Oh, yeah, yeah! I know you haven’t had it easy since the past 6 months. Neither have I! 😐 The last time most of us came home from work, was when they told us we’d be working from home for about less than a month, because COVID had just starting spreading. And then, we almost had an uncontrollable grin splitting into a stealthy laughter at the thought of staying at home, living life KING SIZE! Finally. Sigh! Today with the absence of even a microscopic amount of physical movement, a lot of us, who find ourselves ‘forced’ into WFH, worry if dishwashing, mopping & laundry will get us enough exercise. 5K, 10K, 15K etc. sound like demotivating figures when others share their step counts on social media. Don’t they? But, what if I say you can still walk 8k steps LIKE A BOSS?

How to walk 8 steps while working from home

This lockdown has been as tough on me. The appended burden of chores is what’s sucking some of my patience. But, I’ve been WFH from the past 3.5 years and here’s what I can tell from experience.

No matter how distractful working from home is & how you’re constantly sitting on a bomb ticking at your productivity, you can still walk 8K steps at a MINIMUM! And if an impulsive & relatively impatient person like me is doing this, YOU DEFINITELY CAN. 😀

How to walk 8k steps daily while working at home

I’m listing here 8 fabulously easy ways to WALK 8K STEPS while being stuck at home. Expect me to say TREADMILL?! Don’t even bother. These have personally worked wonderfully for me (yes, even in the lockdown when everyone’s cramped into a place 24/7!)

1. Tune in to some ninja walkers on YOUTUBE

If you watch YouTube only for entertainment, work-related tutorials, game-streamers & recipes (BTW, don’t forget to check out & subscribe to my new baby, FITBEWELL RECIPES channel for healthy recipes! 😉 ), it’s time you discover some awesome WALK VIDEOS there.

Like this one, which is my fav!

It doesn’t matter if you stay alone or not, walking while watching or just listening (or doing just one of them) pumps you enough to walk at least 20 mins or about less than 3k steps at a stretch depending on the pace you’re walking at. So, just plug your earphones/headphone in & WALK till the video ends!

Now, before you make your home, terrace or backyard your walking ground, mentally chalk out your ‘path’ or ‘loop’. I know that’s a silly thing to even mention here, but yeah, that helps you retain your focus throughout.

2. Set Reminders

set yourself reminders to get uo every hour to walk

We’ve read & heard enough about how the clamoring issue of sitting for long hours can destroy your health. It’s not that you need standing desks now; but basically, the lack of movement that makes such constant sitting so dangerous for your health.

Set reminders on your phone/laptop to remind you to get up & walk at least 1.5k steps or for 15 mins (either of them). Once you get a hang of this, you’d not require the alarms anymore. Also, you’d be smashing the boredom and sedentary bouts at work.

3. Edge close to Walk 8k steps while Talking

walk when you talk on the phone to get closer to walk 8k steps daily at home

This has been a promisingly ‘time-saving’ workout for me & I’ve been doing it since 2 years. Believe it or not, regardless of how big a multi-tasker you think you are, it’s most obvious that you cannot expect yourself to keep typing, doing your PPTs or filling in your Excel sheets while talking to someone on the phone. So, why not ‘multi-task’ the other way?

When someone rings you up, take a cue. You can always time yourself & cut your conversation short, but make sure you walk till you hang up.

4. Reserve MAX steps for the MORNINGS

Complete maximum steps in the morning to walk 8k steps everyday

Yes, that does more than HALF the deal! Estimating a light warmup before beginning your steps, the best time to try & complete most of your steps is the first thing in the morning after a really light pre-workout snack or drink. Maybe after a glass of warm water, green tea/green coffee, your favorite Kadha, half an apple with peanut butter or a small banana.

Always begin with a really light-paced jog for 5 minutes. Remember, warming up is a CRUCIAL part of any workout. You’re more susceptible to suffering excruciating soreness, muscular or joint pains or sprains, IF YOU SKIP WARMUPS.

5. Choose STEPS over DESSERT

post-meal walks are a healthy choice to fitness

Normalizing dessert after dinner is quite a bane. The post-dinner time is devoid of any physical activity & desserts just make it worse by loading you with calories that you’d not be able to burn while sleeping.

So, do care to spend the last leg of the day with a few more steps. That’s the best way to call it a day before you rest & head for your night brushing routine.

6. Have a WhatsApp Buddy

Have a WhatsApp buddy to share your fitness progress regularly for motivation

Honestly, I do not like walking with a friend as it deters me from walking at my own pace.

At the same time, I’m also of the opinion that at a certain point, after getting into a fitness routine, the STEP-COUNTS stop mattering. You don’t feel the need to measure yourself anymore, as your stamina keeps improving & so does your resolve to keep doing this forever.

But, if you’re starting to walk after a slump or are just beginning your fitness journey this way, a step-counting device or app, which is as basic as the Pedometer, or a smart watch can be a HUGE motivation that will prevent you from giving up anytime, during a work crunch or a depressing home environment.

8 ways to walk 8 steps without a treadmill at home

I personally use the Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro smart watch, that I had bought during a sale long back & it’s been a great buy; I know it’s way too pricey, normally! Here’s a detailed post where I discuss about smartwatches & a comparative analysis between Samsung Fit 2 Pro &  Fitbit Versa Health & Fitness Onesize Smartwatch .

Coming to keeping up with a WhatsApp buddy, you can try to share your steps-progress with a friend who’s willing to do the same with you. And you’d share them with each other honestly. This would in no way emancipate a competition between the two of you, but help you both MAINTAIN ACCOUNTABILITY, which is the most important step when you resolve to a healthy lifestyle.

7. Drink More Water than usual

This one always is a Deja vu when I write my posts.

However, in this context, drinking more water would trigger a much needed psychological action through a physiological process.

The more water you drink than your usual capacity, the more you’re going to frequent to the washroom. The frequency, though, you could decide. I know when most of our restrooms are withing 4 to 5 metres from our home desk, it wouldn’t amount to many ‘steps’ that you could ‘count’. But it would certainly nudge you to get up from your chair than freeze your joints & muscles in a while from sitting continuously.

8. Stepper Platform

If you don’t have stairs at home nor stairways that you can use for exercise in the building, you could spend a few bucks on this amazing equipment. I’d personally suggest getting yourself a stepper platform, which can re-invent the way you reach or step walk 8k steps everyday. A year ago, my friend happened to gift me this Strauss stepper platform (since I skipped going to the park for jogs for quite some time! 🙂 ). And so far, I’ve found it to be extremely useful, specially on days when I can’t catch some workout on my terrace for bad weather. The best part being, as opposed to what I thought, its anti-skid property is great for most of Indian floors & is decently reasonable.

Do try these & I’m sure you’d get closer to walk 8K steps a day even in this lockdown, while working from home 24/7!

BTW, the 10k, 5k or 8k are not magical figures at all. They were just meant to inundate the market while launching the early pedometers.

However, if you’re just looking for a gleam of motivation to finally start a fitness routine, walking & running being the most basic form of exercise, measuring your progress does act a huge incentive till you get into the tune of it.

DISCLAIMER – This post contains affiliate links to fitness products that I have bought myself. This means if you make a purchase through these, I earn a tiny commission at no extra cost to you. If you do, I’m all thanks!  I have put forward my personal & honest reviews about them, and never recommend products that I myself never familiarized with. For more information, read my full disclosure.

How has the pandemic atmosphere been treating you? Have you been able to workout as expected? Do share your comments, care for yourselves, wear a mask outside & get yourself a lot of exercise!

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