Articles · Moving
Ten easy ways to add 2,000 steps to your day
Two thousand steps is about a quarter of an hour on your feet. Here are ten ways to fit them into an ordinary day without a gym, a plan or spare time.
· 3 min read
Two thousand steps sounds like a lot. It's about a kilometre and a half, or roughly 15–20 minutes of walking. Spread across a day, that's a few minutes here and there. Why bother? Because in large studies of step counts, each extra thousand steps a day went with a lower risk of dying early, and the biggest gains were for people who moved least to begin with.
So where can you find them?
Ten ideas, no gym needed
- Walk while you talk. Take phone calls on your feet, at home or outside. A 10-minute call can be up to 1,000 steps.
- Get off one stop early, or park at the far end of the car park. It's built-in walking you can't skip.
- Take the stairs for a floor or two. Climbing is one of the most demanding things we do all day, so a minute of it goes a long way.
- Walk after dinner. Ten minutes after the evening meal also helps the body handle the rise in blood sugar that follows it.
- Deliver the message yourself. At work, walk to a colleague instead of sending a chat message, at least now and then.
- Make one meeting a walking meeting. Fewer slides, more ideas, and nobody checks their email.
- Set an hourly nudge. Two or three minutes of walking every hour you sit adds up to well over 1,000 steps in a working day.
- Shop on foot. Walk to the local shop for small things, or carry the bags in two trips.
- Take the long way. To the coffee machine, the toilet, the bus stop.
- Make it social. A family walk after Sunday lunch, a friend you meet for a walk instead of a coffee, a dog who insists.
Think about it: Which three of these would fit into your tomorrow without changing anything else?
Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, Caspar David Friedrich, c. 1818, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg. A walker at the top of a climb, looking out over the fog. It's the most famous walk in art, and it took some effort to get there. Good news: your 2,000 steps can start at the kitchen door. Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsHow to know if it's working
Your phone probably counts steps already, as long as it's in your pocket. A watch does it more reliably. Check your daily average for a week first: that's your starting point, not the day you went hiking.
If you connect a watch on SustainBite's Watches page, your steps appear on My Plan next to the day's food, so you can see both in one place.
Try this: Raise your target by 1,000 steps a day for two weeks, then another 1,000. Small, steady steps up are easier to keep than a big jump.
Quick quiz
About how long does it take to walk 2,000 steps?
Around 15–20 minutes at an ordinary pace, or a few minutes at a time through the day.
Who gains the most from adding steps?
People who move the least to begin with. Going from 3,000 to 5,000 steps a day matters more than going from 12,000 to 14,000.
What's a fair way to set your starting point?
Your average over a normal week, not your best day.
Sources
General information, not medical advice. If you have a health condition, are pregnant or take medication, ask a doctor or dietitian what is right for you.