How to get more steps in a day, at home and at work

Most people don’t need a new exercise routine to walk more. They need more of the walking they already do: a longer way round, a few minutes here and there, a habit attached to something that happens every day anyway. Small additions add up. A thousand extra steps a day is about 7,000 a week, roughly 5 km (3 miles) for most adults.

The short answer

Attach walking to things you already do: calls, coffee, TV, errands, the end of a meal. Take the longer way when there is one. Keep your phone on you, or wear a watch, so the steps you take are actually counted.

First, make sure your steps are counted

If your phone counts your steps, it can only count the ones it goes on. A 2019 study found iPhones recorded about 12% fewer steps than a research pedometer over ordinary days, and the gap was larger for people who often left the phone behind or carried it in a bag. Before adding any steps, keep the phone in a pocket, or wear a watch. More in how the iPhone counts steps.

At home

• Walk while you talk. Phone calls are the easiest steps of the day. Pace the hallway, the garden or the block.
• Step through the ad breaks. In a 2012 study, stepping in place only during the ad breaks of an hour of TV added about 2,100 steps and 25 minutes of activity to the hour. See walking in place.
• Use the wait. The kettle, the microwave, a loading screen: walk a lap of the room instead of standing still.
• Split the chores. Carry the laundry one load at a time, take the bins out yourself, tidy room by room.
• Use the stairs at home if you have them, and go up for one thing at a time.
• Walk after dinner, even ten minutes around the block. It is easy to remember because dinner happens every day.
• Walk on a pad while you work, read or watch, if you have the space for a walking pad.

At work

• Walk to talk. Go to a colleague’s desk instead of sending a message.
• Take walking meetings for one-to-ones and calls that need no screen.
• Use the far one: the farther bathroom, coffee machine or printer, the stairs instead of the lift.
• Walk at lunch, even for 15 minutes, before or after eating.
• Stand up every hour. A short loop of the floor breaks up long sitting.
• Start a team challenge. A workplace step challenge gives the whole team a reason to move.

On errands and the commute

• Park at the far end of the car park.
• Get off one stop early on the bus or train and walk the rest.
• Walk to the nearby shop instead of driving, and carry the bags home.
• Take the long way to anywhere you are walking already.

Make it stick

• Pick one or two ideas, not ten. Ideas tied to a fixed moment, like after dinner or during calls, are easier to remember because the moment comes round every day.
• Set a target you can reach most days, and raise it when it feels easy. Our page on how many steps a day helps choose one.
• Watch the weekly total, not just today. One short day doesn’t matter if the week adds up.

A reason to walk today

Most of us know we should walk more and still skip it, because “go for a walk” has no finish line. reTrek gives you one: pick a famous route, like the Camino de Santiago or the Inca Trail, and every walk moves you further along it, with a short film about the place waiting at each milestone. You stop looking for a spare moment to walk and start walking to reach the next milestone.

Everest Base Camp is free. Get reTrek.