Personal trainer Emmet Rushe has creative ways to make up extra steps and stick to your Fitbit goals.

FitBits have become very popular in the health and fitness world.

Last year, Ireland was ranked as the ‘Fittest Country in the World’ for 2017, based on data they collected from almost 25 million FitBit users.

If you are one of the 63 million people worldwide that owns a Fitbit, you may already know that the recommended daily steps for weight management is around 10,000 per day.

You may be thinking that you don’t do anywhere near that and that you would have to be walking miles each day to hit the recommended total, but it is easier than you think.

Last year, I usually hit these by 1pm, simply walking around the gym with clients, no exercise was involved, just moving around and being on my feet.

If you work in an office, or have a sedentary job, this may not be as easy, but that doesn’t mean that it is impossible. You just have to be creative with your time and make use of every opportunity you can to get some extra steps into your daily routine.

  1. Get a dog
    Seriously, get a dog, then wake up half an hour earlier each morning and take it for a walk.
    You get 30 mins of exercise in with a companion that will always want to go in the morning.
    They won’t sleep in, they won’t make excuses, they will always be excited to go.
  2. Walk instead of drive whenever possible
    Whenever you can, leave the car and walk to your destination.
    If you usually drive to the shop on your lunch break, and it’s within walking distance, walk there instead.
    If you usually drive around the shops, but they are all within the one complex, walk around them instead.
    Small steps like this can add up to large amount of daily steps.
  3. Take the stairs instead of the elevator
    This is self-explanatory. We live in Ireland and none of us work on the top floor of the Empire State Building, so leave the elevator and escalator behind and start using the stairs.
  4. Park at the far end of the car park.
    Stop parking as close to the front door as possible. Instead, park at the far end of the car park and walk the 2 minutes into your work. If it’s raining, jog or run, it won’t kill you, I promise. Lol
  5. Get up from your desk and take a walk around the office once each hour while you are at work. 
    If you work for one of the larger companies, you will have plenty of space to do this in.
    If you work for a smaller company, you might need to get creative so you don’t end up doing laps around your desk.
  6. Walk around the house or office while you talk on the phone
    99% of all phones are cordless or mobile, so whenever you get a phone call, get up and talk a stroll while you are on the call.
    This is providing you don’t need to have your computer at hand, because carrying a desktop and phone is a bit of a juggling act.
  7. Walk down every aisle of the supermarket and shops. 
    Instead of going to only the aisles you need, to get what you need, walk up and down every aisle of the shops. If you are carrying a basket or pushing a trolley, you will have a bit of resistance added into this also.

It doesn’t take much to hit the recommended 10,000 steps, when you add up all the different ways you can add activity into your daily routine.

The main thing is not to get disheartened thinking that you can’t do it.
Start small and build it up slowly and you will soon be hitting your steps and more each day.

#Trainsmart

If you can’t make it to the gym due to having a busy job or life, then our LADIES ONLY online plan that you can do from home might be of interest to you.

The next intake opens on February 5th.
Click the link to learn more. https://www.rushefitness.ie/lean-in-2018/