Are steps per day a good way to gauge activity level?

Remilia_Scarlet

I consider myself lightly active at best, because I spend most of the day sitting. But I make sure to get at least 15,000 steps per day. Am I gauging my activity level incorrectly? I do like to run, but I don't do it as often as I probably should. I just don't think that the time I spend walking is enough to balance out all of the time that I spend sitting.

ModernRock

Remilia_Scarlet wrote: »

I consider myself lightly active at best, because I spend most of the day sitting. But I make sure to get at least 15,000 steps per day.

I don't see how somebody can "spend most of the day sitting", not run/jog regularly, and yet still get at least 15000 daily steps. I can spend the better part of a Saturday on my feet doing yard work and home improvement projects and I might get 10000-12000 steps. I get about 5000-8000 on a typical work day with a desk job, if I still spend a lot of time on my feet at home. If I'm not active at home on a workday, then I might get 3000-5000. I don't run/jog for exercise, so my steps are not being inflated from exercise. On average, once I take into account the weekend days where I get 8000-12000 steps a day into account, I get about 8000 steps a day on average and I consider that lightly active. I then log exercise (cycling) on top of that. A popular thought is that a person doesn't have any business describing themselves as active unless they average 10000 steps a day.

Remilia_Scarlet

ModernRock wrote: »

Remilia_Scarlet wrote: »

I consider myself lightly active at best, because I spend most of the day sitting. But I make sure to get at least 15,000 steps per day.

I don't see how somebody can "spend most of the day sitting", not run/jog regularly, and yet still get at least 15000 daily steps. I can spend the better part of a Saturday on my feet doing yard work and home improvement projects and I might get 10000-12000 steps. I get about 5000-8000 on a typical work day with a desk job, if I still spend a lot of time on my feet at home. If I'm not active at home on a workday, then I might get 3000-5000. I don't run/jog for exercise, so my steps are not being inflated from exercise. On average, once I take into account the weekend days where I get 8000-12000 steps a day into account, I get about 8000 steps a day on average and I consider that lightly active. I then log exercise (cycling) on top of that. A popular thought is that a person doesn't have any business describing themselves as active unless they average 10000 steps a day.

Thanks for replying!

I spend most of the day sitting because I tend to get most of my steps in one go. I go out on a trail every morning, which is about 12,000 steps, then get the other ~3000 going about my day. I only run the trail maybe 3 days a week. While walking it pulls a lot of steps, it isn't very vigorous, and I spend the whole rest of the day doing very little. So I end up sitting the grand majority of the time.

I've heard a lot about people using 10,000 steps as the standard for activity, but when I tried to see where the number came from, it looked like it was just an arbitrary marketing scheme. It just doesn't seem like a lot to me.

nicsflyingcircus

When I worked retail, I would get anywhere from 1000-2500 steps/hr (so 6000-20000 steps per shift) depending on a variety of factors and never sat down. As a nurse, I might get 6000-9000 steps in a 12hr shift, and I may only sit down 1-2hrs total in a shift. If I am not on shift, I probably average 4k steps per day if I don't make a concerted effort to walk, and that is as a mom of 4 kids with a house, errands and activities.

My answer is... 15k steps per day is plenty active. I am 5'9" and for me, about 2200 steps is a mile, so that'd be 6.8 miles or so.

ETA: You go for a 12k step walk every morning? That's nearly 5.5 miles. How long does that take you?

Orphia

http://walking.about.com/cs/measure/a/locke122004.htm

Classification of pedometer-determined physical activity in healthy adults:

1) Under 5000 steps/day may be used as a "sedentary lifestyle index"
2) 5,000-7,499 steps/day is typical of daily activity excluding sports/exercise and might be considered "low active." The average American walks 5900 to 6900 steps per day, so the majority are "low active."
3) 7,500-9,999 steps/day likely includes some exercise or walking (and/or a job that requires more walking) and might be considered "somewhat active."
4) 10,000 steps/day indicates the point that should be used to classify individuals as "active".
5) 12,500+ steps/day Individuals who take more than 12,500 steps/day are likely to be classified as "highly active".

Pawsforme

I'm also a little confused on how you could get in 12,000 steps before work, especially when you say it's not very vigorous. You must get up very early????? 120 to 135 steps a minute is considered a relatively fast pace. By my calculations that would mean about an hour and forty minutes of walking to get in 12,000 steps at 120 steps/minute, and about an hour and a half at 135 steps/minute. So if your pace is not very vigorous, that means you're probably walking for more than two hours before going to work?

ModernRock

Remilia_Scarlet wrote: »

I spend most of the day sitting because I tend to get most of my steps in one go. I go out on a trail every morning, which is about 12,000 steps, then get the other ~3000 going about my day. I only run the trail maybe 3 days a week. While walking it pulls a lot of steps, it isn't very vigorous, and I spend the whole rest of the day doing very little. So I end up sitting the grand majority of the time.

I've heard a lot about people using 10,000 steps as the standard for activity, but when I tried to see where the number came from, it looked like it was just an arbitrary marketing scheme. It just doesn't seem like a lot to me.

Sure, it might be arbitrary to choose 10,000 steps exactly, but that's not quite the same as meaningless. It's roughly equal to 5 miles, and it's fair to say that somebody that moves their body--walking, jogging, running, whatever--at least 5 miles a day is certainly not sedentary and is likely pretty active. I feel I've been fairly active when I've hit 10,000 steps, even if none of that was exercise.

We shouldn't get "activity level" confused with activities with clear cardiovascular endurance benefits. Activity level is simply how much you move. However you do it, energy is expended and there are health benefits over being sedentary. Still, plenty of people are active--they move a lot--but still get winded bounding up a flight or two of stairs.

This distinction is reflected in the way MFP is designed to select an activity level first, and then log exercise. (Someone nearly perfect in keeping with a consistent exercise routine might choose to include it in their activity level so they don't have to repeatedly log their routine, but any exercise beyond that would be logged.)

Either way, in your case, you aren't sedentary. Perhaps "lightly active" if you still log your long walks and "active" if you don't. The proof is in the pudding--the scale--if you are sticking to your calorie goal. Adjust activity level or calories burned per walk to achieve the desired loss.

deluxmary2000

Pawsforme wrote: »

I'm also a little confused on how you could get in 12,000 steps before work, especially when you say it's not very vigorous. You must get up very early????? 120 to 135 steps a minute is considered a relatively fast pace. By my calculations that would mean about an hour and forty minutes of walking to get in 12,000 steps at 120 steps/minute, and about an hour and a half at 135 steps/minute. So if your pace is not very vigorous, that means you're probably walking for more than two hours before going to work?

I was thinking the same thing. 12,000 steps in the morning would take a good bit of a time. Are you sure about that step count? What are you getting your information from?

Remilia_Scarlet

Thanks to everyone who replied!

nicsflyingcircus wrote: »

ETA: You go for a 12k step walk every morning? That's nearly 5.5 miles. How long does that take you?

It takes about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, depending on how fast I go.

deluxmary2000 wrote: »

Pawsforme wrote: »

I'm also a little confused on how you could get in 12,000 steps before work, especially when you say it's not very vigorous. You must get up very early????? 120 to 135 steps a minute is considered a relatively fast pace. By my calculations that would mean about an hour and forty minutes of walking to get in 12,000 steps at 120 steps/minute, and about an hour and a half at 135 steps/minute. So if your pace is not very vigorous, that means you're probably walking for more than two hours before going to work?

I was thinking the same thing. 12,000 steps in the morning would take a good bit of a time. Are you sure about that step count? What are you getting your information from?

I wear a pedometer. Googling it brings up a study saying that it's a pretty accurate one. But going on one walk a day really doesn't feel like a lot of work, especially since I spend nearly the whole rest of the day on my butt.

peleroja

I understand where you're coming from, as I have an office job and sit on my butt all day too, but still average 12,000-15,000 steps a day without counting runs. It's because I walk to and from work, try to walk at lunch, and make an effort to walk if I'm running errands in the evening. Still, I don't feel like I'm "active" because I do sit and stare at a computer screen from 8:00 - 4:30 apart from my lunch break.

So...I dunno. I just set my activity level to "sedentary" and let my FitBit add as many extra calories to MFP as it thinks I need, and so far it's been pretty accurate, maintenance-wise.

ModernRock

peleroja wrote: »

I understand where you're coming from, as I have an office job and sit on my butt all day too, but still average 12,000-15,000 steps a day without counting runs. It's because I walk to and from work, try to walk at lunch, and make an effort to walk if I'm running errands in the evening. Still, I don't feel like I'm "active" because I do sit and stare at a computer screen from 8:00 - 4:30 apart from my lunch break.

So...I dunno. I just set my activity level to "sedentary" and let my FitBit add as many extra calories to MFP as it thinks I need, and so far it's been pretty accurate, maintenance-wise.

In your case, setting the activity level to "sedentary" is just a technical detail because the Fitbit adds extra calories based on your activity, including the 12,000-15,000 steps. Right? If you didn't use a Fitbit you'd have to adjust the activity to "light active" or perhaps "active" to capture the 12,000+ steps. After all, walking 12,000-15,000 steps on average is, by definition, not sedentary.