How to Get More Steps, Even When You Work From Home
If you have a fitness tracker and decide to jump on the step-tracking bandwagon, you may be jealous of the people living in cities where they have to walk everywhere, or the workplaces where they are on their feet. all day. But what if you wake up and drive to the other side of the house, or don’t have many options to add steps to your routine? Here are some ways you can play, too.
Before we get to the tips, I want to make it clear that the default 10,000 steps is complete nonsense . Companies use it because it sounds good and because it is a little ambitious to the average person. If you’re starting with a much lower number, go into your settings and set your goal to something achievable. (For example, if you take 2,000 steps a day on average, you can set it to 5,000 so you can feel something other than frustration as you improve your current habits.)
As soon as you regularly increase this number, think about increasing it further. But remember, steps are not everything; if you do other types of exercise, your body still benefits, even if your tracker does not register them when counting steps.
However, if you enjoy step tracking, try some of these ideas:
Go for a walk
Yes, this is completely obvious advice, but it’s also good. For a long time I was looking for opportunities to walk to the store or take a walk around an interesting place. But my days instantly got better (and my steps increased dramatically!) When I started taking a short walk to nowhere every morning .
Play an active video game
When this question is asked on Reddit, people often start recommending certain video games. Pokémon Go asks you to take a walk to hatch eggs, and you need to travel to specific locations in the real world to catch new creatures and make them fight each other. All you need to play is a free app on your phone. Ring Fit Adventure from Nintendo is another popular game that will get you moving, and this one you can play in your living room. We’ve also covered the fitness aspects of VR headsets ; just pick a game that registers as steps on your tracker, as some of them only involve swinging your arms.
Walk the dog
I’m not saying that you should have a dog just so you can walk with it, but if you have a puppy in your life, they will probably happily help you achieve your goal. Walk your own dog, your neighbor’s dog, or consider volunteering at a local shelter weekly.
Walk during meetings
If you often talk on the phone in your home office, don’t resist the temptation to get up and pace the room while you are talking. Now that there are so many meetings on Zoom, consider if you can make some of those calls without a camera while walking outdoors. Just be polite and don’t speak properly.
Make a walking video
If you can get over the little weirdness of walking on the spot, try one of the many walking exercise videos on YouTube – a genre that made our list of the best workout videos to do alone . Regular videos of dance aerobics can also help.