Question re: steps/day and strength training

wolverine2006

Hi all,

I'm a newbie to this forum and hoping to get some good advice. I hit my all time high for weight on New Year's Day this year (278lbs). I'm a 6'2" male and would ideally like to get in the low 200's, although I'm being realistic and shooting for 223 (55lb loss) as a starting target. Here's some of my story:

I was working out and logging food (probably not as honestly as I should have) last year, but not happy with the results. I met with a nutritionist/personal trainer last fall, and she identified some changes for me - including a goal of 10,000 steps per day. So, I bought a pedometer and was shocked at how little my activity level was. I was hitting the treadmill for 20-30mins a day 3x/week with another 20-25 mins of strength training added on the end. It simply wasn't enough. I stepped up the cardio and found that I could hit ~8,000 steps with an hour on the treadmill (mixing walking and running), and I would get the remaining 2,000 steps over the course of the day. That left me with no time for strength training, but was a very satisfying cardio workout. I was getting into a good routine with this, but then had a freak accident where I almost broke my right ankle in October. I've had a lot of sprains before, but nothing this bad. I was off the ankle entirely for ~8 weeks. I have only just been able to start any form of cardio with it in the last couple of weeks. That didn't help anything.

I'm back at it and easing back into running (4 mins walking, 1 min running for 1 hr), and have already lost 12 lbs since hitting that high mark on New Year's Day. Ankle is still tender, but not so bad that I can't ease back into the cardio. I received a FitBit Flex for Christmas, and I love it. The linking to MFP has been awesome, and I really think it's helping.

Here's the question: I know I need the strength training at some point. However, I also have seen the results since I started tracking the 10,000 steps goal. Should I be targeting 90 mins at the gym each day (60 cardio and 30 strength)? I want to build some strength, and I understand the need to have lean muscle and stoke the metabolic furnace. My sole focus right now is to lose the weight. I don't want to give up the cardio as I know the steps goal is important. How do those of you that are tracking steps maintain a balance with the need for strength training??

Thanks for any thoughts you might have!

Swiftdogs

This doesn't answer your question directly, but one thing that REALLY helps is working more steps into your normal daily activities. Park away from the building, take the long way to the restroom/break room, walk to a colleague's office instead of calling - that sort of thing. Once you start looking for ways to add steps, you find a lot of opportunities. I have an office job, but my normal routine runs about 7,500 steps before additional exercise. That frees up more time for other exercise.