walking 10000 steps per day..cardio?

hamelle2

Hi.
i have been walking every day with my flex. Slowly i have increased the time and intensity. Today i walked 35 minutes in one period at an intense level. I have also surpassed 10000 steps just with every day steps. Should i add cardio along with walking these steps? or would that be too much?
Thank you .
laura

kellymac518

well if you are walking a lot, you probably have your activity level set to a medium to higher choice which means MFP accounts for this in your suggested caloric intake, so i wouldn't add the normal daily steps as extra cardio if i was in your situation. if you don't have it set to a higher activity level you could always switch it

editorgrrl

Are you asking if you should do cardio workouts in addition to your walking? That's entirely up to you.

If you're asking about logging your walks as cardio exercise, the answer is no. Connect your MFP & Fitbit accounts http://www.myfitnesspal.com/apps/show/30 and enable negative calorie adjustments http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

MFP has a Fitbit Users group: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/1307-fitbit-users

hamelle2

Thank you for your help .I wasn't sure if 10000 steps would be considered as enough cardio each day to keep the metabolism reved up. I'm 56 and this metabolism needs all the help it can get. Lol

I am also
starting resistance exercises three times a week.
Your guidance is so helpful. Thx!

bethanytapp

I've lost 52 pounds and am almost to my goal weight and have only counted walking as my cardio (occasionally biking and jogging, but not much). I started at 10000 steps and now am regularly doing 15000. I count anything over 8000 as exercise...for me 8000-10000 works out to be 20 minutes at 3 miles an hour. Doesn't really get my heart rate up, but its worked for me.

runningriot16

My brother is a fitness instructor and often gets annoyed when i tell him my exercise of the day was walking. He was taught that unless your heartbeats increasing during exercise then your not exercising. Saying that he then informed me if walking is easier for me i have to exceed the daily recommendation so best way is to get a pedometer and exceed 12,000 steps in a day. Your be surprised how easy this can be! Personally i incorporate it with an excuse to shop and spend a few hours waking around the city centre picking out treats for when i reach my new weight loss goal! Hope this helps! Good luck!

lauren3101

Walking IS cardio. It frustrates me when people tell me it's not classed as exercise. I think it’s assumed that walking is always just strolling along at a comfortable rate. Put your all into it, aim for a 4mph speed, and get your heart rate up, and that’s a perfectly acceptable form of cardio. As for logging it as exercise, I think what a previous poster said about using your fitbit to adjust your calories is the best thing. Mine is pretty accurate and ties in with what my HRM tells me. 10,000 steps per day is the recommended amount in the UK. I think you’re doing just fine.

scubasuenc

I have a FitBit and aim for 10K steps per day. I let it make any adjustments for the extra steps. However, if I walk on a treadmill or go out on a walk specifically to get my heart rate up, I do log that as cardio. Basically I only log it as cardio if I put my workout clothes on and set out to work up a sweat.

I allow my FitBit to make positive adjustments for any extra steps, however I do not allow negative adjustments.

hamelle2

You all have been very helpful. I know I am on the right path. Thank you.

stackhead

My brother is a fitness instructor and often gets annoyed when i tell him my exercise of the day was walking. He was taught that unless your heartbeats increasing during exercise then your not exercising.

Pfft tell your brother to strap 100 extra lbs on his back and go for a walk... see if he thinks it's exercise then!

runningriot16

Yes as he said if it increases your heart rate it would be exercise, and an extra 100lbs would cause that walking, and like was mentioned you have to exert your comfortable walking pace. Its just not going to be as effective as a jog or cycle. We are here to offer friendly advice to help not criticise the advice people offer. I was simply passing on what ive been told by professionals if it would help. Congrats on your weightloss

Azdak

"Exercise" and "activity" are not always the same thing. "Exercise" (aerobic, that is) requires a sustained increase in heart rate, breathing, etc doing continuous or interval activity. All "exercise" is activity, but not all activity is "exercise".

Both "exercise" and "activity" can increase calories expended--normally, exercise will burn calories at a higher rate. So, both can help make a weight-loss program more successful.

In addition to increased calories burned, exercise also provides fitness benefits, whereas the fitness benefits from activity will be minor.

Classifying an activity as "exercise" is really based on the intensity of the activity for a given individual, not the activity itself. For a fit person, regular walking--even 10,000 steps--will be "activity" and likely not provide much in the way of fitness benefits. For someone who is less fit, walking can be done at an intensity that is aerobic in nature. Rather than arbitrarily classifying one activity over another, it is more accurate to look at the individual response to that activity.

hamelle2

"Exercise" and "activity" are not always the same thing. "Exercise" (aerobic, that is) requires a sustained increase in heart rate, breathing, etc doing continuous or interval activity. All "exercise" is activity, but not all activity is "exercise".

Both "exercise" and "activity" can increase calories expended--normally, exercise will burn calories at a higher rate. So, both can help make a weight-loss program more successful.

In addition to increased calories burned, exercise also provides fitness benefits, whereas the fitness benefits from activity will be minor.

Classifying an activity as "exercise" is really based on the intensity of the activity for a given individual, not the activity itself. For a fit person, regular walking--even 10,000 steps--will be "activity" and likely not provide much in the way of fitness benefits. For someone who is less fit, walking can be done at an intensity that is aerobic in nature. Rather than arbitrarily classifying one activity over another, it is more accurate to look at the individual response to that activity.

Francl27

For a fit person, regular walking--even 10,000 steps--will be "activity" and likely not provide much in the way of fitness benefits.

Bah. I disagree. Going for a one hour brisk walk will be exercise, no matter how fit the person is.

Walking 10,000 steps while shopping or taking the kids to the park will be activity.

hamelle2

Exercise = walking like I mean it for a sustained length of time. Say 45 minutes.
Activity= everyday walking.
so continue with 10000-13000 steps making sure I have those 45 minutes of heart pumping walking as cardio minutes.

got it. Thanks!

TeaBea

I have a FitBit and aim for 10K steps per day. I let it make any adjustments for the extra steps. However, if I walk on a treadmill or go out on a walk specifically to get my heart rate up, I do log that as cardio. Basically I only log it as cardio if I put my workout clothes on and set out to work up a sweat.

I allow my FitBit to make positive adjustments for any extra steps, however I do not allow negative adjustments.

This!

Daily steps are typically at a liesurely pace (heart rate is not elevated). Walking briskly (getting your heart rate up) will burn calories more quickly.

kbanzhaf

I get so tired of people who don't consider walking exercise. I lost all of the weight that I did watching my diet, and walking……walking…….and more walking. I have slacked off lately, and I can tell. I am trying to get back on track. Have been sick for about a week (just a cold, nothing too major), but I am SO tired that I haven't hardly walked at all.

When I first lost weight, I was asked how I did it, and I told a friend (who has since passed away) that I "walked my *kitten* off." He turned me around and whispered, "Literally." One of my favorite memories of him to this day!

Kaye

knra_grl

Walking that I do specifically for exercise I log all other steps I don't. So a 3 mile walk for me is about 6500 steps and about 48 minutes of walking - I log the walk. If I walk specifically for exercise I then try to do the extra steps - when I walk for exercise my loop usually has me over 18000 steps for the day.

knra_grl

I get so tired of people who don't consider walking exercise. I lost all of the weight that I did watching my diet, and walking……walking…….and more walking. I have slacked off lately, and I can tell. I am trying to get back on track. Have been sick for about a week (just a cold, nothing too major), but I am SO tired that I haven't hardly walked at all.

When I first lost weight, I was asked how I did it, and I told a friend (who has since passed away) that I "walked my *kitten* off." He turned me around and whispered, "Literally." One of my favorite memories of him to this day!

Kaye

I don't think it's that people don't think walking is exercising but there are people who think their normal daily walking is exercise - they would have done it before throughout the day like at work, school, etc. I think using logic like "I walked to the car" so it's exercise negates the extra efforts that you put in to actually take the time to execise.

cookiealbright

Walking is good excercise. If you want to add cardio to the mix, it wouldn't hurt. Good luck to ya! :flowerforyou:

editorgrrl

I'm sorry, I guess my original post was unclear. Walking is great exercise, but it should not be logged if you're using a Fitbit. That's what activity trackers are for—tracking your step based activity (which also includes running). When you join your accounts (via the "Apps" tab at the top of every page) you get calorie adjustments for them. And disabling negative calorie adjustments is counterproductive.

The actual data that Fitbit records is way more accurate than MFP's one-size-fits-all guesstimated burns. Log non-step workouts either in Fitbit or in MFP. I find Fitbit's burns more accurate, but the choice is yours. Do not log walks or runs.

cwolfman13

Walking IS cardio. It frustrates me when people tell me it's not classed as exercise. I think it’s assumed that walking is always just strolling along at a comfortable rate. Put your all into it, aim for a 4mph speed, and get your heart rate up, and that’s a perfectly acceptable form of cardio. As for logging it as exercise, I think what a previous poster said about using your fitbit to adjust your calories is the best thing. Mine is pretty accurate and ties in with what my HRM tells me. 10,000 steps per day is the recommended amount in the UK. I think you’re doing just fine.

I would never say that it's not exercise...but for someone who if pretty fit, walking even at a 4 MPH pace isn't really going to get you into an aerobic HR zone...I would pretty much have to get into speed walking or something at this point if I was going to use walking to increase my aerobic capacity and endurance.

I walk a lot as a recovery exercise now...when I first started it was my primary form of exercise, but these days it really does very little in the way of improving my cardiovascular fitness or endurance capacity. It really just depends on where you are and ultimately what your fitness goals are.

I generally get in around 10,000 - 15000 steps or more per day but I still cycle 4 times per week with one of those being a hard spin and another being a long ride (right now my "long" is 30 miles but I'm building that up). I also weight train full body 2x weekly. I could never have imagined having the capacity for this much exercise a year and a half ago...now I can't figure out how I just sat around so much and did nothing before.

dmt4641

As others have said, there is a difference between steps from daily activity and cardiovascular exercise. Even though both burn calories and will help you lose weight, you need your heart rate to be elevated for a period of time to be considered "cardio." For some individuals, a brisk walk will be cardio. For me, my heart rate doesn't really go up unless I am pushing myself harder. I try and make sure I have enough active or very active minutes in my day. My fitbit dashboard has it set for a goal of 30 minutes a day. A brisk walk usually shows up as active minutes (yellow), and more intense cardio shows up as very active (green). I try to have some yellow minutes along with the red every day, and green mixed in on my "cardio" days.

Francl27

Walking IS cardio. It frustrates me when people tell me it's not classed as exercise. I think it’s assumed that walking is always just strolling along at a comfortable rate. Put your all into it, aim for a 4mph speed, and get your heart rate up, and that’s a perfectly acceptable form of cardio. As for logging it as exercise, I think what a previous poster said about using your fitbit to adjust your calories is the best thing. Mine is pretty accurate and ties in with what my HRM tells me. 10,000 steps per day is the recommended amount in the UK. I think you’re doing just fine.

I would never say that it's not exercise...but for someone who if pretty fit, walking even at a 4 MPH pace isn't really going to get you into an aerobic HR zone...I would pretty much have to get into speed walking or something at this point if I was going to use walking to increase my aerobic capacity and endurance.

I walk a lot as a recovery exercise now...when I first started it was my primary form of exercise, but these days it really does very little in the way of improving my cardiovascular fitness or endurance capacity. It really just depends on where you are and ultimately what your fitness goals are.

I generally get in around 10,000 - 15000 steps or more per day but I still cycle 4 times per week with one of those being a hard spin and another being a long ride (right now my "long" is 30 miles but I'm building that up). I also weight train full body 2x weekly. I could never have imagined having the capacity for this much exercise a year and a half ago...now I can't figure out how I just sat around so much and did nothing before.

Well, yes and no. You can make it more challenging, at least on a treadmill, with a bigger incline.

Azdak

For a fit person, regular walking--even 10,000 steps--will be "activity" and likely not provide much in the way of fitness benefits.

Bah. I disagree. Going for a one hour brisk walk will be exercise, no matter how fit the person is.

Walking 10,000 steps while shopping or taking the kids to the park will be activity.

It depends on the intensity of the activity vs the fitness level of the individual. When I walk my dog, I walk for 45-60 min at 4.0 mph and my heart rate does not go above 100. For me it is not exercise--it's the dog's exercise. I would never log it nor count it. When I finish, then I go and do my workout.

Conversely, last Friday I walked for 76 minutes on the treadmill at an average speed of 3.7 mph and an avg incline of about 8%. In that time, my HR averaged about 125 and I burned 1000 calories. That was exercise--for me.

It's not a value judgement, it's just physiology.