How to Get 10,000 Steps a Day
You have all probably been told a million times by your health practitioners to keep moving, to go for walks, to reduce your sedentary time. For most of you, these comments are likely to be easier said than done! So how do we change these words into action?
The answer to that is MOTIVATION. So to understand how to achieve 10,000 steps a day, lets first take a look at what motivation is! The two main types of motivation are intrinsic, where you feel that you gain satisfaction from your efforts, and extrinsic, where your motivation is driven from external factors such as recognition, praise or rewards. Ultimately, if you want to turn walking into a lifestyle habit, you need to find intrinsic motivation. However, in saying that, the easiest way to get you started on this stepping journey is to find some extrinsic motivators that work for you!
What you find motivating will be very different from what another person might find motivating. However, below are some extrinsic motivators which you may find helpful to get you started on this journey:
Gorgeous sea views are a perk of my after work walk!
Goal Setting: motivation is much easier to find when you are working towards something. Setting goals, particularly ones which have significant meaning in your life, gives you that end point for you to work towards. However it is important that we set SMART goals; Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely.
Adding it to your daily routine: we often live quite busy lives and it is easy to ‘forget’ about exercising and moving. To help us remember to get our steps up, write it down on your diary and block out a period in the day dedicated to stepping! Many people find it helpful to tick this off their list first thing in the morning! This can also give you a sense of achievement, making you feel good for the rest of your day.
Accountability: having people around you to hold you accountable is a great way to motivate yourself to set out and achieve what you have set out to do. This could be in the form of family, friends, neightbours, your exercise physiologist, or even a smart watch buzzing to remind you to get up and step.
Challenges: setting a challenge is also a great external motivator! Especially if you have quite a competitive nature. Having monthly (or even weekly) challenges such as “STEPtember” is a great way to get you and your social network moving.
Rewards: rewarding yourself when you achieve a set goal is a great way to keep up the motivation! This could be in the form of a shopping trip, a yummy snack, or even just doin something relaxing!
As stated above, having these external motivators are a great way to get started! But to really turn stepping into a lifestyle behaviour, we need to find that intrinsic drive! So how do we turn a task which we may dread into a task which brings us satisfaction?
Firstly, it is important to understand WHY we should move/step more. Studies have shown that those who have higher step counts have a lower mortality rate as stepping can reduce risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, and is useful in regulating blood sugar levels. Studies have also shown that stepping not only improves your lower body muscle tone, but it also helps with mood regulation. Knowing all these health benefits which comes with increasing your step count should already contribute to your motivation to step!
The next step to achieving intrinsic motivation is to increase your confidence! 10,000 steps can seem like a lot and may feel very overwhelming! However, this is just a number, so don’t let it scare you away! To help build your confidence, start with a lower goal! Even if it is going from 200 steps a day to 500! This in itself is an achievement. As you start to build your confidence, you can gradually increase the number of steps you are aiming for. As you gain more confidence in your stepping ability, you will naturally start to feel more satisfaction with the task at hand!
As you make each step towards your goals, remember to think back and reflect on your actions! Focus on the positive feelings stepping has made you feel. Eventually, the task of stepping no longer seems as daunting and you’ll even come to enjoy stepping more and more! So now it is your turn to get out there and step, step, step away!
By Jessie Wu - Exercise Physiologist