pedometers and walking at work

hpsnickers1

I have a pedometer that tells me how many calories I burned along with the number of steps I have taken. I have a desk job but put in 4,000 - 5,000 steps at work. My pace is between 3 mph and 3.5 mph (learned this from my treadmill). Can I count this towards my daily exercise? Example: today so far I have taken 3,956 steps and burned 112 calories during that time. Can I apply that in my aerobic exercise tracking.

My guess is yes but don't want to feel like I'm trying to cheat. I still do my treadmill intervals, strength training, etc. after work.

TrainerRobin

Yes, all of this walking figures into your daily exercise! You're doing well getting that many steps in with a desk job. The goal for you (and every able-bodied person) is 10,000 steps a day. Get to that number regularly, and you'll really be hitting the target. But don't get discouraged if you don't hit 10,000 in a particular day. A better way to see if you're on track, is to look at your weekly step total which should be 70,000. Go for that and let us know how you are doing!

-- Robin

hpsnickers1

Yay! I work at a very large Lockheed Martin site with numerous connected buildings and lots of long hallways. And I only hit 10,000 if I'm on the treadmill that day too. But I do try and get at least 7,000 per day - well almost every day. I have a nice little route at work that can give me a 12 minute continuous walk and I wear my MBT shoes when I walk.

lashaylag

Yes you can, because you are actually burning those calories

123rio

thanks so much for the question and the great answers. I also wasn't sure if I should count these calories burned as it feels kind of like cheating as it has happened over the course of 7-8 hours Thanks for the advice. I guess activity is activity!