The best way to reach 10,000 steps a day is to work out the distance and time you’ll need to walk to hit your daily step goal. Adding 1 mile a day is easy, but 2 miles a day is a challenge and 3 miles a day requires making big changes to your daily routine. Once you build a walking habit it’s easy to maintain, but working in an extra hour a day of brisk walking takes effort. Build that habit by knowing exactly how far you need to go and how long you need to walk, then get creative and make a plan to reach your goal.

We’ve done the calculations for you based on 3 potential step levels – 4,000 steps (6,000+ to get 10k), 6,000 steps (4,000+ to hit 10k) and 8,000 steps (2,000+ to hit 10k). Find out your walking distance, time, calories burned and potential weight loss for adding 1 mile, 2 miles, or 3 miles of daily walking!

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Your goal: 2,000 extra steps – walking 1 mile (1.6 km)

If you’re at 7,500-8,000 steps, you need about an extra mile of walking. The good news is that you can probably find the time in your day. First, let’s do some math on what that extra mile a day looks like.

Distance to walk 2,000 steps day – about 1 mile:

How far you need to walk depends on your steps per mile, which is influenced by your height. Most people get more than 2,000 steps per mile, but you can use 1 mile as a good estimate. For instance, a 5’10” person would need .93 miles (1.5 km) to reach 2,000 steps while a 5’2″ person would only need .82 miles (1.3 km). Here’s a full guide with a greater range of heights: Steps per mile by Pacer.

Time to walk 1 mile a day – 15-20 minutes:

At a brisk walking pace of 3 mph (4.8 km/h), you’ll get a mile in 20 minutes. At 3.5 mph (5.6 km/h) you’ll reach 1 mile in about 17 minutes.

Calories burned walking 1 mile a day:

Your calorie burn depends on weight, speed, and several other factors. Here are 2 examples.

• 77 calories – Sarah: 155-pound woman walking 3 mph for 20 minutes
• 95 calories – Brian: 180-pound man walking 3.5 mph for 17 minutes

Weight lost walking 1 extra mile a day:

Assuming you need to burn 3,500 calories per pound of fat lost, you could lose an extra pound every 1-2 months. (36 days in our 180-pound example, 45 days in our 155-pound example).

How to walk 1 more mile a day:

Going the additional mile is not an all-or-nothing proposition. You can break the distance into shorter walks to make up the total.

• Take a short walk during your lunch or coffee break. Even a few 5-minute walks will add up.
• Multitasking your way to an extra mile: walk in place while you brush your teeth or make business calls.
• Hold a quick walking meeting or walk-and-talk at your office. You’ll help get your office active as a secondary benefit.
• Park a bit farther when you do errands, or take an extra lap or two around the store.
• Offer to take the neighbor’s kids on a walk around the block. Mom and Dad will appreciate the break.
• Here are more tips on getting 2000 steps.

Your goal: 4,000 extra steps – walking 2 miles (3.2 km)

If you’re currently walking around 6,000 steps a day, it will be a bit more of a challenge to get up to 10,000 steps. You’ll probably want to get there in stages, but the good news is that with a little work you find the time in the day to get the extra steps.

Distance to walk 4,000 steps a day – under 2 miles:

4,000 steps could take you anywhere from about 1.6 to 2 miles. For instance, a 5’10” person would need 1.83 miles (3 km) to reach 4,000 steps while a 5’2″ person would only need around 1.6 miles (2.6 km). 2 miles is a good estimation that will ensure you get more than enough steps. Here’s a full guide with a greater range of heights: Steps per mile by Pacer.

Time to walk 2 miles a day – 30-40 minutes:

At a brisk walking pace of 3 mph (4.8 km/h), you’ll get 2 miles in 40 minutes. At 3.5 mph (5.6 km/h) you’ll reach 2 miles in about 34 minutes. Of course, the longer you walk the more difficult it is to maintain a fast walking speed.

Calories burned walking 2 miles a day:

Your calorie burn depends on weight, speed, and several other factors. Here are 2 examples.

• 154 calories – Sarah: 155-pound woman walking 3 mph for 40 minutes
• 190 – Brian: 180-pound man walking 3.5 mph for 34 minutes

Weight lost walking 1 extra mile a day:

Assuming you need to burn 3,500 calories per pound of fat lost, you could lose an extra 1 to 2 pounds a month. (1.6 pounds per month in our 180-pound example, 1.3 pounds per month in our 155-pound example).

How to walk 2 more miles a day:

Walking an extra 30-40 minutes a day or two more miles usually does take more planning and effort to achieve. Still, most people can make it happen!

• Make a deal and a commitment in writing that you will work to get the extra steps. Make a plan to get this increase gradually, and remember what you hope to accomplish from hitting this goal.
• Choose days, times, and activities that suit the weather and your schedule. Have a backup indoor walking location, as well as go-to’s in case it rains or there’s other inclement weather.
• Get friends or loved ones into walking for extra motivation, and so that you can use your time together getting active.
• Try calling walk-mates and plan a combination trip: go to the mall to shop but schedule a walk before and after visiting a certain number of shops. Shopping or a treat can be a reward for hitting your step goal.
• Add a new route to your walking routine. Find a hiking trail with a measured one-mile distance, and challenge yourself to complete the trail two times. Start with the goal of completing a small portion of the trail. Then set a date and time to do it again, only go further the next time. Keep adding steps until you reach the trail’s full distance.
• Make it a game: Remember childhood treasure and scavenger hunts? Create a map and hide fun clues around town for walking teams to find and keep moving from one location to the next with the goal of finding something fun and useful, such as gift cards to local merchants.

Your goal: 6,000+ extra steps – walking 3+ miles (5 km)

If you’re currently walking under 4,000 steps a day we’ll be honest – getting to 10,000 steps a day will be difficult. You will need to set intermediate goals, and work your way up over time. Still, it is possible for many people to hit 10,000 steps. It may simply take a long time to get there. This is what the extra steps may look like:

Distance to walk 6,000 steps a day – 2.5-3 miles:

6 steps could take you anywhere from about 2.4 to just under 3 miles. A 5’10” person would need 2.8 miles (4.5 km) to reach 4,000 steps while a 5’2″ person would only need around 2.5 miles (4 km). If you can add 3 miles to your daily walk, you can almost certainly hit a 10,000 step goal regardless of your current walking level. Here’s a full guide with a greater range of heights: Steps per mile by Pacer.

Time to walk 3 miles a day ~ 1 hour:

At a brisk walking pace of 3 mph (4.8 km/h), you’ll get 3 miles in 1 hour. At 3.5 mph (5.6 km/h) you’ll reach 3 miles in about 51 minutes. While you can speed walk or do intervals to walk quickly for short periods of time, you’ll almost definitely lose speed when you start walking close to an hour. That’s ok! You can also break this down into several shorter walks, which may make it easier to keep up that fast pace.

Calories burned walking 3 miles a day:

Your calorie burn depends on weight, speed, and several other factors. Here are 2 examples.

• 232 calories – Sarah: 155-pound woman walking 3 mph for 40 minutes
• 270 – Brian: 180-pound man walking 3 mph for 34 minutes (we reduced his speed due to the longer walking time)

Weight lost walking 3 extra miles a day:

Assuming you need to burn 3,500 calories per pound of fat lost, you could lose an extra 2-3 pounds a month or more. (2.3 pounds per month in our 180-pound example, 2 pounds per month in our 155-pound example).

How to walk 3 more miles a day:

Most people won’t be able to add 3 more miles of walking per day right away. It may be hard to free up an hour of time, and your stamina probably won’t be high enough at the start. If you do want to go for 3 miles in a shorter period of time, the easiest way to do this is break up your walking goals into 20-minute chunks.

• Consider splitting your walk time into 20-minute chunks. Space these out through your day – morning, lunchtime and after dinner are good ideas. 20-minutes is easier to walk without tiring, and easier to fit in your schedule.
• Register for a 5K walk/run in your town. Five kilometers is 3.1 miles. By working your way up and training for the event, you’ll have your additional 6,000+ steps done. Don’t worry about the people running past you; you’ll have plenty of walking company and make new friends along the route.
• Invest in a new or used treadmill for indoor walking: you won’t worry about the weather and you can roll out of bed and step onto the device in your PJs and walking shoes without comment or stare from anyone (except maybe your partner, kids or the dog). Joining a nearby gym is another way to add treadmill walking to your workout.
• Add steps with steps: climbing the stairs not only adds to your count, it increases your intensity level and burns calories at a faster rate than flat walking.
• Doing what seems wrong is walking right: Use a restroom far away from your office, park on the top level of a parking garage or in the space farthest from the store entrance, take a walk while your kids are on the sports field, and communicate with coworkers by walking to their desks rather than relying on email.

Why increasing step count matters in the first place

You walk for both fun and fitness, but steps are significant, too.

• Increasing your step count increases the number of calories you burn walking, which can be important for weight loss.
• Americans (and people in other developed countries) only get around 5,000 steps per day. Getting more is important for a variety of health benefits.
• Adding steps gets you out of the house, away from sitting in from of the TV or computer and connecting only on social media, to connect with people in real-time and in parts of your town you never knew.
• Adding steps adds confidence that you can make the hike on foot to the grocery or drug store, get what you need and get home, while leaving your car in the driveway.
• Adding steps can save your budget. As you build strength and endurance, you’ll find it easier to do the household and yard chores you’ve been paying other people to do, including yard work, grocery shopping, car washing, housekeeping, and dog walking.

Final thoughts:

Whether you’ve just started walking for fitness or your race-walking like an Olympian in training, improving your daily workout depends on several factors including pace, intensity,  and distance. Doing the same workout, on the same path, at the same time and distance every day won’t feel like a workout after a while —it will seem like an exercise in boredom, with decreasing benefits to show for it. With the right planning and some basic calculations, you can find out exactly how much you need to walk and put in a plan to make it happen.

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