10,000 Steps really??????
RemarkablyUnremarkable
Posts: 63 Member
I have a general question about fitness. I am steadily losing from 2-2.65 pounds a week apprx. So I am losing, I am working out a minimum of 40 minutes a day. I am trying to build on that a little each week as well. I am fairly sedentary ( I think). I am a stay at home Mom of a five year old, the other kids are in various stages of education up to college. I also own my own business and work from home, much of what I do is on the computer.
My question is... Is 10,000 steps really the end all of how fit you are? When I worked at the hospital I did that and more. Now, I find it really hard to rack up the steps. My activity tracker goes off every 15 minutes and I am thinking, I am SMACK in the middle of a design UGH! I feel like in between sitting at the computer for work, then packing orders, house work, laundry, shopping, picking up kids I am constantly going from the moment I open my eyes until I collapse in the bed late night. My overall goal is to lose the excess weight and be fit. I want to be able to go on runs etc. Can an hour a day of working out get me there?
My question is... Is 10,000 steps really the end all of how fit you are? When I worked at the hospital I did that and more. Now, I find it really hard to rack up the steps. My activity tracker goes off every 15 minutes and I am thinking, I am SMACK in the middle of a design UGH! I feel like in between sitting at the computer for work, then packing orders, house work, laundry, shopping, picking up kids I am constantly going from the moment I open my eyes until I collapse in the bed late night. My overall goal is to lose the excess weight and be fit. I want to be able to go on runs etc. Can an hour a day of working out get me there?
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Replies
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RemarkablyUnremarkable wrote: »I have a general question about fitness. I am steadily losing from 2-2.65 pounds a week apprx. So I am losing, I am working out a minimum of 40 minutes a day. I am trying to build on that a little each week as well. I am fairly sedentary ( I think). I am a stay at home Mom of a five year old, the other kids are in various stages of education up to college. I also own my own business and work from home, much of what I do is on the computer.
My question is... Is 10,000 steps really the end all of how fit you are? When I worked at the hospital I did that and more. Now, I find it really hard to rack up the steps. My activity tracker goes off every 15 minutes and I am thinking, I am SMACK in the middle of a design UGH! I feel like in between sitting at the computer for work, then packing orders, house work, laundry, shopping, picking up kids I am constantly going from the moment I open my eyes until I collapse in the bed late night. My overall goal is to lose the excess weight and be fit. I want to be able to go on runs etc. Can an hour a day of working out get me there?
No, it's a completely arbitrary guideline and has jack to do with how fit you are...someone in Japan or something pretty much literally pulled that number out of their *kitten*...
I don't get in 10K steps most days and I'm more fit than many people I know who do...I can go knock out 50 miles on my bike no problem, my buddy who obsesses about steps can't even come close...33 -
To answer your other question: 10,000 steps is about 4.7 miles (assuming a 30in step). Jogging 4.7 miles at a leisurely pace would take less than an hour and would be an even better approach to the same goal.6
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10k is a marketing tool
But it does make your activity level ...active ..which is significant calories to eat
That said why would you set your tracker to annoy you every 15 minutes40 -
For me, no. If I am sedentary I get 3k steps, but with 1 hour of walking I can bump that to 10k no problem.5
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I see it like this - I work out because I am not really active much during the day.
I don't know if I've ever hit 10k steps in a day (outside of exercise). I have a desk job in which I have to be at my desk in order to do my job. There are times I get up to confer with someone else or get something I need, but for the most part I am at my desk all day for nine hours.
Still losing the weight and my fitness level is improving.14 -
It's a weird measure. That's why I like my new Polar A300... getting to your "fitness goal" every day is a combo of steps, total active time, and workouts. Much more motivating to me than steps alone.6
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You might try taking your 5 year old for a one hour walk or bike ride every afternoon. On rainy/snowy days, dance together. That would break up your work day, concentrate your exercise, and leave you refreshed for finishing your orders. It would also teach your child the fun of getting regular exercise.14
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cwolfman13 wrote: »RemarkablyUnremarkable wrote: »I have a general question about fitness. I am steadily losing from 2-2.65 pounds a week apprx. So I am losing, I am working out a minimum of 40 minutes a day. I am trying to build on that a little each week as well. I am fairly sedentary ( I think). I am a stay at home Mom of a five year old, the other kids are in various stages of education up to college. I also own my own business and work from home, much of what I do is on the computer.
My question is... Is 10,000 steps really the end all of how fit you are? When I worked at the hospital I did that and more. Now, I find it really hard to rack up the steps. My activity tracker goes off every 15 minutes and I am thinking, I am SMACK in the middle of a design UGH! I feel like in between sitting at the computer for work, then packing orders, house work, laundry, shopping, picking up kids I am constantly going from the moment I open my eyes until I collapse in the bed late night. My overall goal is to lose the excess weight and be fit. I want to be able to go on runs etc. Can an hour a day of working out get me there?
No, it's a completely arbitrary guideline and has jack to do with how fit you are...someone in Japan or something pretty much literally pulled that number out of their *kitten*...
I don't get in 10K steps most days and I'm more fit than many people I know who do...I can go knock out 50 miles on my bike no problem, my buddy who obsesses about steps can't even come close...
All this is true, but if you are like me and have a sedentary job and really can't do much exercise, hitting a step goal is at least moving. I aim for 12k steps a day. I'm under no illusion that it makes me fit, but any movement is good for me. Outside of some very controlled rehab work I can't do much else right now. Someday....16 -
My goal is 7500. ~2500 on the treadmill each morning, ~2500 throughout the day and 2500 either walking the dogs or more treadmill time. I hit it most days and some I go way over, but the 10K for me was not a daily achievable goal.3
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Meh. I reset my daily goal to 5k. I work out 5x a week or more and burn plenty of calories but in the Winter I never get that many steps, hell I'm usually under that goal as well. If walking was your only form of exercise, then maybe 10k a day would be a good number to try and reach, but otherwise no, it's a totally made-up number that someone decided was a good round number. I've had doctors tell me "you should walk 30 minutes a day". Well, yea, in a perfect world I should probably. But in the summer I do much more than that, and in the winter I do cross training and body weight training so yea, it's just a stupid rule of thumb.10
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10K steps is fitter than 9K which is fitter than 5k...and so on. Any moving is better than none and there's not one definition of "fit" for everyone. I would kill for my wife to do 10K step daily. If she did that she would be fitter than 80% of people I know. I don't care for walking. I can walk all day and it doesn't seem to have much impact on my wt and fitness. What seems to make a difference for me is 5-10 hours/week of 1-on-1 competitive tennis with peers of my age and level.
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spiriteagle99 wrote: »You might try taking your 5 year old for a one hour walk or bike ride every afternoon. On rainy/snowy days, dance together. That would break up your work day, concentrate your exercise, and leave you refreshed for finishing your orders. It would also teach your child the fun of getting regular exercise.
Funny you mention that, she loves working out along side me LOL. Sometimes well do a DVD she likes trying to kickbox and has a couple of soft 2 pound weights for our lifting days. She is a pretty determined little workout buddy
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this is what I use it for...the 10k steps I mean
Per this article
1) <5000 steps.d (sedentary);
2) 5000-7499 steps.d (low active);
3) 7500-9999 steps.d (somewhat active);
4) > or =10,000-12,499 steps.d (active); and
5) > or =12,500 steps.d (highly active)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14715035
basically tells me how active I am most of the time unless it's a cooking day then it gets shot to hell...
for me I get about 4k in the winter at work...and I am trying everything, summer at work 6k (walk outside) around the building. If I am shopping on my lunch break about another 2k...
so it's the treadmill I go to get the 10k..mainly for the extra food.15 -
I've been injured for the last 2 1/2 months and haven't been active at all - like some days I get less than 3K. My fitbit has started giving me pity calories for walking around the house - today I have a little over 2000 steps and 25 pity calories :-(13
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cwolfman13 wrote: »RemarkablyUnremarkable wrote: »I have a general question about fitness. I am steadily losing from 2-2.65 pounds a week apprx. So I am losing, I am working out a minimum of 40 minutes a day. I am trying to build on that a little each week as well. I am fairly sedentary ( I think). I am a stay at home Mom of a five year old, the other kids are in various stages of education up to college. I also own my own business and work from home, much of what I do is on the computer.
My question is... Is 10,000 steps really the end all of how fit you are? When I worked at the hospital I did that and more. Now, I find it really hard to rack up the steps. My activity tracker goes off every 15 minutes and I am thinking, I am SMACK in the middle of a design UGH! I feel like in between sitting at the computer for work, then packing orders, house work, laundry, shopping, picking up kids I am constantly going from the moment I open my eyes until I collapse in the bed late night. My overall goal is to lose the excess weight and be fit. I want to be able to go on runs etc. Can an hour a day of working out get me there?
No, it's a completely arbitrary guideline and has jack to do with how fit you are...someone in Japan or something pretty much literally pulled that number out of their *kitten*...
I don't get in 10K steps most days and I'm more fit than many people I know who do...I can go knock out 50 miles on my bike no problem, my buddy who obsesses about steps can't even come close...
All this is true, but if you are like me and have a sedentary job and really can't do much exercise, hitting a step goal is at least moving. I aim for 12k steps a day. I'm under no illusion that it makes me fit, but any movement is good for me. Outside of some very controlled rehab work I can't do much else right now. Someday....
For sure movement is good if not just for the circulation alone. My day is something like work on the computer 30 min to an hour, get up and make food for my daughter, run downstairs start laundry, vacuum, back to the computer and repeat. Housework taking care of her, letting dogs in and out etc. On the upside I have a two story house with a split level. Downstairs is laundry room and door to the backyard for the dogs. The second story is the bedrooms. So lots of stairs happening for me no matter the task.
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Great points and I can totally rack up "miles" spinning that my tracker doesn't even acknowledge. I guess I am getting to caught up in the numbers. I think I will turn off the move reminder, I mean I am up and down all day everyday between the family and fur family LOL! Thanks for all your input!!! 7
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RemarkablyUnremarkable wrote: »Great points and I can totally rack up "miles" spinning that my tracker doesn't even acknowledge. I guess I am getting to caught up in the numbers. I think I will turn off the move reminder, I mean I am up and down all day everyday between the family and fur family LOL! Thanks for all your input!!!
Lord yes, I turned off the reminder. I'm way too susceptible to guilt, even when coming from a machine :-(5 -
If you want to be entertained, check out the forums on the fitbit site, especially the multiple-year threads titled "How Can Anyone Do [50,000, 80,000, some other random number] Steps In A Day?????" And people who join contests on the internet with people who may or may not exist, and complain that people are cheating.5
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RemarkablyUnremarkable wrote: »Great points and I can totally rack up "miles" spinning that my tracker doesn't even acknowledge. I guess I am getting to caught up in the numbers. I think I will turn off the move reminder, I mean I am up and down all day everyday between the family and fur family LOL! Thanks for all your input!!!
Lord yes, I turned off the reminder. I'm way too susceptible to guilt, even when coming from a machine :-(
Right? Ugh the tracker is taunting me, the 10,000 steps lingering in my head as what's "healthy." I am happy to know not everyone gets in the 10k steps and admits it ROFL!
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If you want to be entertained, check out the forums on the fitbit site, especially the multiple-year threads titled "How Can Anyone Do [50,000, 80,000, some other random number] Steps In A Day?????" And people who join contests on the internet with people who may or may not exist, and complain that people are cheating.
OMG this is hilarious! I'll have to take a peek. It will give me something to read with my morning coffee. Contest? No thanks, just knowing I am not hitting the magical 10k regularly makes me feel like a snail... I often wonder about people's "burn" they post about torching 1000's of calories a session. I guess I am better off sticking to challenging myself daily to improve and trying to not get caught up in the numbers right?
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I never have trouble hitting that number if I get in a half hour of exercise...if I run 3 miles in the morning and go to the grocery store that day, I'm done. Not sure whether the steps themselves actually matter, but as a fairly active person, I rarely go to sleep with less than 10k hit (except on days of rest, when I'm lucky if I see 4k).4
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I'm totally impressed that you get your work done with a 5 year old hanging around. I'd imagine getting 10,000 steps would be an easier task
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I have a desk job, so I don't move much during the day, but I have found if I make a slight effort to walk around a bit at lunch, then an hour of walking in the evening gets me to my 10k step goal. I'm not too strict about the exact step count anymore, as I was mainly using the Fitbit to give me an idea of a good level of activity to aim for. I can achieve that without the Fitbit (or other tracker) now, because I know I basically just need to get my hour of walking and I'll be fine.4
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I jockey a desk as well and picked up a tracker to remind me to get up and move more. I am under no illusion that if I log in 10k steps I'm going to be fine, but it certainly helps reduce risk and instill positive reinforcement.
As a parent much of what we pass on to our kids is modeled behavior. By setting behavior early on we ensure our kids build in healthy habits that will last a lifetime.4 -
Rather than aim for 10k aim for something more than you do now. I do about 6k-7k with no exercise during the week. Weekends usually about 11k due to housework. I started with the aim of 8k per average for the week and now am working on 9k average. With exercise my aim was 12k but I have been sick so I lowered it and am working back up towards it.2
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Christine_72 wrote: »I'm totally impressed that you get your work done with a 5 year old hanging around. I'd imagine getting 10,000 steps would be an easier task
LOL Oh, some days it's a challenge for sure! I started my business though when she was just a baby so I think she is used to it. We try and have plenty of activities for her to keep her busy when I really need full attention at the computer. I figure I would get more too, Well see. I just bought a new tracker the other seemed wildly inaccurate.
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storyjorie wrote: »I never have trouble hitting that number if I get in a half hour of exercise...if I run 3 miles in the morning and go to the grocery store that day, I'm done. Not sure whether the steps themselves actually matter, but as a fairly active person, I rarely go to sleep with less than 10k hit (except on days of rest, when I'm lucky if I see 4k).
This is what my goal is, I really want to run! For now though I am on machines, eliptical and bike and alternate with the treadmill. I shouldn't let it get to me but I cant help but feel irked I spin 15 miles and get no credit!
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I jockey a desk as well and picked up a tracker to remind me to get up and move more. I am under no illusion that if I log in 10k steps I'm going to be fine, but it certainly helps reduce risk and instill positive reinforcement.
As a parent much of what we pass on to our kids is modeled behavior. By setting behavior early on we ensure our kids build in healthy habits that will last a lifetime.
That was my goal too, just a little nudge. I mean I am doing something useful when I am on the computer as it's a part of my business but I can definately get sucked in and sit for long periods if I don't have orders to pack or my machines running. I just need to not focus on that actual number I suppose
The younger kids get in on my routine and we have fun working out, the teens though can't be bothered at this point they are in color guard and band etc. 1 -
elizabethb8686 wrote: »I have a desk job, so I don't move much during the day, but I have found if I make a slight effort to walk around a bit at lunch, then an hour of walking in the evening gets me to my 10k step goal. I'm not too strict about the exact step count anymore, as I was mainly using the Fitbit to give me an idea of a good level of activity to aim for. I can achieve that without the Fitbit (or other tracker) now, because I know I basically just need to get my hour of walking and I'll be fine.
Good to know, I JUST got a new tracker I think the old one was WAY off...
I stress too much LOL I can remember literally trying to run laps before midnight trying to hit a goal ROFL! Well see what my new tracker and today brings. 
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I think people get hung up on 10,000 or more steps and those are decent goals to shoot for to increase your basic activity. Walking more is easy but set your own goal that fits your life. 80,000 steps every day is unrealistic for almost everyone with a life. If you are starting at 3,000 steps maybe working on increasing to 5,000 every day is awesome though.
Or maybe you don't want to want walk much and counting steps is thus a stupid measure of fitness since you might have other fitness goals/methods.
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