The Unf*ck Your Fitness Podcast

179. 10k Steps Every Day: Is It Really Necessary or Total BS?

• Kristy Castillo

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We’ve all heard it: get your 10,000 steps a day! 


But…where the HELL did that even come from, and is it *actually* necessary?! 


Here’s the truth - you don’t NEED to hit 10k steps a day to reach your health goals.


I get that not everyone has the time or flexibility in their schedule to walk that much daily. What really matters is being aware of your movement + choosing to move with PURPOSE (something that has really helped me).


10,000 steps/day isn’t magic, but it IS a reminder. It’s a tool that has brought attention to just how little we move in a day. You’ve got to plan and schedule it in, because you DO have the time - it’s just about how you’re managing it in your everyday life.


Walking is one of THE simplest, most underrated tools in the game. Let’s stop overcomplicating things - it’s time to start walking more and building healthy habits that fit your lifestyle!!


In this episode, we cover:

  • Where the 10k steps/day idea actually came from
  • Why you don’t need 10k steps to reach your goals
  • How I’ve started walking more on purpose
  • How our super-sedentary lifestyle is holding us back
  • Busting the “I don’t have time” excuse
  • Simple ways to be more mindful about moving MORE
  • Why less movement means less food if you still want results
  • Staying consistent with daily movement (on YOUR terms)


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Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Un-Fuck-Your-Fitness Podcast. I am your host, Christy Castillo, and I'm here to give you real talk and cut the BS so you can actually enjoy building a body you love. I'm a personal trainer obsessed. What's up, Welcome?

Speaker 2:

to today's episode. We are going to be talking a little bit about 10,000 steps and where the hell that even came from. Do you need to be that even came from? Do you need to be hitting, walking, running, do you need to be getting 10,000 steps? I did a quick little Google search on I think I literally typed in where did 10,000 steps come from? And I should have asked ChatGPT, because we're getting along really well these days, cracks me up, but ask Google and it came from Japan, and the device I guess that they marketed means 10,000 steps meter, like that's what it translates to. So they just decided to go with 10,000 steps. It was a round number and it was easily remembered is what Google said, something of the sort. And so they went with 10,000 steps and it gained popularity, and we know that when the fitness industry finds something to grab onto, it grabs onto it and runs with it. So 10,000 steps has become.

Speaker 2:

I remember years ago hearing 10,000 steps, 10,000 steps, and I would see people older women and men walking around malls and marching around town. You know, just going for a stern walk is what it looked like and I thought, okay, these people are taking this 10,000 step thing very seriously and then I got to the age where I started taking the 10,000 step thing very seriously. So it's funny how life catches up to you there. But, in all seriousness, 10,000 steps is something that I hear a lot from clients that will say, and I actually asked on my Instagram stories. Let me back up here. So I asked my Instagram stories the other day something to the effect of how many steps do you get in a day and do you find that it's hard to get 10,000 steps? Like, do you think that is an unreasonable amount? And everyone who answered pretty much I had some 5,000 to 6,000 answers that were, you know, saying like on work days, it's really hard for me to get my steps. I get about 5,000 to 6,000. I have to, you know, really really try to get in 10,000. I had, but most were between like, try to get in 10,000. I had most were between like eight and 14,000. Now I'm sure that those of you that are on my Instagram and you're like I only get 3,000 a day, you didn't answer and that's fine, but the answers that I got were surprisingly high and I'm sure, of course, you're like yeah, I'm proud of this step count. I'm gonna put it on her little poll here. So I thank you for letting me know that you're getting somewhere between, I guess, 5,000 and 14,000 steps. I love that you're tracking, I love that you knew that, I love that you you know maybe you had to look it up, but I love that it's on your radar, that you are tracking that.

Speaker 2:

So no, to answer the question of do you have to get 10,000 steps a day, I mean no In general, that I didn't even put like a reason in there to lose weight or to lose fat or to gain muscle or whatever you know, insert any kind of end goal. Do you have to walk 10,000 steps a day? Question mark no, you don't have to. Nobody's forcing you to do that. And 10,000 steps there's no magic in the 10,000. Just like there's no magic in wearing the Apple Watch or tracking your food. The magic is in you doing it right and doing it 1% better than you did the day before, or walk more than you did the day before, or walking more than you did the day before or the month before, or just being conscious of it right.

Speaker 2:

So I hear from clients a lot like I work a desk job and then obviously, like we have kids and we're running them around, and then I have to make dinner and then it's the whole thing and like, I get it because I live that life too. Yes, I do work for myself, and some days that is a curse more than a blessing. But yeah, I mean I can make my own schedule. I could go for a walk or work out in the middle of the day. I think a lot of people think that people that work from home or have their own business have the freedom to do whatever they want for some reason throughout the day, and that's not true. I sit down and work, I sit down and talk on my calls, I sit down and record a podcast, or I stand in place and do all of those things. I could put a walking pad under my desk and, yes, walk, but I don't. So I'm just letting you know that I'm also very sedentary. No, I don't work a nine to five job somewhere in an office, but most people, I think, are very sedentary. So is that a valid reason? Excuse whatever you wanna call it. Yes, because you do possibly have to sit down for the greater part of your day, and I think this is the exact thing that I want to talk about.

Speaker 2:

So no, there's no magic in 10,000 steps, like who, what? No, that's not magical, but it is a good goal and I have found for myself once I start. Once I got my Oura Ring, which I don't know if it's exactly accurate with steps, because I use my hands a lot during the day and I sometimes don't know if it can tell the difference between me walking and my hands flailing around. But either way, it's calories that I'm expending, so it's fine in a way. But once I got my Oura Ring and I could track all of those things that actually matter, I realized that I was not walking enough, which means I wasn't moving enough. It doesn't mean that like, yes, there's a little magic in walking, yes, it's very, very good for you, but it's not like the walking is going to get me to the body I want. Right, it's more about moving more and being conscious of that.

Speaker 2:

So when I started using my Oura Ring, I was like, oh, 10,000 steps is crazy, like I'm gonna actually have to put in work. I think I'm a very active person and I have to put in work to get this 10,000 arbitrary number. That's insane. But yes, it was true, I had to start going for walks on purpose to the track, running, walking around town, walking out in the little field, wherever I had to purposely get these steps in, and I still do purposely have to get these steps in. I have to take a walk on the walking pad or with the dog or by myself. I will constantly say to my family I'm going for a quick walk, I need to get 2,000 steps in. I'll be back in 20 minutes, like I know how long it's going to take me, but I have to get it done. It's not something that I'm just like. Yo, it's five o'clock and I look down and I have 10,000 steps.

Speaker 2:

No, if I didn't make my, if I wasn't aware of it, I didn't make myself get up and walk around my kitchen island or go start a load of laundry and, while I'm down there, pace a little bit, or while I'm on a client call if it's just on the phone, I can get up and walk. If I wasn't conscious about those things, I would get to the end of my day, 7 pm, and maybe have 5,000 steps. So I'm right there with you. But what I want to say is there's no magic in the 10,000 steps. I don't want you to have to think that you have to get 10,000 steps.

Speaker 2:

Okay, what I want you to think about, and what I think this 10,000 step goal for the general public, I think it's to raise awareness of like get off and do something, go outside. You would burn more calories planting flowers or picking up trash in your yard, or picking up dog poop out of your yard, or going for a little walk, I don't know. Do something outside, right, we are so sedentary. We watch TV, we are sitting on our phones, we're sitting on our iPads, we're working on our computers, we're driving in the car, we're stuck in traffic, we're watching our kids do sports, we're sitting on our asses way more than we used to. I don't think back in the day, back in caveman times, I don't think they needed a step goal because they moved. That's the problem and that's what I wanted to kind of get at in this short, sweet and spicy episode is we just sit so freaking much. Okay, that is the point.

Speaker 2:

When I think to myself, okay, I really have to get up and go for a walk and I don't really have time, that's my first thought is like I don't have time. Well, yeah, you do. Yeah, you do. Either you don't have time because you were on your phone too much, or you worked a little more than you should, or you mismanaged your time. It's not that the time doesn't exist in the day, it's that you didn't manage your time. Well, christy, yeah, you do have time to do that. You do have 20 minutes or 40 minutes total, maybe.

Speaker 2:

I take four 10-minute walks a day. You can take a 10-minute break, for God's sake, and walk around your building, I hope, or take two 20-minute breaks, whatever it is, but I have to plan that in my day as well, and I think it's more about being aware of that right, taking the stairs, parking a little further out If you need to get groceries at Walmart park on the pharmacy side and walk a big loop to get your groceries, like those are just little things that I do now that I'm conscious of the fact that I sit more. I used to be a hairstylist. I was on my feet all day long, so I probably didn't have to worry about it. Obviously so much then. But now I sit and work, or I sit and I scroll my phone, or I sit and I work on my phone. I would constantly be sitting if I wasn't making a conscious effort.

Speaker 2:

So, no, you don't have to hit 10,000 steps. There's no miracle in that. However, I do think it is a really good goal. I think it's a really good goal and if you can hit 10,000 steps every day which you can, if you manage your time well, there's some days where I think it was over the weekend I was at 6,000 or 8,000 and I thought I'm not doing it.

Speaker 2:

Today, like there are some days right where the weather just sucks or I was getting sick, my allergies are still flared up and on Saturday I started getting sick. So it was probably Sunday that I thought, or it might have been even Saturday that I thought I'm not even. I'm not doing this, I'll just make up for it when I feel better, and you don't have to do it every single day. But at least I was conscious of it. I looked at my ring, I opened my app and thought, oh boy, I'm not going to hit my steps today unless I go for like a 30 minute walk. And that day I just chose not to, and that's okay, but I still thought about it.

Speaker 2:

It was there and I made the conscious effort to deny it, and that's my fault, but I think the point that I want to get at here is the step goal is great and, yes, you can sprint to get it. Yes, I can go for a jog, you can go for a walk, you can do laps around your kitchen island. Mine is big so it takes a lot of steps. But the point is to move more and I think it's made really good awareness for that. Yeah, you can get in 12,000, 14,000 a day, 16,000 a day right, people that work on their feet get a shit ton of steps and that all adds up. But also, if you don't have the time literally, or you're not willing to put in time, whatever it is, you're like I'm satisfied with 6,000 a day, that's fine, but you may have to bring your calories down to match that. That's the thing. Your energy output matters, and so if you're not going to try to improve the energy output, we have to decline the energy input as well.

Speaker 2:

So I will say that I can eat more consistently when I'm going for walks consistently because I'm burning more calories. I'm burning more fat because my body is primed to do that with the amount of muscle that I have. So if I just kick up my calories or my steps. Usually, like in the wintertime, I have to get on the walking pad and do that. But in the spring, if I can bump up my steps to 12,000 every single day, that's 2,000 more than I was getting, 2,000 more than my goal, and it's walking. So I can tell some clients like, hey, if I don't need to be on my computer adjusting your workouts, I'm going to be going for a walk. Why don't you go for a walk too? While we're on the call, we can both get our steps in. That's great. So little changes like that. So I just kind of wanted to get that little bug in your ear. Today you don't have to hit 10,000, but if you're consistently hitting 5,000 right now, bump it up to 7, or bump it up to even 6,000. Once you get consistent with 6,000, bump it up to 7. Once you get consistent with 7, bump it up to 8, right, just consistently.

Speaker 2:

Make more time for movement and also consistently and consciously make less time on your phone. There are some times I've been so much better about it lately, in the last like month or two, I would say, and I do. I love the game block blast on my phone, but I make sure I don't open it until later in the night when I really want my brain to turn off. But I've been pretty good about not scrolling Instagram. I do, obviously, work online, so I'm on my phone a lot, but I've been very conscious with, like I'm sitting here scrolling my phone looking at basically useless information, when I could be up and around doing something physical with my body that would benefit my body.

Speaker 2:

We are just so sedentary when you think about it and it's just a lot of how society is. It's how life is right now, but we don't have to accept it and we shouldn't accept it. So be very conscious with where your time and your energy is going and be very consistent with your movement. And I think the 10,000 step goal is great. I used to make fun of it and be like you don't have to get 10,000 steps and you don't, but that was kind of when I was doing hair and I thought I move so much, so I was just kind of thinking everybody else did too. I don't know, but that's not true. Like a lot of us are sitting at desks and sitting on our computer and just sitting and scrolling and doing stupid shit all day that we don't really need to be doing.

Speaker 2:

So. Let's be more conscious about getting up, spending our energy wisely, mentally and physically, and doing some good things for our body. Go to a class, go for a walk with a friend, go to a friend's house and visit, rather than sitting on your phone. I think we're just so cooped up sometimes and I'm guilty as well, which is how I found this topic, of course, but I hope this was helpful. And, yeah, you don't have to hit 10,000, but please do me a favor and just move more, because your life literally will depend on it one day your muscle mass and your fat percentage and all of that, like your health.

Speaker 2:

I'm finding even now and at the ripe old age of 43, almost 44. Actually, when this comes out, it'd be pretty, it'd be closer to 44. Oh, that's crazy, but I'm just finding out that all of this. I know that it matters, so so much. But as I get older and I'm losing my muscle mass a little faster and, you know, gaining fat in weird places a little faster than I used to, movement is so essential and a lot of people just really underestimate that and run to supplements or run to a quick fix. And I'm telling you that if you just eat a little bit better quality foods and you move more, your body will change and your life will change for the better. And walking is so simple. It's so simple, it's something that we should just be doing, so let's get more walking in as soon as we can. All right, I hope you enjoyed. I will talk to you in the next episode.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for listening to today's show. Go ahead and leave a rating and a review and, of course, follow the podcast so you don't miss out on any future episodes. And I would love it so much if you came to connect with me over on Instagram at ChristyCastilloFit. I will see you next time. Bye.