10000 Steps Per Day – January 2022

At the turn of the year, I set myself a challenge for January of walking 10000 steps per day. I’d had my Christmas excess and a severe lack of exercise so needed some kind of challenge to get me going again.

To a lot of people, walking 10000 steps per day doesn’t sounds like a big challenge, but I sit behind a desk for my day job, which means I get very few “natural” steps in a working day. Often, it can get to 6pm at night and I’ll have walked less than 1,000 steps.

My challenge was not just to average 10000 steps per day but also to hit at least 10,000 steps every day in January.

How did I do?

I did it! More than 10000 steps every day in January 2022! ✅

Here’s the exact daily numbers:

• 1st January = 13,713 (6.2 miles)
• 2nd January = 10,905 (5.1 miles)
• 3rd January = 11,046 (5.2 miles)
• 4th January = 10,869 (5.2 miles)
• 5th January = 10,538 (5.0 miles)
• 6th January = 10,570 (5.2 miles)
• 7th January = 12,248 (6.0 miles)
• 8th January = 10,328 (4.9 miles)
• 9th January = 11,564 (5.6 miles)
• 10th January = 11,208 (5.6 miles)
• 11th January = 12,497 (6.2 miles)
• 12th January = 13,966 (6.8 miles)
• 13th January = 10,044 (4.8 miles)
• 14th January = 11,345 (5.3 miles)
• 15th January = 16,633 (7.6 miles)
• 16th January = 12,278 (5.6 miles)
• 17th January = 13,270 (6.1 miles)
• 18th January = 11,185 (5.2 miles)
• 19th January = 11,906 (5.9 miles)
• 20th January = 11,624 (5.4 miles)
• 21st January = 12,051 (5.8 miles)
• 22nd January = 16,499 (7.7 miles)
• 23rd January = 12,744 (5.9 miles)
• 24th January = 11,779 (5.5 miles)
• 25th January = 11,190 (5.4 miles)
• 26th January = 13,026 (6.2 miles)
• 27th January = 11,280 (5.4 miles)
• 28th January = 12,350 (5.8 miles)
• 29th January = 17,007 (8.1 miles)
• 30th January = 14,371 (6.9 miles)
• 31st January = 10,574 (5.2 miles)

Total = 380,866 steps (177.7 miles)

Average number of steps per day = 12,286 steps (5.6 miles). As the diagram below shows this is considerably more than I’ve averaged per day over the last 12 months.

What did I listen to during my walks?

While walking often offers the chance for peace and quiet, instead I popped in my airpods and listened to interesting things every time I walked on my own, which helped the time pass more quickly, too.

Most of the time, I was listening to a Podcast (The Rick Shiels Golf Show or Man United Podcast) or an Audible book (currently listening to Behind the Mask, Tyson Fury’s autobiography), but sometimes I just listened to music. My wife and I have booked to go and see the Foo Fighters in June at the at the Rock In Rio Lisboa festival, and so I’ve been hammering their greatest hits.

How long does it take to walk 10000 steps per day?

On average, it took me around an hour and ten minutes to walk 10,000 steps; typically, I would be walking at a pace of around 15-17 minutes per mile.

How many miles is 10000 steps per day?

10,000 steps equates to around 4.8 miles. This obviously depends on your stride length, and because I’m 6’2″, I have a slightly longer stride than the average person.

How many steps is 18 holes of golf?

18 holes of golf is usually around 16,000 steps. Obviously, it depends on which golf course is being played, but for me if I play 18 holes of golf at Flixton Golf Club, then 16k is my average.

How did I record my steps?

I used my watch to record the steps. I analyse the data through various different apps on my phone including Apple Fitness, Strava, MyFitnessPal, and Apple Health.

How to include more steps in your day

These were my top tips:

• Include the family. Instead of sitting watching television in the evening, go for a walk.
• Listen to music, books, or podcasts. A lively tune can set a good rhythm, and a good story will make you forget you’re even walking.
• Schedule workday walks. Put a reminder in your calendar for a short walk when you get a break during the day. Can you walk while having an online meeting for example?
• Play golf! The easy way to burn up 15,000+ steps without even realising it.
• Walk and talk. Catch up with a friend or relative on the phone while you walk.

But also other good tips to increase your daily steps might be:

• Walk the dog. If you don’t have a dog, many local shelters or similar might be looking for volunteers
• Take the stairs. Use stairs instead or lifts wherever possible to increase your daily steps.
• Park further away. Choose to park further away from your destination than normal.
• Set an alarm to move. Make a conscious effort to have a short walk around every hour of the day.
• Walk every morning. A walk first thing in the morning helps to make you feel more energised and get you well on the way to your daily step goal

I mainly walked around my local area of Flixton, Urmston, and Davyhulme. One thing I enjoyed was looking at the surroundings. The challenge made me notice so many beautiful (and some not so) parts of the surrounding areas, such as you can see in the picture below of Flixton Train Station, taken on one of my ice cold late night jaunts. This challenge has definitely taught me to pay more attention to my surroundings.

Summary

I really enjoyed the challenge of walking 10000 steps per day. Walking regularly like this is proven to reduce the risk of common health problems such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, depression, and obesity. I definitely felt fitter by the end of the month, and there was no doubt that it also helped my mental health. In January, I often struggle to see much daylight, so I found that a quick 15 minute walk on my lunch break really helped to lift my mood.

Walking 10000 steps a day isn’t something I’d want to commit to everyday. It definitely felt like a chore some evenings. Quite a few of those evening walks were instead of me making the dinner. For that reason, I think my wife will also be relieved to see the end of this challenge! Having said that, a lot of the walks were with her as well, and she commented on how much she enjoyed walking and would like us to continue them after the challenge ended.

In conclusion, from a fitness point of view I’d probably rather have 20-30 mins on the bike or cross trainer and burn the same if not more calories in a much shorter time. This activity time then gives me the best part of an hour back of my day … however, it is definitely very enjoyable and good for my mental health to take a walk each day.

Bye for now!

Last Updated on 28/02/2023 by Rob Davies