You Don't Need To Walk 10,000 Steps

7 Apr 2025 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:12

In this YouTube monologue, Eric Roberts challenges the widely‑promoted 10,000‑steps‑per‑day rule for weight loss. He argues that the target is unrealistic for most desk‑bound workers who typically log only 3,000–4,000 steps daily. Presenting the 10,000‑step goal as overwhelming, he warns it can demotivate people, leading them to abandon fitness efforts altogether. Instead, Roberts proposes a more attainable approach: increase one’s current step count by modest increments (e.g., aiming for 5,000–6,000 steps). By breaking the goal into manageable chunks, individuals can build momentum, develop sustainable habits, and avoid the psychological backlash of an unattainable target.

Chapters

You need to walk 10,000 steps per day in order to lose weight. You've probably heard some butt sniffer on the internet tell you this before, but is it actually true? For a long time, 10,000 steps has been thought of as the holy grail for weight loss, and that's what everybody recommends. And while I agree, getting 10,000 steps is a great goal to shoot for, there's one major flaw. The average person working a desk job, commuting to and from work every single day, might only be getting 3,000 or 4,000 steps. steps a day right now. Not only does the thought of getting 10,000 steps per day seem overwhelming as fuck, the actual change that person would have to make to their lifestyle would be massive, which would end up discouraging most people, making them feel like a failure, and say, fuck this, I'd rather be fat. This is why I don't believe the goal should be to walk 10,000 steps per day. The goal should be to simply do more than what you're doing right now. So if you're currently walking 3,000 to 4,000 steps per day, then maybe try to work up to 5,000 or 6,000 steps per day. This breaks it down into much more manageable chunks, which helps you build momentum, which will help you build healthy and sustainable lifestyle habits forever.