10,000 steps.
Is Walking 10,000 Steps Considered A Good Workout For Weight Loss?
If you are currently living a sedentary lifestyle and are obese, walking 10,000 steps a day is an excellent way to start losing weight.
Since walking helps you become more active, it helps burn calories, and improves insulin sensitivity, thus reducing visceral belly fat.
Walking 10,000 steps a day may also:
- lower bad cholesterol
- improve brain health by lowering inflammation associated with cognitive decline
- improve mental health
- reduce stress
However, for the best sustainable weight loss results, you should also be focusing on strength training.
This is important because strength training builds lean muscle, which increases your metabolism.
By having a healthy and strong metabolism, you will burn more calories throughout the day, even while you’re sleeping.
This is why we always recommend strength training as the priority of your workouts, while walking is the cherry on top.
Walking 10,000 Steps A Day Is Not A True Indicator Of Your Overall Activity Level
Here is the reason why you shouldn’t only focus on counting how many steps you’re taking in a day.
Think about it, how many exercises do you do a day that would not count as a step?
For example, completing a push up doesn’t count as a step, yet it’s still a form of exercise.
Or if you complete a 375 pound barbell back squat, it wouldn’t even count as one step towards your 10,000 steps in a day goal.
As much as I like how having a 10,000 step goal is making people be more active by paying more attention to how much they are walking everyday, it’s not a super accurate assessment of fitness.
Just because you are getting 10,000 steps in a day, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to be super fit.
Bottom Line On Walking 10,000 Steps A Day
With that said, I do like it because it is a very simple and easy metric to help everybody, regardless of your fitness level, to move more.
Let’s be honest, if more people walked 10,000 steps a day, this planet would be healthier and leaner.
I’ve done videos on how the tip of simply walking more is one of the easiest things you can do to lose more weight.
It’s time to get out of your chair and walk!
Even though it sounds simple, why are so many people not doing it?
It’s unfortunate more people don’t walk more.
This is just another example of how so many of the answers in life are too simple, therefore nobody believes it because it’s not sexy enough.
Make it a goal to walk 10,000 steps a day, by getting into the habit of taking longer and shorter brisk walks throughout the day.
Just make sure this is not all you do for “exercise”.
In addition to this, it’s also very important to follow a properly structured resistance training workout program.
Find The Best Program For Your Goals
To find the best workout and nutrition program for you, go take our Live Lean Body Quiz.
Answer four simple questions and we’ll get you on the best program, based on your goals.
Every training program includes warm ups, workouts, cool downs, and nutrition plans.
We have it all.
Go take the Live Lean Body Quiz here.
Now I want you to go check out this video post on does walking burn belly fat.
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- On average, how many steps do you think you take in a day?
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Brad Gouthro is the founder of Live Lean TV, a media company focused on helping men and women “Live Lean” 365 days a year. Brad’s programs and content have helped millions of people all over the world learn how to get in shape, and more importantly, sustain it for life.
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