If there's one thing Martin Lewis loves doing other than saving money, it's walking. Over the past decade, Lewis has seen his daily average step count rise from 17,400 in 2015 to 26,117 in 2025 – meaning he completed a staggering 9,532,571 steps overall last year.
It's something he takes great pride and pleasure in. Lewis admits it's become an obsession over the years, but a deliberate one to help him stay on top of his physical health, mental health and general fitness, while also helping him relax and reduce some of the impact on his joints.
Martin Lewis' Step Rules
The 54-year-old has a number of self-imposed rules to help him achieve his goals. 'The sacrosanct one is to never miss the 10,000-a-day buzz, softer are an aim of 25,000 steps a day, and a harder limit to not miss 20,000,' Lewis writes on his blog. 'Over 2025 I only did less than that on seven days.'
If Lewis is talking, he's walking. He always makes sure phone calls or meetings that don't require video are taken while walking – often outdoors – so he can kill two birds with one stone. He often schedules calls back to back to help him achieve this and, if he's sitting down, he'll 'instinctively' jump up to take a phone call and start walking. It's all part of a conscious lifestyle decision, which he also credits with helping to alleviate his back pain and repetitive strain injury.
'Show-day Tuesdays, I don't get transport to the studio,' he says by way of example. 'I do the 75-minute walk to the studio, come rain, frost or snow, and while walking I'm in a call with the TV team to work through the structure of the show. We usually finish the meeting about five minutes before I arrive. And it's not just about calls, it's about transport too – my mentality is to try to avoid any other form of transport unless there's a good reason, for example: it's over 10km away; I'm going with other people; it's very early or very late; or I've got golf clubs with me.
'For many, this will sound bizarre, but I find obeying self-imposed routines can help with health and fitness, so if it keeps me stepping, it's good.'
What to read next
Cardio and Strength Training Are Still Important
Britain's favourite money-saving expert isn't just relentless about getting his steps in – he ensures every day includes some form of cardio, too. Knee pain has meant running has largely been replaced by his at-home elliptical, making it easier for him to fit in a decent session alongside other work.
'I do cardio seven days a week, usually first thing in the morning and normally for about 40 minutes. If I'm presenting Good Morning Britain, as that's such an early start, I don't do it, but I do run home. The big advantage of the elliptical is I can read the papers, my emails and key documents, so little work time is lost – which means I'm normally on 6,000 steps or more before I do owt else. Yet that's still less than a quarter of my total day's steps,' Lewis says.
And if that wasn't enough, Lewis has started incorporating more strength training into his routine, even though he admits he's reluctant to do any activity that doesn't contribute towards his step count. The Brit is capable of bench-pressing 100kg, while he likes focusing on core stability and leg strength as part of his longevity goals. Workouts last anywhere from 10 to 90 minutes, with Lewis completing a staggering 281 strength sessions in total in 2025 – working out at more than five per week.
'I know that as an over-50, weight and resistance exercises are really important,' he says.
If there’s one thing Kori Sampson knows, it’s how to optimise your body composition for performance. To tap into his knowledge as an elite athlete and coach, we asked him to create a 4-week plan to help you move faster, recover quicker and keep pushing when the fatigue sets in – all while improving your muscle-to-fat ratio.
Ready to build muscle, burn fat and come out the other side looking, feeling and performing better? Click here to get 14 days of free access to the plan via the Men’s Health app.
Ryan is a Senior Writer at Men’s Health UK with a passion for storytelling, health and fitness. Having graduated from Cardiff University in 2020, and later obtaining his NCTJ qualification, Ryan started his career as a Trainee News Writer for sports titles Golf Monthly, Cycling Weekly and Rugby World before progressing to Staff Writer and subsequently Senior Writer with football magazine FourFourTwo.
During his two-and-a-half years there he wrote news stories for the website and features for the magazine, while he also interviewed names such as Les Ferdinand, Ally McCoist, Jamie Redknapp and Antonio Rudiger, among many others. His standout memory, though, came when getting the opportunity to speak to then-Plymouth Argyle manager Steven Schumacher as the club won League One in 2023.
Having grown up a keen footballer and playing for his boyhood side until the age of 16, Ryan got the opportunity to represent Northern Ireland national futsal team eight times, scoring three goals against England, Scotland and Gibraltar. Now past his peak, Ryan prefers to mix weightlifting with running – he achieved a marathon PB of 3:31:49 at Manchester in April 2025, but credits the heat for failing to get below the coveted 3:30 mark…
You can follow Ryan on Instagram @ryan.dabbs or on X @ryandabbs_
