10,000 Steps for Less: How Just Two Black Friday Gadgets Can Help You Get Fit and Lose Weight
If you’re struggling with your fitness or staying active, getting outside and taking those steps can be a challenge. After all, 10,000 steps in miles is about 5 miles for the average walker, and sometimes covering that distance can be difficult.
Learning how to efficiently walk 10,000 steps a day means making lots of small lifestyle adjustments to help you get on track. You can break your miles into more manageable chunks, actively try to incorporate more steps into your daily life, track it all on one of the best fitness trackers, and even work with someone to make the process more enjoyable.
A few precise tech purchases can also vastly improve your step count and your overall fitness. With the Black Friday deals event just around the corner, I think anyone struggling with the motivation or logistics of running can seriously improve their wellbeing with just two key relatively inexpensive pieces of equipment.
By 2024, the benefits of walking 10,000 steps daily will be well documented. Study after study shows this Walking 10,000 steps a day can help reduce anxiety, depression, anger, fatigue, confusion and overall mood problems, can reduce the risk of cancer and cardiovascular diseaseAnd can help significantly reduce body weight, BMI, body fat and waist circumference.
But thanks to Black Friday, you don’t have to worry about spending hundreds of dollars or pounds a year on a gym membership, or buying a top-of-the-line treadmill for your basement. Here’s how to walk 10,000 steps with nothing but a cheap walking path and a simple fitness tracker.
Follow your steps
Counting your steps will be impossible without specialized equipment, and while your smartphone may have a pedometer, even a cheap fitness tracker will give you much better insight into your overall activity level and your fitness as a result.
Without spending a lot of money, you can get one in Britain Huawei band 9or a Xiaomi Smart Band 9 for under £40. The latter is our top cheap pick for fitness trackers thanks to its handy screen, accurate sensors and extensive data. If you have a little more to spend, the Google Fitbit Inspire 3 is a solid choice at around £85but there’s no need to spend more than £50. Save your money and use it for the second gadget we’re going to.
You won’t find Huawei in the US, but you will Xiaomi’s Smart Band 9 for $51 on Amazonor older Smartband 8 for just $45. In the US, the aforementioned Fitbit Inspire 3 is also a lot more affordable, Marked down to just $69.
Of course, you can always push the boat out with an Apple Watch or a Samsung Galaxy alternative, or even a great Garmin like the Forerunner 55, but if you’re just looking for a cheap band to count steps and keep you motivated, then there’s no reason to spend more than $100.
Unlock the power of the walking cushion
As the owner and beneficiary of a great walking trail, and as a fitness and wearables writer at TechRadar, I’m a staunch advocate of the humble walking trail as one of the best fitness tools out there. They are cheaper and smaller than treadmills, but can often be folded for storage and provide the perfect walking platform to help you get your steps in at home. Also known as under-desk treadmills, you can use the best under-desk treadmills to do almost anything, whether attending work calls or meetings, watching Netflix, making or answering phone calls, listening to podcasts, and more.
You’ll find that most great walking pads cost less than $400/£300, and there are many on sale for less around Black Friday. Walking trails can help you avoid bad weather or dark winter nights, eliminating some of the top concerns that often get in the way of our best-laid fitness plans.
In Great Britain we have our eye on the Kitopa hiking trail. Normally €189, it is now only €129 and has dropped to €99 in recent weeks.
In the US this is Cursor Fitness Pad costs just $85or this highly rated SuperRun is just $125 instead of the usual list price of $289.
Choosing your running path wisely is a little more important than the fitness tracker, simply because it is a bigger expense. So when you’re shopping, pay attention to important details such as the weight of the device itself, its weight limit, speeds and additional features such as a remote control.
You can also find more choices in our roundup of the best under-desk treadmills, where our top budget pick will set you back around $150/£150, or you can splash out for a premium model.
Either way, Black Friday is definitely a great time to pick up some incredible fitness tech and get a head start on your January fitness resolutions.
