Step challenge tips: how to hit the goal every day

Find the steps you are already skipping

Most of a step goal is not exercise. It is small walking that modern days have quietly removed. Put a few of these back and the first few thousand steps arrive without a single planned walk.

• Take every phone call standing up and walking.
• Park at the far end of the car park, or get off one stop early.
• Use the stairs for anything under four floors.
• Walk to a colleague's desk instead of sending the message.
• Walk for ten minutes after dinner, every night, before you sit down.
• Do a full lap of the supermarket before you start shopping.
• Pace during the adverts, or while the kettle boils.
• Walk the long way to the kitchen, the printer and the car.

Know how long a walk you actually need

An ordinary walking pace is roughly 100 steps a minute, so ten minutes is about 1,000 steps and a twenty-minute walk is about 2,000. A mile is roughly 2,000 steps for most adults. Knowing that turns a vague worry at 8 pm into a simple sum: 1,800 short means one twenty-minute loop.

In a Stepr league the goal starts at 2,000 steps and rises by 250 a day by default, so it is 5,500 on day 15 and 9,250 on day 30. Look at the ladder on day one and plan for the week the goal passes what you normally walk, because that is the week most people go out.

Bank your steps before lunch

Evenings are where step challenges are lost: a late meeting, a child who will not sleep, rain. Every step you take before midday is a step you do not need to find at 10 pm. A fifteen-minute walk before work, or a walk at lunch, takes the pressure off the whole day.

The day ends at midnight in the league's time zone, not yours, so if you are travelling, check when your day actually closes.

Rescue a short day

Stepr sends a warning at 9 pm if you are short, which leaves time for a walk. If it is dark or raining, walking indoors counts just the same: laps of the house, walking in place in front of the TV, or up and down the stairs. The phone's motion sensor counts movement, not location, so a step in the hallway is worth the same as a step in the park as long as the phone is in your pocket or your watch is on.

Make sure every step is counted

A step that is not recorded does not exist. Carry your phone in a pocket rather than a bag, or wear a watch that writes to Apple Health, where Stepr reads steps from alongside the iPhone's own motion sensor. If you use a watch, open the Health app once and check that it appears as a source for steps.

There is no manual entry in Stepr, which keeps the league fair, but it also means a phone left on the desk all afternoon is an afternoon of lost steps. Stepr syncs in the background; opening the app before bed shows you the latest count.

Stay in when the goal gets big

Once the daily goal passes 8,000 or 9,000 steps, one walk is not enough and willpower stops working. Split the goal into three: a morning walk, a lunch walk and an evening walk, each about a third. Book walking meetings. Each day stands on its own, so a huge Saturday does not save you on Sunday.

If your league has free passes, save them for illness and travel rather than spending one on a lazy evening. The player with a pass left in week five usually outlasts the one who used theirs in week two.

Keep the group chat going

Motivation in a step challenge is social. A funny line at 8 pm gets more people off the sofa than any reminder. A few to borrow:

• My legs have filed a formal complaint. Overruled.
• Sofa 0, me 6,250.
• Walking the dog for the third time today. The dog has concerns.
• Not lost, just short of the goal and walking in circles on purpose.
• Tonight's plan: walk to the fridge 400 times.
• Still in. Barely. Proudly.

Questions people ask

Keep reading

• How to set up a step challenge people actually finish
• A step counter competition app where the steps are verified
• A walking challenge app built around one rising daily goal
• What is a step challenge?
• A virtual walking challenge to a real place, one day at a time
• All guides