How do people work to get above 20,000 steps?

[Run4Fun]

I am active (run three miles in the morning, work all day, goof around with children in the evening while I do housework but getting above 20000 steps per day seems elusive to me. Help! 

[gabbagabba19]

Whenever i get over 20000 it seems like i am on vacation.... walking around NYC or Washington DC really seems to rack up the steps, haha.

[GerriD]

I agree I am going to Europe for two weeks cannot wait to see what I rack up

🙂
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[k9smom]

I work at Walmart, am in charge of the frontend.  I always get above 15,000 daily at work.  Sometimes close to 20,000.  On my days off, I struggle to get 10,000 unless I do a run.  

[Mary13]

how many steps in a flight?

[jojofuller]

I saw this yesterday, so I went back, found it. This is a copy and paste:

 customer service explained to me that you get one floor every ten feet in altitude

makes sense but  I have a flex so floors never get counted. I think you can add them but I never have.

[Phiyk]

I'm so pleased I have just broken the 20k step barrier! I really never thought this would be achievable but a long walk with the children yesterday along the seafront really helped. I'm also a Teaching Assistant and do the majority of my steps at school so was a bit concerned that I wouldn't do as many because of the school holidays and being a bit lazier! 

[Hats26]

woop! Congrats!! I am a TA as well but no children so it is easier for me to choose when I want to run on top of my working day. My sister in laws hen do this weekend though so I have no idea what my step count will be. Brought my trainers, lycra etc in case I go for a run, plus the hen do activity is quite active too. Its a wonderful feeling breaking that barrier isnt it. such an achievement! It is targets like this that help us to keep motivated. I do see parents taking their children to park runs as a family activity if that is something your kids might enjoy? Its a 5k, brilliant atmosphere too. slight catch 9.30 on a Satutday morning- in uk anyway. Not sure where you are based but they should be worldwide.

[Phiyk]

I'm not really a runner. I prefer walking (I think I really need to build up my stamina and fitness levels!) but I have started to do zumba on the Wii and have got up to 40 minutes so maybe I'll give running another go in a month or so   I'm a TA at a Primary school in Bognor Regis, working in Reception usually keeps me on my feet but at the moment I'm just loving the holidays 

Hope you are having a fab time on the hen do!!

Spoiler

[Algenon]

The day I hit over  20,000 is the day my middle schools students were doing a lab with fire.  I had to move quickly around my large lab.  

Sometimes it is not only how often you move but how fast.  

[TerryM]

What is a treadmill desk? Never heard of it.

[Jabrat]

The key is to spread it out - you have 24 hours to walk - do in the morning - during lunch - and when you get home - it works - and march in place from side to side when you watch television or surf the internet - you will get to 20,000 easily !

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@Run4Fun wrote:

I am active (run three miles in the morning, work all day, goof around with children in the evening while I do housework but getting above 20000 steps per day seems elusive to me. Help! 

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[bsarge]

I work in a funeral home as an assistant to the directors but also do all the cleaning and maintenance. I can get 10,000 steps in from 8:30 until just after lunch. Today I was on the road most of the day and just hit the 10,000 mark by 4:30. I usually run everyday just to make sure I get at least 20,000 a day.. Not today..lol

[CodyGuadalupe]

I work overnights in retail and am always at 10k steps by 5-6 AM...then am sure to go for a run around 8-9 am after work and mix in some tennis/bball.  I almost always hit 20,000 and my highest total so far is 38,000/day.  Biggest thing is to just stay active no matter what...you can sneak in a walk/run no matter how busy your days are

[josephz2va]

Very hard to get to 20,000 steps. Believe me. I had to get up at 3:00 AM and head to the gym with everything packed up including a favorite TV show on my portable device to get to 20,000 steps.

At estimate, it takes about 2 hours max to get to 10,000 steps for me. Less if I'm going faster than 4 MPH. Don't forget to use the stairs. Physical stairs counts as steps too and works on your quadriceps going up. I regularly do 5 floors to 10 floors a day at work with a goal that there's a snack bar at the top of those flights.

[Algenon]

Volunteer at the local school.You will probably get over that in half a day.

[_Fit4Life_]

I would never have believed that 20k a day would be possible when I started.   Even the 10k mark was elusive. 

Those numbers can be discouraging when you start, especially if you live a sedentary live.  The way I approached this was to commit a small amount of time everyday to 'move'.  My original goal was 30 minutes - low enough that I had NO excuse not to do this.  I also called this my 'ME' time - a gift of time to take care of myself.

The 'magic' is setting yourself a goal you can achieve, then do it, consistently.  Not only will this boost your confidence, but you will feel better.   You will likely start to 'enjoy' it and see that just a little bit of time gives you back a lot.   You may want to increase your 'me' time... or not.  This is not a competition; listen to yourself and your needs, and do what feels right for 'you'.

Achieving a higher average step count requires a higher level of time, dedication and a definite passion/love for the activities you do.   You will need to rethink and adjust your life to incorporate physical activities.   For some people, the rewards are definitely worth the effort.

My 'me' time is now 2h per day minimum.  I also completely changed most activities I do daily to maximize physical activity.

If you really want to go on this path, there are many great tricks/tip on this board that will help you. 

-Fit4life-

[JackNikon]

I did it once by accident.  I am a nursing student and volunteer at a local ER.  The ER is about a mile away and I always walk there and back.  The shift itself is 4 hours, and I spend it all on my feet, walking from room to room and department to deparment.  I hit 20,000 before I had even ended my shift.  I also generally don't have a problem hitting 20k during my 12-hour clinical rotations- 11.5 hours on my feet makes 20,000 steps pretty easy 🙂  I guess this isn't very helpful for people who sit all day, though.  Good luck guys!

[TandemWalker]

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@Jabrat wrote:

The key is to spread it out - you have 24 hours to walk - do in the morning - during lunch - and when you get home - it works - and march in place from side to side when you watch television or surf the internet - you will get to 20,000 easily !

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@Run4Fun wrote:

I am active (run three miles in the morning, work all day, goof around with children in the evening while I do housework but getting above 20000 steps per day seems elusive to me. Help! 

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So true!

[jojofuller]

while is it much more pleasant to running or walking outside, a re bounder is great. I had a stress fracture and now tendinitis so side lined from running but I can high knee, run, jog, bounce, etc on it. Right in front of the t.v.. It does get boring, but will do. I think when it is 100+ this will be the ticket as well.....I have never used the thing so much!

[JaySD]

20,000 is super easy, just stay motivated. I usually hit up 55k days once a
month now. Its taken me a while to be able to do it, but its possible