So you've signed up to that step challenge and you 100% have the best of intentions to finish it. It is so great to be part of a supportive community and/or have loved ones do it with you or even just support you from afar. That can really spur you on! But - it can be all too easy to de-priortise something where you may be the only person benefitting from your efforts. Things get in the way and take priority. This happens to so many people, it is not just you!
So the first thing to recognise about a step challenge (or any type of fitness challenge) is that it is more than just getting in a bit of extra exercise during that period. It's also about learning new ways of exercising and repeating those new ways so they become habits and eventually become your new baseline or expectation for exercise. The more you can do this the more it becomes part of your life and just becomes what you do.
Having participated in and ran fitness challenges with my clients over the years I've noticed a few trends which I thought would be useful to talk about, as well as some quick ideas to get ahead of those less helpful behavioural patterns which we are all capable of displaying!
Not identifying your blockers early: If you know you always have a busy workday on a Tuesday, don't plan to smash your goals that day, simply plan to meet them! Know which walks and how many will get your 10k steps in that day and the minimum you need to do. I have some walks planned around my home which I know are my 'big walks' versus my 'meet my steps' walks.
Setting big goals without smaller goals: "I'm going to do 300,000 steps this month!" Woah, what!?! The best way to take on a challenging long-term goal is to break it down into multiple short-term goals. This allows you to check your progress and see if you are on track and modify along the way. Instead, it becomes about doing 10k steps a day for a month. The advent of smart watches and fitness trackers has made this so much easier.
Comparing yourself to others: This is so easy, especially in a group setting or even just looking at social media. This is why all my group challenges have rewards for improvement as well as doing the most steps overall! Even if you are not part of a challenge, set yourself improvement goals, not just end result ones and congratulate yourself when you achieve either or both!
Negative thinking: Positive thinking and imagery are used by athletes for a reason – it is known to improve performance and training outcomes. The impact of emotion on physical performance has been clearly demonstrated, so follow the science and keep an optimistic and determined outlook to increase your chances of success. Positive thinking is a habit and takes practice. I do not agree that you are either naturally a positive or a negative thinker and that's it forever.
So here are some quick tactical ideas to help you get those steps in. These are ones that I give to my clients to help them prepare and rack up those steps on their smartphone or smart watch.
Walk instead of drive / Uber.
Plan an evening walk if you were up late today - don't rule it out because you didn't do it by midday.
Need to give someone a call? Plan a walk while you're chatting!
Arrange a regular walking date with a friend or partner.
Walk to/from the office or get off the bus a few stops earlier and walk the rest of the way.
Getting a takeaway? My clients always giggle at this one, but let's be real, takeaways happen! Walk to your local restaurant to collect it instead of getting a delivery or driving to collect it.
So easy to take the dog for a walk, but if you don't have a pet of your own find a friend who does and arrange a catch up.
Take the stairs instead of the escalator or lift.
Plan a weekend hike with some friends. Weekend warriors are also a pretty cool bunch!
Attach your walk to a habit. For example, every time I make a cup of tea I always walk into the the garden and pull a few weeds out back while I wait for the kettle to boil!
So I hope this is helpful! I would love to know if you find this helpful or you have other tactics you use to get your steps in and make sure you finish your challenges. Please feel free to add these in the comments below.