Almost everyone needs to get more exercise, and walking is probably the easiest way. It\u2019s also the most underrated.<\/p>\n
Studies show that walking improves<\/a> fitness and cardiac health, alleviates depression and fatigue, boosts mood, helps ward off weight gain<\/a>, reduces your risk for cancer and chronic disease, and improves endurance, circulation, and posture.<\/p>\n Whew!<\/em> Those are some seriously impressive health benefits from just putting one foot in front of the other.<\/p>\n Research shows<\/a> that tracking your steps increases physical activity by more than 26% \u2014 the reason being that fitness trackers make you aware of how much (or how little) you\u2019re moving.<\/p>\n Setting a goal creates another incentive because you\u2019re challenging yourself. You can even make a game out of trying to meet it. And you don\u2019t even need to log 10,000 steps per day.<\/p>\n Current health guidelines<\/a> recommend 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity per week \u2014 about 7,000 to 8,000 steps per day, which is around 2,000 more than most of us are getting.<\/p>\n You\u2019ve probably heard the advice to take the stairs whenever possible or park your car farther away. That's a good start because small behavior changes are proven to add up, big-time.<\/p>\n 1. Invest in a comfortable pair (or 2) of walking shoes, and keep 1 pair in the car or at work. Go ahead \u2014 make them count!<\/p>\n 2. Get off the bus or train a stop early and walk the rest of the way home<\/p>\n 3. Meet friends for a walk (rather than for coffee or drinks)<\/p>\n 4. Do yard work: rake leaves, mow the lawn, or shovel some snow<\/p>\n 5. Take the long way. Everywhere<\/p>\n 6. Go window shopping or people-watching at the mall<\/p>\n 7. Have a walking meeting with coworkers. Walking has been shown to improve creativity<\/p>\n 8. Play with your kids. Tag. Hopscotch. Or walk your children to and from school<\/p>\n 9. Wander the room while chatting on the phone<\/p>\n 10. Use the restroom one floor up (or down)... not one that\u2019s right down the hall<\/p>\n 11. Peruse all the grocery store aisles. Take an extra lap around the perimeter (where the healthier foods are located!) before checking out<\/p>\n 12. Walk to a co-worker\u2019s desk instead of emailing them<\/p>\n 13. Drink up! Hydration is important, and it will add a few walks to your day<\/p>\n 14. Take a walk to get lunch, or after lunch (rather than eating at your desk). It\u2019s good for your digestion<\/p>\n 15. Cook dinner. Even in a smaller kitchen, walking from the fridge to the stove to the table adds up<\/p>\n 16. Walk the cart back to the front of the store after grocery shopping, rather than to the cart return<\/p>\n 17. Join a charity walk or other novelty race like The Color Run<\/a>. The idea isn\u2019t to go fast but rather support a cause (and have a blast doing it)<\/p>\n 18. Download Pok\u00e9mon Go on your smartphone and try to \u201ccatch \u2018em all\u201d<\/p>\n 19. Check out Geocaching<\/a>, a modern-day treasure hunt that uses your phone\u2019s GPS to search for hidden treasures in your area. It\u2019s super fun, great for families, and will get everyone out and about. A full day of treasure hunting will easily net you 10,000 steps<\/p>\n 20. Avoid escalators, take the stairs instead<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Almost everyone needs to get more exercise, and walking is probably the easiest way. It\u2019s also the most underrated. Studies show that walking improves fitness and cardiac health, alleviates depression and fatigue, boosts mood, helps ward off weight gain, reduces your risk for cancer and chronic disease, and improves endurance, circulation, and posture. Whew! Those […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":4205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,9],"tags":[66,15,290,408,446],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/d3toagd7ypryjs.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/steps-per-day-featured.jpg","acf":{"post_type":"post","post_subtitle":"Getting a little more activity into your day will pay off with some big-time health benefits.","post_hero_image":{"ID":4204,"id":4204,"title":"steps-per-day-hero","filename":"steps-per-day-hero.jpg","filesize":50510,"url":"https:\/\/d3toagd7ypryjs.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/steps-per-day-hero.jpg","link":"https:\/\/my.castlighthealth.com\/blog\/20-creative-ways-to-take-more-steps-per-day\/steps-per-day-hero\/","alt":"A father runs with his daughter down a flight of stairs, with the sun shining through the glass ceiling behind them, in his attempt to get more steps per day.","author":"49","description":"A father runs with his daughter down a flight of stairs, with the sun shining through the glass ceiling behind them, in his attempt to get more steps per day.","caption":"Current health guidelines recommend 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity per week \u2014 about 7- to 8,000 steps per day. So get moving!","name":"steps-per-day-hero","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":4056,"date":"2017-11-29 00:11:20","modified":"2017-11-29 00:24:54","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/my.castlighthealth.com\/blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":960,"height":400,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/d3toagd7ypryjs.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/steps-per-day-hero.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":63,"medium":"https:\/\/d3toagd7ypryjs.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/steps-per-day-hero.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":125,"medium_large":"https:\/\/d3toagd7ypryjs.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/steps-per-day-hero.jpg","medium_large-width":640,"medium_large-height":267,"large":"https:\/\/d3toagd7ypryjs.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/steps-per-day-hero.jpg","large-width":640,"large-height":267,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/my.castlighthealth.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/steps-per-day-hero.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":400,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/my.castlighthealth.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/steps-per-day-hero.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":400}},"mobile_content":{"mobile_story_label":"Featured","mobile_post_title":"11 creative ways to take more steps","mobile_carousel_image":"https:\/\/d3toagd7ypryjs.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/steps-per-day-mobile-carousel.jpg","mobile_hero_image":"https:\/\/d3toagd7ypryjs.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/steps-per-day-featured.jpg","mobile_content_body":" Almost everyone needs to get more exercise, and walking is probably the easiest way.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also the most underrated. Studies show that walking improves<\/a> cardiac health, alleviates depression and fatigue, helps ward off weight gain<\/a>, and reduces your risk of cancer and chronic disease.<\/p>\n Want to get more steps in? You\u2019ve probably heard the advice to take the stairs whenever possible or park your car farther away. Those are a good start, because small behavior changes are proven to add up big-time.<\/p>\n Here are a few ideas:<\/p>\nBreak out of couch potato mode<\/h2>\n
How many steps per day do I need?<\/h2>\n
20 ways to take more steps per day<\/h2>\n
11 ways to make your steps count<\/h3>\n
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