How to get 10,000 steps at home
Rain, small children, a long workday, or just not wanting to go out: here is how to reach 10,000 steps indoors, with the exact workouts to press play on.
Walk along to a follow-along video. A single 70–80 minute 10,000-step workout does it in one go; two 30-minute 5,000-step workouts (morning and evening) do it in two; or stack 1,800-step 15-minute walks through the day. At the library's typical pace of 125 steps a minute, 10,000 steps takes about 80 minutes of walking.
Option 1: one long walk (about 75 minutes)
The single most-watched video Lumi has made is a 10,000-step workout. It is long, but the time goes because the moves keep changing and the music keeps you company. Pick one of these when you have a free morning:
- 10,000 steps in 70 minutes no jumping
- 10,000 steps in 81 minutes
- 10,000 steps in 70 minutes no jumping
- 10,000 steps in 71 minutes no jumping
- 10,000 steps in 76 minutes no jumping
Option 2: two 5,000-step workouts
Thirty minutes before work and thirty after dinner gets you there with time to spare, and splitting it is easier on knees and motivation. These are the most popular 5,000-step sessions:
- 5,000 steps in 30 minutes no jumping
- 5,000 steps in 35 minutes
- 5,000 steps in 30 minutes
- 5,000 steps in 30 minutes
- 5,200 steps in 30 minutes no jumping
- 5,000 steps in 30 minutes no jumping
Option 3: stack short walks
Research on step counts finds that what matters is the daily total, not doing it all at once. A 10-minute workout is about 1,200 steps; four of those plus a normal day of moving around the house usually clears 10,000. Keep a 10-minute walk open on your phone for the gaps: after breakfast, mid-afternoon slump, after dinner.
Do you actually need 10,000?
It is a good round target, not a medical threshold. The number came from a 1960s Japanese pedometer marketed as the "10,000-step meter". Large studies now find most of the benefit arrives between about 6,000 and 8,000 steps a day for adults over 60, and 8,000 to 10,000 for younger adults. If 10,000 feels out of reach, aim for 7,500 and you have captured most of what matters.
Make it easier on your body
- Wear trainers, even indoors. Bare feet on hard floors for 75 minutes is how heels and shins get sore.
- Choose no-jumping workouts if you have downstairs neighbours or loud knees. 135 of the library's workouts keep both feet low.
- Build up. If you average 3,000 steps a day now, add about 1,000 a week rather than jumping straight to 10,000.
Common questions
How long does it take to walk 10,000 steps at home?
About 80 minutes at the typical follow-along pace of 125 steps per minute. Faster workouts do it in about 70.
Can you get 10,000 steps without going outside?
Yes. Walking in place to a follow-along video counts exactly the same; one long 10,000-step workout or two 5,000-step ones will get you there.
Is walking 10,000 steps a day enough to lose weight?
It helps, especially if you are mostly sitting now, but food matters more for weight. The bigger, better-proven win is health: steadier energy, blood sugar and heart health.
Sources
- Paluch et al., Daily steps and all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis of 15 international cohorts, Lancet Public Health (2022)
- Lee et al., Association of step volume and intensity with all-cause mortality in older women, JAMA Internal Medicine (2019)
- Tudor-Locke et al., Walking cadence (steps/min) and intensity in 21–40 year olds: CADENCE-adults, Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act (2019)
- Glow Walk Club workout library: step counts and lengths for every video