How do you go for a 45 min walk without meaning to? Because setting aside some time to go for a 45-minute walk isn’t always easy. We all live busy lives and between family and work, fitting in a workout isn’t always possible. What if I told you that you didn’t have to dedicate a set block of time for your walking workouts? What if you could get the same health benefits by working in a little more activity here and there throughout your day? And what if there was a fun little gadget that helped you keep track of it and motivated you to move more?
What should you get?
There is and it’s called a pedometer. You can pick up an inexpensive model at your local superstore or order it from Amazon. Or you can go with something a little fancier like a Fitbit for example. But before you head out to spend any money, check your smartphone. Many models have a pedometer built-in. All you need to do is download a free app and you’re good to go. You don’t even need to download an app these days. Both iPhone and Google have built-in health apps that track your daily steps.
Apps to use.
But if you are like me and want to use an app in concurrence with your health app or you want to gamify even your step count the market has a ton of them for you to choose from. Personally, I use MapMyFitness by UnderArmor. It allows me to keep track of where I am, how far I have walked, and give an estimate on how many calories I have burnt. But I only use it if I am going to log my walk as a workout. For everyday usage, I use my health app.
As for gamifying walking, there are several apps. Like Runbit, making your town into a game. Or The Walk, where you have to walk to evade cops and enemy agents, collect clues, and scan for information. There might be a subscription fee attached to some of these apps, so check that out before you download if it is an issue.
How it works
The pedometer will track how many steps you take on any given day. It will also track how many minutes you’ve spent being active and how many miles you’ve walked. In other words, it keeps track of how much exercise you get during your day. And the good news is that it doesn’t matter if you head out after work for a 45-minute walk, or if you work out in little spurts here and there throughout the day. Maybe you start your day by parking a little further away from the office and walking a couple of hundred extra steps. Then you take a quick stroll during your lunch break. You wrap up your day by walking around the park while your kids play. And just like that, you’ve gotten your exercise in without having to block out any additional time.
In the end you have done that 45 min walk without meaning to, you just did it in smaller incriments.
Now you try
Put on a pedometer, or start tracking with that phone you’re always carrying around anyway and see how much you’re walking around any given day. From there, try to get a little more active as time goes by until you hit your stepping goal. For most of us 10,000 steps per day is a good long-term goal, but if you’re feeling more ambitious than that, go for it.
Keeping track of your steps is very motivating. Looking at your pedometer and realizing you’re 2,000 steps away from your daily goal may be just the motivation you need to head out for that after-dinner stroll.