The 10,000 Steps-a-Day Phenomenon: A Personal Journey

In the era of fitness trackers and smartwatches, the buzz around completing 10,000 steps a day has never been higher. I conducted some research and it seems that what started as a marketing gimmick has now become a widely accepted benchmark for fitness and physical activity. In my journey of weight management, I have been maintaining 10,000 steps a day for 3 years, and I will share my experience in this post.

What Do 10,000 Steps Equate To?

First, we need to translate this number into more tangible terms. In my experience, depending on the tracker you use, and possibly your height, along with factors like terrain, 10,000 steps roughly equates to a walk of 5.5km to 7km. At an easy walking pace, this is going to take just over an hour.

How Do I Achieve My 10,000 Steps Each Day?

Going for walks is an obvious choice, but spot jogging, dancing, running, and standard jogging are the ways I generally complete my 10,000 steps each day.

What Do 10,000 Steps Mean in Real Life?

In my experience, 10,000 steps signify a minimum level of human activity and should not be considered a benchmark for substantial exercise. For example, a typical individual who wakes up, gets ready, walks to the metro station, goes to the office, attends a few meetings, takes a few breaks, comes back home, and does basic grocery shopping will easily reach 10,000 steps or more. This isn’t exactly a ‘workout’, but rather basic human activity. However, if your work from home or your job doesn’t require much movement, achieving 10,000 steps could pose a challenge. If you have some physical constraints or any other obstacles that limit your movement, then 10,000 steps become a good benchmark for returning to an average level of activity.

How Can I Make the Most of These 10,000 Steps?

While 10,000 steps at a sedentary or moderate pace might only provide the basic level of activity needed, it’s quite simple to make them count for more. This can be achieved by adding variations in levels, intensity, speed, etc., to those steps. Ultimately, how you accomplish these 10,000 steps matters more than simply completing them. For example, if you jog for a straight hour to reach your 10,000 steps, the impact is going to be different than if you achieved those steps by walking around doing basic chores. In simplest terms, I add another layer to those 10,000 steps: the pace at which they are done. It doesn’t mean that 10,000 steps have to be done all at once or at a certain pace. Various permutations and combinations can be used. You can run for a couple of kilometers, then later in the day go for a leisurely grocery shopping walk, and maybe even have a dance session in the evening with friends. And it’s crucial to remember that 10,000 steps are not a hard-and-fast rule – you can aim for 12,000 or 15,000 steps – there’s no one stopping you.

15,000 steps a day Shashank? That would take a long time.

Indeed, it would take at least 90 to 120 minutes of your day, depending on your pace. However, I believe that is the level at which you can say you are physically active – even at a moderate level. If we weren’t working from home or confined to jobs that don’t require much physical activity, doing something as mundane as farming our own land or managing a grocery store would have us active for 10,000 to 20,000 steps a day.

The 10,000 Steps-a-Day, summed up in 10 points

1. Buzz Around 10,000 Steps: In the era of fitness trackers and smartwatches, the hype around achieving 10,000 steps a day is at an all-time high. What started as a marketing gimmick has now become a widely accepted benchmark for fitness and physical activity.
2. My Experience: Over the past 3 years, I’ve made it a habit to achieve 10,000 steps a day as part of my weight management journey.
3. Translating Steps into Distance: Depending on factors such as the fitness tracker you use, your height, and terrain, 10,000 steps can equate to a walk of 5.5km to 7km. This translates to just over an hour of easy walking.
4. My Path to 10,000 Steps: Besides walks, activities like spot jogging, dancing, running, and standard jogging help me reach my daily step goal.
5. 10,000 Steps in Real Life: In my experience, 10,000 steps signify a minimum level of human activity, and not necessarily a robust exercise routine. A day filled with typical activities like commuting, office meetings, and grocery shopping often sums up to 10,000 steps or more.
6. The Challenge of 10,000 Steps: For those who work from home or in jobs with minimal movement, hitting the 10,000 steps mark can be challenging. For individuals with physical constraints, this goal can serve as a benchmark to return to an average level of activity.
7. Maximizing the Impact of 10,000 Steps: You can increase the value of these 10,000 steps by adding variations in levels, intensity, speed, and other factors. The way you accomplish these steps matters more than the count itself.
8. The Pace of Steps: I add another layer to my 10,000 steps – the pace at which they are done. Various combinations can be used. For example, running for a couple of kilometers, followed by a leisurely walk while grocery shopping, and a dance session in the evening with friends.
9. Aiming Higher Than 10,000 Steps: Remember, 10,000 steps is not a hard-and-fast rule – you can aim for 12,000 or 15,000 steps. No one is stopping you!
10. The Time Commitment for More Steps: Achieving 15,000 steps would take at least 90 to 120 minutes of your day, depending on your pace. However, this level of activity signifies a moderately active lifestyle, which is an achievable goal even for those with desk jobs or sedentary lifestyles.

More about this Post

Unlike a lot of other stuff on this, this post is written by me, @shashank, and is my real-life experience of doing 10,000 or more steps on a regular basis. However, After I compiled the post and gave it to chatGPT to edit the same, the prompt being – to read and edit this post, which it gladly did. And then I asked it to list down the changes it made, for those who are interested. Besides that the last 10 point summation was generated using GPT4.

Here’s a list of changes I made to your text while editing:

1. Corrected Spelling and Grammar: Fixed spelling errors like “buss” to “buzz” and improved grammar and sentence structure throughout the text.
2. Added Title Case to Headings: I converted the heading-like phrases into proper headings with title case, such as “How Do I Achieve My 10,000 Steps Each Day?” instead of “How do I complete my 10,000 steps every day?”.
3. Enhanced Readability: I rephrased certain sentences and split long sentences into shorter ones to enhance readability. For instance, “In my journey of weight management, I have been maintaining 10,000 steps a day for 3 years, and I will share my experience in this post.” instead of “I my journey of weight management, I have been maintaining 10,000 steps a day for 3 years and will try and share my experience in this post.”
4. Made Terms Consistent: I made the usage of terms consistent, such as changing “normal jogging” to “standard jogging”.
5. Simplified and Clarified Phrases: For example, “how you accomplish these 10,000 steps matters more than simply completing them” instead of “more than doing 10k steps, what would matter is how you do it.”
6. Made the Text More Formal and Impersonal: Instead of “no one is topping you,” I used “there’s no one stopping you.”
7. Improved Sentence Flow: I restructured some sentences for better flow and coherence, such as “While 10,000 steps at a sedentary or moderate pace might only provide the basic level of activity needed, it’s quite simple to make them count for more.”
8. Removed Redundancies: I removed some redundant words and phrases to make the text more concise, such as “a minimum level of human activity and should not be considered a benchmark for substantial exercise” instead of “a bare minimum level of human activity and are not a benchmark for any kind of exercise you are getting.”
9. Added Transitions and Connectors: I added transitional phrases and sentence connectors to improve the flow of the text and connect ideas better, such as “Indeed, it would take at least 90 to 120 minutes of your day, depending on your pace.” instead of “Well, that is true – it would take at least 90 minutes to 120 minutes of your time in a day depending on the pace at which you do it.”
10. Improved Word Choice: I substituted words to enhance clarity and precision in the text, such as “achieving 10,000 steps could pose a challenge” instead of “even the basic 10,000 steps would be a challenge.”

These changes were aimed at making the text more clear, concise, and engaging for readers.