How to Motivate Yourself to Walk More: 5 things You Can Do

You know that doing more physical activity (e.g. brisk walking) would be good for your physical and mental health, you want to do it, but you just can’t seem to make it part of your daily routine?

Revelation: you’re perfectly normal!

As a physiotherapist, I’ve often had to deal with people like you. Here are the 5 things I think are the most relevant to put in place, based on my experience and my scientific readings on motivating change.

♻️ Last updated: September 29, 2024.
👩‍⚖️ Declaration of financial interests: amazon affiliate links. My complete declaration of financial interests is available in the legal notice section.
Written by Nelly Darbois, physiotherapist and scientific editor

Set yourself a reasonable, progressive walking goal 🚶‍♂️🎯

When we try to implement a new habit, we’re often full of motivation and energy… in the first week!

The hardest part is maintaining a new habit over time.

And we often set ourselves over-ambitious goals that are impossible to maintain over the medium or long term, once we’ve got over the initial frenzy.

If you’re not used to walking, a goal like “walking 10,000 steps a day” will be hard to achieve.

Instead, opt for a more modest goal.

What I advise you to do: for 2 weeks, note how much walking you do per week without any specific effort.

For example, you might note that you take X number of steps per day, or X number of steps 3 times a week. Or you could count in minutes: you walk 2 times 20 minutes a week, etc.

Start from this base level to set your goal.

For example, if you currently walk 1000 steps/day on average, you could target 1500 steps/day for 2 weeks, then increase to 2000 steps/day for a month, and so on.

Case in point: Sophie, 32, works full-time as an administrative assistant. She decided to start by walking for 10 minutes every day (whereas she used to walk for less than 5 minutes in total during the day, apart from striding).

After a week, she increased her time to 15 minutes. Gradually, she integrated walking into her daily routine, increasing her intrinsic motivation to exercise.

2. Use a pedometer, notebook or app to quantify your activity 📱📊

Quantifying your physical activity can act as a powerful motivator.

A pedometer or app can help you track your progress, boosting your extrinsic motivation.

Seeing your steps accumulate can encourage you to walk more.

Choose the tool that appeals to you most:

• a simple notebook or bullet journal-type planner (see on Amazon);
• an application such as WinWalk or WeWard ;
• a pedometer (see on Amazon).

Case in point: Sylviane, 65, wanted to maintain a more frequent routine of physical activity after a stay in a rehabilitation center where she improved her abilities.

She bought herself a pedometer from Décathlon and strives to walk 6000 steps every day without exception, except for family gatherings a few times a year. She does this in 2 daily walking sessions, in addition to indoor walking / tramping.

Another example: a study carried out in several London care practices tested the effectiveness of a program based on the use of pedometers to encourage walking among inactive adults aged 45 to 75.

The participants followed a simple program: gradually manage to walk 3000 steps in 30 minutes every day, accompanied by an activity diary. The results were encouraging.

• Increased daily steps: after 12 months, participants were able to add around 600 to 700 extra steps per day compared with a control group that did not follow this program.
• Moderate to vigorous physical activity : those who followed the program increased their moderate to vigorous physical activity by an average of 30 to 35 minutes per week.
• Program simplicity: whether the program was followed via consultations with a nurse (in physics) or sent by post, the results were similar, proving that simple, accessible interventions can make a difference.

Source : Harris 2018

3. Walk in a group or with a friend 👥🤝

Walking with others can turn a solitary task into a social activity.

The social aspect of exercise boosts motivation and makes the experience more enjoyable, as the walking session passes more quickly.

And since you’re making a commitment to another person, you maximize your chances of not cancelling your walking session!

Here’s a concrete example: for several years now, I’ve been joining a friend for a walk one evening a week after putting the kids to bed. Rather than meeting in a bar or at home to exchange news, we prefer to do it while walking, to combine social contact and physical activity!

We adapt our itinerary and the duration of our outings (between 45 minutes and 1h30) to the weather, but unless it’s imperative, we try never to cancel, even in the middle of winter on a rainy evening!

4. Make a phone call or listen to a good podcast at the same time 📞🎧

Combining walking with other activities you enjoy can make exercise less boring.

Whether chatting on the phone with a friend or listening to an engaging podcast, it can make walking more engaging.

Case in point: I’m a big fan of podcasts. I only listen to podcasts while walking, and I sometimes get excited about going for a walk precisely because I know I have lots of new podcast episodes to listen to that have accumulated!

5. Do less rather than nothing at all on unmotivated days 💤➡️🏃‍♂️

It’s normal to have unmotivated days.

Instead of getting discouraged, tell yourself that doing less is always better than doing nothing.

Sometimes, just getting out and saying to yourself “I’m only going to walk for 2 minutes” can be enough to trigger a longer walking session.

Case in point: Claire, 50, often feels demotivated after a long day at work, and doesn’t have time to go for a walk at lunchtime or in the morning. She has set herself a rule: if she doesn’t feel like walking, she must at least get out and walk for two minutes.

Often, once outside, she finds herself walking for 15 minutes or more, because the act of getting out is enough to motivate her.

***

That’s all I wanted to say on the subject! Any questions or comments? See you in comments!