Working from home has made me somewhat lazy when it comes to getting up and exercising since I spend eight hours at my desk a day but I’m conscious that I need to make a change.

So, when I discussed my average daily step count with my colleagues they were horrified to see I barely move on days when I’m at work and don’t leave the house.

In my defence, I don’t make a lot of drinks when working (another bad habit, I know!) and I don’t have my phone constantly with me as I walk around the house so a lot of my steps go uncounted with nothing to track them.

Excuses aside, I thought I might as well give walking workouts a go to see if I can increase my step count and feel a bit less guilty about myself.

I’m usually an active person but I find it hard to keep moving when I’m at home all day as I’m not one for working out.

It might sound silly but I prefer to exercise when it doesn’t feel like exercise, for example, a nice walk or a netball match because they’re more fun than following a strict routine and I’m not a fan of the gym.

Now that I’ve paused my netball training and matches for a little while, I’m hoping I can find an alternative fun exercise that keeps me moving.

That’s where walking workouts come in – here’s what I thought when I tried them.

What is a walking workout and are they fun?

I hadn’t realised walking workouts were a thing and instead just thought a walk would have to do, which in the cold winter weather often sounds less than appealing.

However, there are lots of people who share these workouts on YouTube with videos showing you how to increase your step count from the comfort of your own home.

I tried following some of the ‘Get Fit With Rick’ walking workouts and really enjoyed them.

How did the walking workouts go?

My main takeaways from the workouts are that they don’t have to be strict – they’re fun but still productive.

There are plenty of options when it comes to Rick’s videos – either opt for 1000 steps in 7 minutes or try 3000 steps in 22 minutes. You can also do much longer workouts, it's entirely up to you.

The workouts are easy to do and can be as short or long as you like because you can decide to do 22 minutes of walking or double it and do the routine twice.

As long as you can see the steps you’re meant to do, you could probably even watch your favourite TV show in the background.

With Rick’s workouts, you get a preview of the next move you’re about to do and the music makes it fun.

It almost feels like your dancing (albeit dad dancing) at points because Rick encourages you to add “flavour” by intensifying the steps with bigger hip movements or arm movements for example.

One of the videos I followed had 80s music playing so you really get into it. 

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This one felt like the moves were a bit quicker but you don't need to worry because you can always revert back to a march if the moves get difficult because as Rick says, you can still do the same amount of steps this way.

In this video, Rick was in Dubai with a pretty nice sunset and skyline behind him so it was better to imagine I was walking around somewhere a bit nicer than my bedroom.

You really don’t need much space for these workouts which I think makes them more accessible for those who want to get up and move in their lunch break for example.

Overall, I really enjoyed the walking workouts and they do increase your step count which was my goal.

However, it does now mean I have no excuse when it comes to exercising!