8 effortless ways you can work from home & still walk 8k steps daily
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?

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. 😀

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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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Great tips, Ashwini! Walking while talking on the phone is one of the best ways to up the number of steps! And the tip to drink more water for more loo breaks just cracked me up!!
I’m doing some of these for the last few weeks. One of them is the reminders, I make a point to get up every 2 hours and walk for 10 mins. Helps.
Great Tips dear!! Really helpful one.
These steps are really useful, especially the point on trying to finish the maximum in the morning. Also that Strauss device has me intrigued. May get one myself.
Nice list. Will definitely try a few.
Hey. I just loved this. Staying at home is really getting to me although im not a working woman.
That walking video is so lively and contagious!
Gonna get into this walking technique if possible!
Ashvini, I have finally started to walk 1000 steps and your post just came on time. Thank you ?
These are nice tips. With wfh exertion has gone up and exercise has gone down.
Interesting post. Good tip for Wfh
A couch potato like me is super excited for this article . Hope to become fitter
Wow…such a nice, refreshing and fit post during these COVID times…I have started to walk again and hope to catch up to my daily target…
I am a diabetic and need to walk at least 30 to 40 minutes every day. I live in the 8th floor and do 25 rounds of my corridor every day. The tips you have given are invaluable to me.
This is a brilliant list. Thank you! I’m going to follow them ? Also I love Leslie
I don’t really measure my steps, but thanks to walking the dogs, walking up and down the steps and walking to and from work, I’m certain I cover this. But nothing like measuring to make sure. Must get myself a device or use an app to begin with.
Very helpful post and much needed motivation. I walk the talk. Will try other tips too.
I wonder about completing steps while at home. Going to try from the above mentioned tips. #MyFriendAlexa
#dewreads
Great tips, I have been aiming to walk 10k steps daily since last 1 month but have achieved that goal only twice. I am going to try out these tips now. Thanl you!
Loved the tips. It seems more and more.impossible these days to hit fitness goals from home.
Honestly, I’ve realised that office entails more of a sedentary life. During the past few months of WFH, i’ve easily managed (and very often exceeded) my target step count. It’s nice to have reminders like you’ve mentioned.. we can easily do this for the sake of our own health!
Truly helpful tips!
Amazing self discipline! Frankly I used to think 8 k or 10 k are magical numbers and non negotiable. I know better now and also try to walk in the day as much as possible. I put out the laundry to dry in multiple batches ?
I walk in the living room for 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes at noon after lunch. I have stopped counting steps as that was causing me to stress out. These are some great tips to get some steps in, Ashvini. ?
This is need of time to walk more. Amazing ideas mentioned here to walk while WFH
You have shared some great tips. Taking care of one’s fitness should be of utmost importance.
Hi Ashvini! A much-needed post and what I needed now that my fitness routine has slumped during the lockdown. #MyFriendAlexa #TinaReads
Thanks for sharing these tips, during lockdown we all missed our walks and step count too.
I make sure to walk and talk every time I’m on the phone. Sure to set a reminder from today onwards.
I do Zumba dance by watching YouTube videos & recently started morning walk too.
Thanks for the post.
This is a motivational post to maintain health in these tough times! Glad to discover such methods
I am used to walking and with lockdown it has become tough. thanks for some wonderful tips
This is quite an interesting post. I use the “Walk and Talk” method a lot and it is surely helpful. Thanks for the wonderful tips.