006: Vitals - How I Hit 10,000 Steps on a 10-Hour Workday (No Gym Required)

Note: This post contains affiliate links to some of the products I use in the Lab. If you make a purchase through these links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only highlight products that are a core part of my actual routine.

A Different System

If you're a busy professional, you can end a 10-hour workday with 3,000 steps and no energy, or you can end it with 10,000 steps, work AND movement checked off your calendar, and ready to be present at home.

Same workday. Same day of back-to-back Zoom meetings. Different system.

That's what this post is about. I'm going to walk you through the exact system I use as a time-stretched executive and a mom and I'll share the one mindset shift at the end that can double your workday step count. It costs nothing. You can implement it tomorrow.

Why Steps Are Pillar 1 – Not an Afterthought

This post is part of the ASSETS series: six foundational pillars for executive health covering Activity (steps), Strength, Sleep, Equilibrium (stress), Total Energy (calories), and Sustenance (protein). Steps are first because they're the baseline. The daily activity foundation that everything else sits on.

Here's the truth about where most of us are: according to data highlighted by Nuffield Health, the average adult woman takes only about 4,900 steps per day. And it's not a motivation problem. A survey in the National Library of Medicine found that 64% of women cite personal and work responsibilities as a barrier to walking daily. We're not lazy. We're just operating in a system that wasn't designed for movement.

As executives, we know the danger of working IN the business instead of ON it. It's time we apply that same operational rigor to our biology.

We optimize our organization, we fortify our family, all while we run ourselves on fumes... and we call it leadership.

No more. Here are four ways to change that - without a gym, without sacrificing family time, and without showing up sweaty to your next on-camera meeting.

Strategy 1: The Color-Coded Walking Meeting (With One Rule That Makes It Sustainable)

The walking meeting is not a new idea. But most people try and abandon it because they didn't utilize the one rule that makes it sustainable:

Remove the barriers: walk at a pace that doesn't make you sweat. In your workclothes.

For me, that's about 3 miles per hour at a relaxed, conversational pace. Not a power walk. Not a fitness pace. Just movement.

Here's the system I actually use. Every Friday, before I close my laptop, I scan the upcoming week's calendar and look for meetings that meet three criteria:

1. Audio-only - or an internal call where my camera being off won't be seen as disrespectful.
2. No real-time note-taking required - AI notetakers have made this much easier.
3. At least 30 minutes long - though 60 is the goal.

I color-code those meetings so they stand out visually on my calendar. When they hit, I put on my headphones, step outside, and walk at a conversational pace around my neighborhood. I've found it actually helps me focus more on the conversation, because I'm not tempted to multitask or clear emails while someone else is talking.

The data backs this up. On a typical desk-day, my Oura ring shows me averaging about 3,000 steps. On a day with one 30-minute walking meeting, that number jumps to over 6,000. A 60-minute walking call? I'm nearly guaranteed to hit 10,000 that day. One meeting. Doubled or tripled.

The Atomic Habits framework teaches us that systems outperform willpower every time. Habit-stacking steps with calls you're already taking creates efficiency on both sides of the ledger - professional output and biological baseline.

Boring + Consistency = Results. It's not sexy. But it works. And it compounds.

That's the theorem. I remind myself daily. It's what makes this strategy work long-term when the novelty wears off.

Strategy 2: The Walking Pad: Your Indoor Insurance Policy

Not every meeting is walkable outside … think rain, extreme heat, and back-to-back video calls. Adding a gym-like treadmill can also be a challenge, as the challenges with ad-hoc home office situations are real. That's where a walking pad earns its place.

A walking pad is a low-profile, treadmill-belt surface - no handles, no incline - that slides under a standing desk, sits in front of your workspace, or folds up and leans against the wall when not in use. At a slow, camera-appropriate pace (around 1.5 mph, which is roughly "my head won't bob on Zoom" speed), a 40-minute call yields about 2,000 steps. At 2 mph, more like 3,000. A full hour at on-camera pace gets you 3,000 to 4,000 steps - nearly half your daily target in a single meeting.

I do most of my walking outside because I'm fortunate to enjoy California’s steady weather. But I'm planning to add a walking pad to my home office setup before summer hits, and I'll share a full review when I do. If you've been on the fence about getting one, drop a comment and tell me what's holding you back. Noise? Storage? Whether it'll actually work on camera? I'll address your specific questions in the review.

The strategic reframe here is important. A walking pad isn't gym equipment. It's an architectural tool to help you design your day. It's infrastructure for a work environment that wasn't designed for movement.

Let's stop looking for windows in our calendar. Let's architect them.

Strategy 3: Lunch Hour Leverage

When the morning is wall-to-wall meetings and the afternoon is the same, the lunch break is often the only predictable window in the day … and most of us are spending it at our desks or scrolling our phones.

A 20-to-30-minute brisk walk at lunch at around 3.5 to 4 mph adds approximately 4,000 steps. For someone whose Zoom-heavy baseline is 3,000, that's more than doubling the day's total in a single block.

A few things that make this sustainable:

• Keep fast fuel ready. If you're going to walk instead of sit down to lunch, you need easy high-protein options that require zero prep: single-serve Greek yogurt, low-sugar jerky, a pre-made protein shake. These aren't gourmet. But my goal is to maximize efficiency during the day and slow down to actually enjoy a meal with my family in the evening.

• Block it like a meeting. This is Parkinson's Law in action: work expands to fill the time available. If lunch isn't on your calendar as a protected block, something else fills it. Give it a title. "Leadership Performance Block" if that helps it survive the scheduling pressure. Treat it as non-negotiable the same way you'd treat a board call.

• Pair it with something that makes it a reward. A podcast you only listen to on these walks. A voice memo for the problem you've been circling. A call with a friend. The walk stops being an obligation and starts being something you protect.

As executives, we manage the balance sheet carefully. You don't want your biology in the red any more than your financials. This is the protocol that prevents it.

Strategy 4: Incidental ROI: The Mindset Shift I Promised at the Top

Here's the one I teased in the intro. It's the reframe that changed everything for me; and it costs nothing to implement.

Incidental ROI is the return you generate from movement that happens as a byproduct of things you're already doing. Household tasks. Pacing. The small decisions most of us make on autopilot.

The data on what these add up to:

• A 20-minute vacuum session: approximately 2,000 steps

• Dusting: roughly 1,500 steps

• The after-dinner reset (loading the dishwasher, taking out the trash, pacing while folding laundry): another 2,000 steps or more

I treat these tasks as data-driven step-stacking now. I run the vacuum more often … not just because it keeps the house clean, but because my Oura ring confirms I'm 2,000 steps closer to my target. Coffee brewing? I'm pacing. Dishwasher running? I'm putting clothes away.

None of this is impressive in isolation. All of it is astounding in aggregate.

The mindset shift is simple: I stopped viewing household tasks as friction and start viewing them as biological infrastructure. The floor gets cleaner. The step count goes up. Two outputs, one activity. That's incidental ROI.

And for the executive who's thinking "I should just delegate all of that": I hear you. Delegation is a core skill. But delegating everything leaves your physical baseline stagnant. Some of your lowest-friction daily tasks are the easiest, highest-frequency opportunities for movement you have. The reframe isn't about doing more chores. It's about changing your relationship to the ones you're already doing.

You Weren't Missing Time. You Were Missing the System.

Here's what I've come to realize after nearly 4,000 days of tracking my movement and my health:

I don't need a gym for cardio. I don't need one big block of dedicated time. What I need is more straightforward: 10,000 steps a day.

I didn't think I had time for them. Turns out, I'd been walking past them all day.

We've been conditioned to look for the massive overhaul: the brutal workout, the extreme diet, the 5 AM transformation routine. But high-output leadership isn't built in occasional bursts of heroics. It's built in the unglamorous consistency of the daily baseline. We don't need a fitness revolution. We need a standard operating procedure - for our own biology.

Boring wins. Simple compounds.

That's the bottom line.

The simple thing, done consistently, beats the elaborate thing done occasionally. Every time.

Your Next Move (One Decision in the Next 24 Hours)

Don't try to implement all four strategies at once. Be kind to yourself. Just pick one.

Review your calendar for tomorrow. Find one meeting that meets the three criteria: audio-only or internal, no real-time notes required, at least 30 minutes. Color-code it. When it hits, put on your headphones and walk at a conversational 3 mph.

That's it. One walking meeting. One data point. Then do it again next week.

If you want the bigger picture - a one-page self-audit across all six ASSETS pillars so you can see exactly where you're optimized and where you have biological liabilities - the free ASSETS Audit is linked below. Rate yourself on Activity, Strength, Sleep, Equilibrium, Total Energy, and Sustenance. Find your lowest score. That's your red light. The audit gives you one green light move to make in the next 24 hours.

Because you can't lead from empty.

When you're optimized, everyone wins.

• Grab the free ASSETS Audit

• Watch the full video: "How I Hit 10K Steps on a 10-Hour Workday"

• Up next in the ASSETS series: Strength Training for Women Executives Over 40

Alysia Bell is the founder of All Green Lights CEO. She’s tracked her nutrition for ~ 4,000 consecutive days, wears an Oura Ring 24/7, and is obsessed with the realistic applications of biohacking for women executives with compressed timelines.

Sources referenced: National Library of Medicine (women's barriers to daily walking) and Nuffield Health (average daily steps data).

FAQ

Q: Won't walking during meetings make me seem distracted or less engaged?

A: Not if you're selecting the right meetings and walking at a conversational pace (~3 mph). The criteria matter: audio-only, internal calls, no real-time note-taking required. I actually feel more focused - movement activates my thinking; prolonged sitting doesn't. And with AI notetakers handling documentation, I can give full attention to the conversation.

Q: What if I work in a small home office or can't get outside?

A: A walking pad is designed exactly for this. At 1.5 mph you can stay on camera without your movement being visible or audible to other call participants. Many walking pads fold flat and can be stored out of the way - they're not permanent installations. Think of it as infrastructure to help you design your day, not equipment.

Q: I'm only hitting 3,000 - 4,000 steps on workdays. Is 10,000 realistic?

A: You can start where you are. You don't need to nail 10,000 on Day 1. Add one walking meeting this week. Add a 20-minute lunch walk next week. The system compounds. The number follows.

Q: Does this replace strength training?

A: No - and it's not meant to. Steps are Pillar 1 of the ASSETS framework: the daily baseline. Strength is Pillar 2, and it's a completely different consideration (good news is that we go deep in the next video in this series). Think of steps as operational maintenance and strength as long-term infrastructure. We need both. We'll cover both.

Q: What step tracker do you use?

A: I wear an Oura Ring 24/7, as it tracks steps, sleep, HRV, and recovery in one wearable. But the specific device matters less than the feedback loop. Your phone has a built-in step counter. Many smart watches work. Start with what you have. What gets measured gets managed.

The N-of-1 Disclaimer:

I am an executive and a mom, not a doctor or medical professional of any sort. The content shared here—including biometric data, protocols, and "Vitals" — is for informational and experimental purposes only. It is a documentation of my personal journey and should not be taken as medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your health, diet, or supplement routine.