Forget the treadmill — boost your metabolism and chalk up 5,000 steps in 30 minutes with this indoor walking workout

a photo of a woman doing an indoor workout
(Image credit: Getty Images)

If you’re looking for an accessible and effective way to increase your fitness, walking workouts are a great place to start. You don’t need any equipment, and they can be done anywhere and anytime you have a few minutes to spare and space to stand.

Walking workouts are an effective way to raise your heart rate and get your metabolism firing, so you’ll get fitter and burn calories, and they are easy on the joints if you’re worried about the impact of going for a run.

If you’re also working towards a step goal set by one of the best fitness trackers each day, they’re also a fantastic way to accelerate your progress towards it. This walking workout from Rick Bhullar from the Get Fit with Rick channel on YouTube will help you hit 5,000 steps in just 30 minutes, ensuring you’re on track to smash your steps target that day.

Watch Rick Bhullar’s 30-minute walking workout

5000 Steps Speed Walk at Home in 30 minutes| Fat Burn Walk - YouTube 5000 Steps Speed Walk at Home in 30 minutes| Fat Burn Walk - YouTube
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Once you hit play on the video, be ready to work for 30 minutes straight, because Rick goes pretty much straight into it and you’ll be on your feet for the next half hour, racking up those steps.

Throughout the workout the total steps count is shown on screen so if you’re following Rick’s pace you’ll know precisely how many steps you’ve done — it’s a good way to test how accurate the pedometer on your fitness tracker actually is.

Rick does each move with you and there are also video demonstrations of the upcoming exercise shown on the screen so you can go straight into the next movement without pausing and losing out on valuable steps.

The bulk of the workout involves marching on the spot, but Rick shows an admirable level of creativity in also bringing in a wide variety of other step-based movements. Many of these involve the upper body as well to increase the muscles used, and throughout the whole workout, you’ll be stepping at a fast pace to ensure you hit that 5,000-step goal.

Rick used to be a dancer, which definitely shows in the way he can flow through some of the more creative movements, but rest assured you can move with a less impressive natural rhythm and still hit your fitness targets with the session.

The walking workout is suitable for all levels of fitness and can be done indoors or outside, if you have somewhere you’re comfortable walking on the spot for 30 minutes with a video playing.

While the classic 10,000 steps a day goal is not one that works for everyone, it’s certainly a good way to improve your health and fitness and speed-walking workouts can help you hit that goal on days where you might not have time to get out for an outdoor walk.

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Nick Harris-Fry
Senior Writer

Nick Harris-Fry is an experienced health and fitness journalist, writing professionally since 2012. He spent nine years working on the Coach magazine and website before moving to the fitness team at Tom’s Guide in 2024. Nick is a keen runner and also the founder of YouTube channel The Run Testers, which specialises in reviewing running shoes, watches, headphones and other gear.

Nick ran his first marathon in 2016 after six weeks of training for a magazine feature and subsequently became obsessed with the sport. He now has PBs of 2hr 27min for the marathon and 15min 30sec for 5K, and has run 13 marathons in total, as well as a 50-mile ultramarathon. Nick is also a qualified Run Leader in the UK.

Nick is an established expert in the health and fitness area and along with writing for many publications, including Live Science, Expert Reviews, Wareable, Coach and Get Sweat Go, he has been quoted on The Guardian and The Independent.

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