Walking Beginners How to Walk for Weight Loss Guide How to Walk for Weight Loss Guide Prepare to Walk What to Wear Find the Right Shoes Determine Your Walking Speed How Long to Walk Make a Schedule Perfect Your Technique Eat Well Consider Intervals Avoid Common Mistakes Work Through Plateaus Track Your Walks Stay Motivated 10 Ways to Motivate Yourself to Walk By Wendy Bumgardner Wendy Bumgardner Facebook Twitter Wendy Bumgardner is a freelance writer covering walking and other health and fitness topics and has competed in more than 1,000 walking events. Learn about our editorial process Updated on January 04, 2021 Reviewed Verywell Fit articles are reviewed by nutrition and exercise professionals. Reviewers confirm the content is thorough and accurate, reflecting the latest evidence-based research. Content is reviewed before publication and upon substantial updates. Learn more. by Michele Stanten Reviewed by Michele Stanten Michele Stanten is a walking coach, certified group fitness instructor, and running coach. She is the author of Walk Off Weight and The Walking Solution. Learn about our Review Board Print You want to walk, but how do you get yourself out the door or onto the treadmill? That's the toughest challenge many people face. If you are a natural couch potato, you face it every day. But you can learn ways to motivate yourself and get healthy exercise consistently. You'll reduce your health risks and you may even find yourself crossing the finish line of a 10K, half-marathon, or marathon walk. 1 Register for a Challenging Walking Event Team of Walkers at Race. Hero Images/Getty Images Give yourself a goal and a deadline. Register for a walking event that will be a real challenge for you. If you are a beginner, select a 5K or 10K charity event. If you are ready for a more serious challenge, register for a half-marathon, marathon or multi-day walking festival. You will have no choice but to train consistently to be ready for the event. You can look forward to the triumph of crossing the finish line as a reward for getting regular exercise. You will also be motivated to prevent the suffering and failure you will feel if you don't train. Find a walker-friendly event that will give you the right motivation, but keep in mind that since early 2020 many events have been cancelled or gone virtual. Visit the website of the event that you're interested in to get details about changes to event schedules. 2 Start a Shape-Up Walking Plan Denkou Images/Cultura/Getty Follow a shape-up walking and workout schedule to start seeing results from your fitness efforts. Having a structure and varying your workouts will keep you on track. When you begin to feel the difference in your stamina, muscles, and vigor, you'll want to keep going. 3 Wear a Pedometer or Fitness Tracker Fitbit Charge 2. Fitbit Wearing a pedometer or fitness tracker can help motivate you to increase your activity. You can wear a device or start paying attention to the steps recorded by the pedometer app of your smartphone. Set your step goal at 6,000 to 10,000 per day, and find ways to add steps to your day. 4 Make a Walking Buddy © Terry Vine / Brand X Pictures / Getty Walking friends can make a difference and get you out on a walk despite the weather or other excuses to skip your workout. You can keep each other moving with conversation, jokes, and coffee afterward. If you don't already have a walking buddy, there are ways to find them. These include locating Meetup groups, walking clubs, and local fitness clubs. 5 Keep a Walking Journal Keep a walking log. Chris Tobin/Digital Vision/Getty Images Track your walking minutes, steps, or mileage in a journal, whether on paper, an app or your computer. Total your progress each week. Set a goal and you will find yourself out walking just to make those numbers add up. 6 Join a Walking Club Walking Club. Christopher Futcher/E+/Getty Images Joining a walking club can keep you active. The largest organization worldwide is the IVV, with walking clubs in the U.S., Canada, Britain, and many European countries. You can also find walking clubs organized by health organizations, fitness clubs, schools, churches, and local parks and recreation organizations. Meetup groups are another form of walking club. 7 Buy New Shoes and Walking Clothes Hero Images/Hero Images/Getty Images When you have new walking shoes or new walking clothes, you are the opposite of all dressed up with nowhere to go. Get out and try them out. Hate to walk in the cold? Buy the right layered clothing and you'll have to take it for a walk. Hate the rain? A waterproof jacket or umbrella can give you an urge to dodge the puddles. Does hot weather make you wilt? Wear sweat-wicking clothes, a great hat, and a neck cooler for staying cool on hot walks. Naturally, new shoes always nag you to take them for a walk. 8 Try Walking Gadgets and Apps Apple Watch Apps. Wendy Bumgardner © Like pedometers, any walking gadget can get you moving because you want to put it to use. Heart monitors, speed monitors, and activity monitors—all can make walking a little more fun and give you a reason to get out the door. You can also turn your mobile device into a walking gadget with a walking app. 9 Do a Virtual Walk Webwalking USA Map. Wendy Bumgardner © If you have a goal, you are more likely to put in the steps. There are apps such as Walk the Distance (for Apple devices) that track your walking as you complete segments of a chosen trail. Another option is WorldWalking which is free and available for Android. Some activity monitors have similar virtual walk challenges. You can use the Webwalking USA tracking sheet to do it in an old-school way. Track your walking minutes, miles, or steps and color in the trail segments as you do a virtual walk from Atlantic to Pacific on the American Discovery Trail. Seeing the visible progress you make will keep you committed to walking. 10 Choose the Right Time Morning Walk. Jordan Siemens/Taxi/Getty Images What is the best time to walk? Many people find that if they commit to early morning walks, fewer distractions pop up in the afternoon or evening. But if you hate mornings and feel most energetic later in the day, then that should be your walking time. To stay motivated, analyze your habits and choose the time that works best for you. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Looking to start walking off the weight? Our free guide offers tips, workouts, and a printable schedule to help you get on the right track. Sign Up You're in! Thank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. What are your concerns? Other Inaccurate Hard to Understand Submit 6 Sources Verywell Fit uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Warburton DE, Nicol CW, Bredin SS. Health benefits of physical activity: the evidence. CMAJ. 2006;174(6):801–809. doi:10.1503/cmaj.051351 Warren KR, Ball MP, Feldman S, Liu F, McMahon RP, Kelly DL. Exercise program adherence using a 5-kilometer (5K) event as an achievable goal in people with schizophrenia. Biol Res Nurs. 2011;13(4):383–390. doi:10.1177/1099800410393272 Sullivan AN, Lachman ME. 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