How I Use my Fitbit to get in 10,000 Steps

I hope Tuesday is treating you well! Today I’m going to be sharing how I use my Fitbit to get in 10,000 steps most days. It’s been really helpful at keeping me more active than I would be otherwise. It was such a great investment in my physical activity.

If you’re thinking of getting a Fitbit, you can check out my reviews of the Zip and Charge 2. After having used both of them, I would recommend the Charge 2 (affiliate link) if you workout regularly. If you just want to track steps, go with the Zip (affiliate link).

Hourly notification to walk at least 250 steps

This is something that you can enable in the settings. You can set it to remind you for between 5 and 14 consecutive hours. I currently have mine set for 12 – 8 am to 8 pm. If you haven’t gotten in at least 250 steps by 50 minutes past the hour, the Fitbit will vibrate and tell you how many more steps you need to get in to reach 250.

I have this feature with my Charge 2 (affiliate link), but I didn’t with my FitBit Zip (affiliate link). If you’re thinking about getting a Fitbit and this is a feature that interests you, be sure to check that the model you want to get has it.

It keeps me accountable

Like I mentioned in the introduction of this post, my Fitbit keeps me accountable. It’s easy to assume that I’m more active than I actually am. If I don’t leave the house on a weekend, I’ll typically only get in 4  or 5 thousand steps, which really isn’t all that much. My Fitbit gives me a number that I can use to quantify how active I was throughout the day. It’s much more accurate than me just thinking back through my day to see how active I thought I was.

It’s similar to when I estimate servings of food versus actually measuring them out. For the most part I’ll underestimate serving sizes. Measuring out my food keeps me accountable just like my Fitbit does.

It connects me with my friends

You can add friends to the Fitbit app. While I have both people that I know in real life and just online, I find that I’m more competitive with my friends from real life, which works in my favor when it comes to getting in steps. Challenges can vary from a single day to a work week, and can have as many as 10 people in them.

The heart rate tracking is valuable for my workouts

For some workouts I’ll use my heart rate to determine which zone I’m in and if I’m working hard enough. While your ideal heart rate zone will depend on your age, gender, fitness level, any medication/health conditions you may have and a host of other things, it can be really helpful in making sure you’re working at a challenging level.

If you haven’t worked with heart rate training before, or aren’t sure what zone you should be in, I would suggest working with your doctor or a personal trainer to get personalized advice.

This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting my blog, I appreciate it.

Do you have a Fitbit? How do you use it to stay active?