10,000 Steps really??????
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My days can be exceedingly sedentary (under 2k steps or basically comatose) without making a deliberate effort so I walk 5 miles first thing to get a minimum level of activity in for the day. I don't know if that activity makes me fit but it definitely helps keep me fit even when I'm not doing any other exercise.
Also, for those without pets or tumble dryers putting your ftibit on a desk next to a fan overnight will rack up an effortless 3k steps.
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There are studies that show it's good for you, if you're overweight (see attached link). Sure, the amount of steps aren't the end all be all, activity/heart rate is much more important than just steps alone, but it isn't an arbitrary number that a lot of commentators are suggesting it is.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/276003871 -
10K steps is not hard. Especially when you want it. I have a desk job and usually hit 10K a day. To do this I hit the gym to lift weights at 6 am, walk around the building at work once in the morning and once in the afternoon no matter how cold or hot it is!, and I run on the treadmill for 20 minutes at lunch. How bad do you want it?4
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AlabasterVerve wrote: »My days can be exceedingly sedentary (under 2k steps or basically comatose) without making a deliberate effort so I walk 5 miles first thing to get a minimum level of activity in for the day. I don't know if that activity makes me fit but it definitely helps keep me fit even when I'm not doing any other exercise.
Also, for those without pets or tumble dryers putting your ftibit on a desk next to a fan overnight will rack up an effortless 3k steps.
I once did 11K steps in 20 minutes while using the snow blower. Wonder what caused that????2 -
vixnbrianaf wrote: »There are studies that show it's good for you, if you're overweight (see attached link). Sure, the amount of steps aren't the end all be all, activity/heart rate is much more important than just steps alone, but it isn't an arbitrary number that a lot of commentators are suggesting it is.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27600387
No one said it wasn't beneficial...but it is an arbitrary numberThe concept of 10,000 steps originated in Japan in the run-up to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, says Catrine Tudor-Locke, an associate professor at the Pennington Biomedical Research Centre at Louisiana State University.
Pedometers became all the rage in the country as Olympic fever swept through Japanese society. One company came out with a device called a manpo-kei, which means 10,000 step meter.
"It was a business slogan, like 'Just Do It' for Nike, but it resonated with people," Tudor-Locke says.
Again, nobody said it is't beneficial...particularly if someone is chronically unfit and inactive...I do walk, but walking and getting some arbitrary number of steps isn't going to have any particular fitness benefit to me because I'm active way beyond that...it's just not steps.
They could just as easily do a study of swimming some arbitrary amount of miles per day combined with proper diet...1 -
My sister has an office job and when she got a fitbit she tried to maximise her steps by going to the farthest loo, walking back and forth to the photocopier, walking to colleagues desks instead of sending emails etc etc. She ended up getting a talking to from her boss for "wasting time"
So in the draw is where her fitbit now sits!! 3 -
TrishSeren wrote: »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.
So does this mean in MFP I'm low active as I walk this much every day because I walk to and from work?
depends on if you are doing the walk to work because you have to or for exercise...
If purposeful exercise then no...your activity in MFP is before purposeful movement.
Cool! I do it because I have to and then I exercise purposefully on top of this.1 -
My tracker "annoys" me every 60 minutes - but I can turn it off or set it for a longer time. My "daily steps" goal was apparently "created" from data I entered into my Garmin connect account (weight, height, activity level, weight loss goal) and it actually wants me to do 10599 steps a day and whines at me if I don't.
Some days I do WAY more, some days I do about 2000 fewer than required.
Like you, I set aside a "main" block of exercise time - my dogs and I walk anywhere from 2 km to 5 km every morning (including weekends, because dogs don't know it's weekend
) and a very short walk during the day (lunch or early afternoon) of about 10 minutes, and then in the evening, another medium length walk with the dogs of about 1.5 km to 2.5 km, depending on how tired the dogs are and how cold/rainy/miserable/hot/whatever it is out. 
I don't think 10 000 is necessary, no - especially if you are running around after your kids, and other low-level, but CONSISTENT activities.
I also do yoga in the morning and my tracker and app (and MFP too) don't seem to think it's worth more than 20-30 calories... I beg to differ! I am SWEATING and my muscles hate me after just a 15 minute intense workout... but the only "yoga" on the list of exercises barely registers in my exercise list...
SO - excuse the waffle, I will get to my point - I would go with what feels RIGHT FOR YOU!
If you are already losing that much weight a week (and WELL DONE, by the way!) then I wouldn't worry about the number of steps you have done. The tracker/app can't understand that you are walking with a weight (kid/bags/etc) or racing around the shops (As I do, because I HATE SHOPPING... I do not like lots of people) at full tilt to get stuff done before you RACE OFF to go fetch kids and all that...
Do what works for you. If you hit a plateau, then yeah, maybe reevaluate... but for now.. just enjoy those pounds coming off! I'm jealous!
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MeanderingMammal wrote: »So not on walks around the neighbourhood
And definitely not training, for a marathon or anything else. But it happened! Many times! Which means it's not impossible.0 -
whiskeykittentoo wrote: »My tracker "annoys" me every 60 minutes - but I can turn it off or set it for a longer time.
What tracker and where can you change the time duration? I've got a Vivoactive HR and all I can do is turn the move alert on or off. So either 1 hour or nothing. I'd rather it bugged me at about 90 minutes.
Thanks
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I obsessed about the 10k steps when I first got my Fitbit, especially since I was easily hitting 12-15k a day the first few weeks (Pokemon Go had just come out and I was devoting a LOT of my time to that after work lol). My baseline most days is 8k, so I usually feel like as long as I have also done something that gets my body going beyond my usual walking to/from work and around the office, and I'm eating healthy, I don't care what the tracker says. I think with Fitbit you can also alter your daily goal... I've thought about making mine 9k so that I am always hitting just a little over my baseline.1
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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...
This for sure!!! I also don't get 10k steps in a day, but can run 12km and cycle 120km. I know many people that get well over 10k and couldn't do the same as myself. So don't even worry about it. I work a desk job and am sedentary during the day. I still manage to get my physical activity in, lose weight and build muscle. Agree with the comment that it is a marketing tool. Look at how many FitBits were sold just to track steps! Whoopdeedoo!!!1 -
NorthCascades wrote: »MeanderingMammal wrote: »So not on walks around the neighbourhood
And definitely not training, for a marathon or anything else. But it happened! Many times! Which means it's not impossible.
Marathon training isn't going to take you to 50k steps as a matter of course, most runs are in the 10-16 mile range with only a few more than that.
But yes, I agree. Taking a couple of months off work to do something like the AT or similar could reasonably get there consistently. Sounds like an interesting logistical challenges as well, reading the FKT reports would suggest a few hundred doing these each season.
I know a fair few people who run a marathon every week and they're not doing much more than 10s midweek.0 -
Meh...I think of 10,000 steps as just a reminder to get off my duff and move my body. I had mine set for a minimum of 14,000 steps during the warmer months and it was easy to accomplish. Not so much with all the indoor time now. But really, as long as you are moving your body regularly and being MINDFUL of getting physical activity I think the activity trackers are GREAT. For me at least. 2
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I've a desk job with a desktop phone that supports Bluetooth. Meetings that I'm just a body in with little to no interaction, I walk round my desk with my Jabra on.... silly enough.... and easily hit 10K (today I'm at 13,789 and the day is not over). Yeah it's not anything like high impact or running a marathon, but it is something, anything, that can get my butt out of my chair for an hour or so a day. I think the idea is just to move, regardless of the # of steps, so don't beat yourself up over it. I can go from anywhere to 2K clear up to the highest in one day of 33K.0
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mr_electrician wrote: »AlabasterVerve wrote: »My days can be exceedingly sedentary (under 2k steps or basically comatose) without making a deliberate effort so I walk 5 miles first thing to get a minimum level of activity in for the day. I don't know if that activity makes me fit but it definitely helps keep me fit even when I'm not doing any other exercise.
Also, for those without pets or tumble dryers putting your ftibit on a desk next to a fan overnight will rack up an effortless 3k steps.
I once did 11K steps in 20 minutes while using the snow blower. Wonder what caused that????
I reached my first 10k by typing on a keyboard. LOL. Playing piano will also "bolster" your step count.1 -
Yah I hear ya. 10K steps sounds ridiculously unachievable. But it's there as a Marketing tool.0
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I know tomorrow I will blow by the 10K. I've got a hockey game to watch on the treadmill. So 2500 in the morning, 2500 during the day (although I didn't hit that today) and 7-8K watching hockey.0
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Okay, 10K to me seems a bit unreasonable, but let's face it, unless your exercise if running or walking about 5 miles it is a stretch to attain this goal, I have a more modest goal of 6K and let me tell you, unless I really try, I make about 2-4K on average week days, weekends I would be lucky to make 1.5-2K unless I go shopping.
But, the funny thing about 10K is that, when I was making it every weekday, I had more energy, I felt better, and I did this by making conscious decisions. Not parking so close to the store, walking the long way for everything I wanted and just getting up and moving, in the middle of a TV show when commercials were on I would walk from one end of the house or the room for the duration of the commercial, I did this a couple times a night and the steps added up and the toning moved in.
All in all, 10K is is only as achievable as you are willing to put in the work, unless as I said, your main form of exercise is walking and/or jogging or running and your goal is a minimum amount of miles or kilometers a day.0 -
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Can I reward myself with food? 9 -
As a former morbidly obese and sedentary individual, I can declare with confidence that if I had limited myself to the "fat burning" exercises I would still be sedentary.
When I changed my approach to try anything active as long as it looked fun, I would keep at it.
It also helped to set personal realistic goals starting where I was and gradually adding 5% to my goals. The step counter was helpful to track my progress then.9 -
RemarkablyUnremarkable wrote: »Is 10,000 steps really the end all of how fit you are?
No.
Turns out ... 10,000 steps is a rest day for me.
I had no idea how many steps I was doing each day until my place of employment had a step challenge just recently. Those of us in the challenge were issued pedometers and we had to log our steps every day. For the first couple days, I just did what I normally do on a relatively casual rest-type day and I easily logged 10,000 steps each day.
By the end of the challenge, a month later, I ended up averaging just shy of 16,000 steps a day.
I'll just add that I am also an office worker who spends most of her time sitting at a desk.
However, it is easy to get 10,000 steps this way:
-- I walk as part of my commute to and from work.
-- I walk at lunch. I've got an hour for lunch, and love getting out of the office and walking around.
-- I climb stairs. I work in an 11 story building, so I aim to do anywhere from 20-40 flights of stairs a day.
-- I walk the long way to the toilet and back ... turns out that's a 200 metre round trip. Doing that several times a day starts to add up!
-- My husband and I walk about 3 km after work, to the beach and back.
That's just an average day.
In order to increase my steps so that I averaged just under 16,000, I got off the bus earlier to lengthen my morning walk. I did longer walks at lunch. Sometimes I just stroll around for a couple km looking in shops etc., but for the challenge, I stopped window shopping and just walked, so I was getting 4-5 km most lunches. And my husband and I did slightly longer walks after work.
On weekends we did long hikes or bicycle rides (which I was able to convert into steps).
I also adopted inefficiency.
Rather than doing things in one trip, I would make several trips ... bringing in the groceries took twice as long, I was making trips back and forth to the photocopier for every piece of paper, etc.
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I got a fitness tracker about a year ago. Oh, boy, did I obsess over the damned 10k steps. What is more important is moving, whether it is walking, swimming, chasing a 5 year old, etc. My husband laughs and says I have become part of the (Borg) collective. Take a deep breath and relax!1
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lol I'm really enjoying this thread! Resistance against moving more was futile for me too and I had become as sedentary as they come. I love my Garmin which stays pretty accurate on the Step/HR count and found a few ways to up my daily movement in ways that I enjoy so much I just want to do more. Challenges with friends that I've came into contact here have kept me motivated. I complain a lot about the tracker's "Move" alarm but it is a great way to instill a habit. BTW, I am pretty new at MFP and actually trying to get fit for health instead of a desired number on the scales for the first time in my life.
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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?
If you want to stay fit, these are the official guidelines:
https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/adults/
Just strolling around up to 10000 steps or more may increase your TDEE, but doesn't do much for your health.0 -
The fact that there are people (without physical disabilities) who see 10,000 steps/day as an enormous unachievable goal is why we need the 10,000 step/day goal.
Yes, the exact number is arbitrary. Yes, there are lots of non-step-based physical activities that let you validly ignore any step-based goal.
But the fact that our society has become so sedentary that walking for the equivalent of an hour and a half every day is seen as impossible disturbs me.15 -
The step number per day is pretty arbitrary. I think mentally, the trackers are just a good way to keep you conscientious about sitting all day. Plus lots of heavy people have fitbits. Walking those steps isn't going to help you much if you don't get your heart rate up at all. Lollygagging around for 10K slow steps is worthless as far as exercise goes.
As far as the work out - just remember that you can't out exercise a poor diet. Personally I think 40min plus a day is a ton of exercise. Is that even a maintainable number? If not, slow it down. Clean up your diet and you'll see a lot of changes.0 -
Walking those steps isn't going to help you much if you don't get your heart rate up at all. Lollygagging around for 10K slow steps is worthless as far as exercise goes.
I disagree. Lollygagging for 10K slow steps may not be as good as walking for 10K brisk steps, but it's an awful lot better than sitting on your butt and getting no steps (just as 8K steps or even 5K steps is better than no steps). The improvement in circulation alone is worth it. And it's progress in the right direction. 10K slow steps is more likely to turn into 10K quicker steps than zero activity is to turn into lots of activity.7 -
SusanMFindlay wrote: »The fact that there are people (without physical disabilities) who see 10,000 steps/day as an enormous unachievable goal is why we need the 10,000 step/day goal.
Yes, the exact number is arbitrary. Yes, there are lots of non-step-based physical activities that let you validly ignore any step-based goal.
But the fact that our society has become so sedentary that walking for the equivalent of an hour and a half every day is seen as impossible disturbs me.
+1
Especially your last comment!
Here's the thing ... my husband, who is 61 years old, works a physically active job where he is on his feet and walking (and lifting and carrying and doing all sorts of things) 8 hours a day. Then he comes home, rests a bit, and when I get home we go for a 3 km walk together most evenings. And if we're not walking, we're cycling. It's only on rare occasions he'll suggest that he would prefer to rest.
The human body is designed to move and be active, and I think he's a fit 61 year old because he has been active for years, and has been working physically active jobs for over a decade now.
And he's an inspiration to me ... if he can be active all day long, I can get up and climb another 10 flights of stairs or go for a brisk walk at lunch.
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SusanMFindlay wrote: »The fact that there are people (without physical disabilities) who see 10,000 steps/day as an enormous unachievable goal is why we need the 10,000 step/day goal.
Yes, the exact number is arbitrary. Yes, there are lots of non-step-based physical activities that let you validly ignore any step-based goal.
But the fact that our society has become so sedentary that walking for the equivalent of an hour and a half every day is seen as impossible disturbs me.
I'm glad someone said it..
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