If you were to buy a new pair of running shoes does that mean that you will be able to run a marathon? not unless you put in the time to train. How about if you were to buy a new set of weights for your home gym does that mean that you’re going to get ripped? Also, not unless you put in the time to train towards that purpose. So if you were to buy a fitness tracker does that mean that you’re automatically going to be motivated into getting into better shape because now you know how active you really are (or aren’t)? Maybe. Don’t get me wrong, having your day-to-day activities digitally enhanced by having a metric to understand where your current baseline of activity is a very powerful tool; however, this will only get you part of the way there. Behavioral change is key. You’ll quickly find that simply having a new toy doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re actually going to use it consistently. Even worse, it can be discouraging if you thought you were pretty active, but the tracker tells you that you’re not. You do need to know how to effectively utilize that tool for the purpose that’s designed for and take the numbers unemotionally and at face value. Besides, they’re just numbers. I’m going to share some tips that I’ve used to up my step count during the day to make sure that I am keeping active as much as I think I am.
1. Mindset
Congratulations on wanting to be a healthier you, but what is your version of a healthier you? Whatever your purpose is make sure you have one. It’s just as important to know why it is you’re doing what you’re doing as it is to actually execute on what it takes to get there. be realistic with your goals and your willingness to do what it takes to reach them.
2. Progression, not perfection
One of the biggest beginner mistakes that I’ve seen and have made myself is doing too much too soon and that not only leads to getting burned out way before you even started but when delayed onset muscle soreness hits it’s going to mentally deter you from even wanting to try any sort of exercise again so do yourself a favor and start small and work up for example: when you first get your fitness tracker don’t do any additional activities outside what you would typically do this way you’ll get a baseline of the number of steps that you take during the day in your normal current routine. Then, add 1000 steps to your target daily goal for the first week (That’s about 0.4 – 0.5 miles to walk per day). Then add 1000 steps every week until you reach 10,000 steps per day. Honestly, it may not even make sense to do 10,000 steps depending on your fitness goal. 10,000 is just a default number set on some fitness trackers as a fitness challenge when these pedometers first started launching into the market.
3. Block time
Personally, this is one of the hardest ones for me to do but it’s all about priorities. You have to commit some time during the day to actually get those steps in. What time of day is up to you. For me, I typically like to take a 15-minute walk before lunch take about 30 minutes to eat lunch and then take another 15-minute walk after I eat. This is the time block that my schedule allows. Getting started is as much of a mental/behavioral (habit-forming) change as it is a physical change. I also tend to do walks whenever I get stuck on trying to figure out a problem at work. Funnily enough, I seem to be able to solve it nearly right away as soon as I sit back down.
4. Evaluate your new baseline
OK, so you spent your first week adding a 15-minute walk before and after lunch as I did in my example. What is your new average step count did walking an extra 30 minutes give you an extra couple thousand steps or did it give you more or less? How did you feel? If you had a chance to get some other biometric readings, have those improved? (check out AAR, or after action review/report) Once you know how many steps that the added walks in your day have added to your overall step count you can calculate how many more times during the day that you could block out time to reach a 10,000 step goal.
5. Consistency
Consistency is key. Every week you should reward yourself for sticking with the plan and reaching your weekly goal as you increase your step counts by 1,000 daily steps per week. I use walking as an example for all of the steps; however, this can be accomplished with any activity. Fitness trackers have this amazing ability to at least estimate the number of steps you’re taking doing most popular sports and activities, but I use walking as the example because it is one of the simplest, no-gym-membership-needed, overall healthiest activities that you could do and one of the easiest to sustain (you were literally born to do it). Also, I can do this at work without dripping sweat everywhere and I’m sure my coworkers can appreciate that.
If you’re looking for a good all-around fitness tracker, check out the Charge 3 by Fitbit. It’s the one that I use and it’s been a good experience. The biggest selling point for me is the battery life. Goes 5-7 days on a single full charge meaning I can actually track my sleep patterns as well instead of having to charge it every night:
Co-Owner of FiT ME Brand, LLC