10,000 Steps really??????

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  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,868 Member
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    Machka9 wrote: »
    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. :grin: 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.

  • mk2fit
    mk2fit Posts: 730 Member
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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!
  • LilacLion
    LilacLion Posts: 579 Member
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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.
  • Gianfranco_R
    Gianfranco_R Posts: 1,297 Member
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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.
  • LisaD0115
    LisaD0115 Posts: 2 Member
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    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.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,868 Member
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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.

    +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.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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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.. :+1:

  • whiskeykittentoo
    whiskeykittentoo Posts: 43 Member
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    Tacklewasher wrote: »
    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

    I have a Vivosmart HR and I think I found it in the settings in the Garmin Connect program (that you install on your computer)
    I'm going to go double check now...
    *wanders off*


    *returns*

    Hmm... ok... can only find the option to turn it off, as well...
    Must have been looking at my husband's - he's got a fancy pants one.
    Sorry!
    1 hour it is! Or "whenever your tracker feels you have been sitting still too long" - and it still goes off even when I have been cooking in the kitchen for an hour...
    I just ignore it :)
  • coreyreichle
    coreyreichle Posts: 1,039 Member
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    Joanna2012B wrote: »
    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!!!

    If you can run 12km, then 10,000 steps should be easy enough.

    I usually hit my 10K steps after my lunch run, which is typically ~3.2 miles (Just over a 5K run). It's not all that insane of a goal, as it works out to about 1 hour of walking, of 30 minutes of jogging.
  • futuresize8
    futuresize8 Posts: 476 Member
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    Late to the game, but I felt more like this number was one that is shared to help get people who don't do any kind of exercise into a good habit and attainable goal...at least that is how we rolled out our walking program at work. I don't think it's a magic number, but if you're hitting it more often than not and walking is your only form of exercise, it can't be a bad thing.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,898 Member
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    DMacV2 wrote: »
    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.

    I have a wireless headset and love it. I usually "multitask" during those types of meetings, but will try your thing instead - thanks for the tip!
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    I don't think 10,000 steps was meant to be an indication of fitness. It's just a random goal (I think the rough equivalent of 5 miles??) set to get otherwise sedentary people moving.
  • nancybuss
    nancybuss Posts: 1,461 Member
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    so glad I'm not the only one that isn't close to 10,000 steps and i workout most mornings... that doesn't necessarily include a lot of "steps"
  • mattdhall
    mattdhall Posts: 85 Member
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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).

    I'm the same way. I work at a desk job. But as long as I go on a 30 minute walk in the evening, 10K is in the bag.

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