How to fit a walk into your lunch break: a plain 10-minute plan

A working day has few gaps, and lunch is the biggest one. If you want to know how to fit a walk into your lunch break, the good news from the NHS is that it does not need to be long. Ten brisk minutes is enough to count. The rest is making it a habit, so the walk happens on busy days too.

This guide builds a plain lunchtime plan from NHS and Harvard Health advice, with a small target for the loop.

Why 10 minutes at lunch is enough

The NHS page on walking for health says you do not have to walk for hours. A brisk 10-minute daily walk has lots of health benefits and counts towards the 150 minutes of exercise a week the NHS recommends.

Brisk means about 3 miles an hour, faster than a stroll. The test is simple: you can still talk, but you cannot sing the words to a song.

The NHS calls walking simple and one of the easiest ways to get more active, and says that walking briskly can help you build stamina and make your heart healthier.

That fits almost any lunch break. Ten minutes out, a little back, and there is still time to eat.

A lunch walk breaks up a long sit

The NHS activity guidelines for adults ask for two things a desk job makes hard. Adults should do some physical activity every day, and should reduce time spent sitting and break up long periods of not moving.

The guidelines also suggest spreading the weekly 150 minutes evenly over 4 to 5 days, or every day. A daily lunch walk does both jobs at once: it splits the working day in two, and it adds a share of the week's minutes.

If you are not very active yet, the NHS says to increase your walking distance gradually. Start with what feels easy, and add a few minutes a week.

What to wear: your work clothes will do

No kit is needed. The NHS says any shoes or trainers that are comfortable, give good support and do not cause blisters will do.

For walking to work, it suggests wearing your usual work clothes with a comfy pair of shoes, and changing shoes when you arrive. The same trick works at lunch: keep a pair of comfortable shoes under your desk.

How to fit a walk into your lunch break: make it a habit

The NHS says the easiest way to walk more is to make walking a habit, and to think of ways to include walking in your daily routine. Three of its examples fit a working day:

• walking part of your journey to work
• using the stairs instead of the lift
• doing a regular walk with a friend

The lunch walk is the third one, at work. Ask a colleague to make it a standing plan; a set time with someone else is harder to skip.

On a day when lunch gets squeezed, the second one still fits. Take the stairs instead of the lift on the way out and back, and you have broken up the sit even without the loop.

Harvard Health's walking and running tips add the other half. They quote a doctor saying that people who choose small, achievable goals and write them down are more likely to get them done. So write it down: "10 brisk minutes, every working day, at 12:30."

Write the goal, walk first, then eat. Sources: NHS and Harvard Health.

Keep it interesting: new routes and something to listen to

The same loop every day gets dull. Harvard's tips suggest trying a new route once a week or once a month. The NHS adds that towns and cities offer interesting walks, including parks, canal towpaths and riverside paths. Our guide to finding new walking routes shows how, street by street.

The NHS also says walking while listening to music or a podcast can take your mind off the effort, get you into a rhythm and help you walk faster. If you do, keep the volume low near roads, for the reason below.

Stay aware near traffic

Lunchtime streets are busy. The Highway Code's rules for pedestrians start with rule 1: use the pavement if there is one, and where you can, avoid walking next to the kerb with your back to the traffic. It also says to always remain aware of your environment and avoid unnecessary distractions.

These are UK rules; road rules differ between countries, so check your own.

Give the loop a target

A ten-minute walk is easier to start when it has somewhere to go. Cat Go is a game that plays in your web browser, in its own words: "Walk anywhere, photograph a real cat, lure it with food and catch it."

Cat Go starts on a map. Treat stops near you appear once location is on.

Here is a lunch walk you can follow, one working week at a time:

1. Monday, before lunch: open the map and find the treat stop nearest your workplace. Walking within range of a stop collects kibble, and sometimes tuna, which are in-game food.
2. Every day at lunch: walk briskly to the stop and collect. Afterwards it shows "Refilling" with the minutes until it is ready again, so it will be waiting tomorrow.
3. Midweek: pick a second stop in a new direction, for Harvard's new route.
4. On the way: if you pass a cat on a wall or a doorstep, you can photograph it for your Catdex. Each catch keeps its breed and where you found it.
5. Friday: count the days you walked, and write next week's goal.

The game needs location and the camera allowed in your browser. It says it uses your location "to find treat stops and to record where each cat was caught. Nothing else is shared."

Frequently asked questions

Is a 10-minute lunch walk worth it?

Yes, if it is brisk. The NHS says a brisk 10-minute daily walk has lots of health benefits and counts towards the 150 minutes of weekly exercise it recommends.

How fast should I walk at lunch?

Briskly: about 3 miles an hour. The NHS test is that you can still talk but cannot sing the words to a song.

Do I need to change clothes?

No. The NHS says comfortable, supportive shoes will do, and suggests usual work clothes with a comfy pair of shoes for walking to work.

How do I keep doing it?

Write a small goal down, as Harvard Health suggests, and walk with a colleague, one of the NHS's own ideas for making walking a habit.

Get started

Today, write your lunch walk goal on a note by your screen and put comfortable shoes under your desk. For more ways to build the habit, see our beginner's 5-week walking plan.

Play Cat Go in your browser: walk anywhere, photograph a real cat, lure it with food and catch it.