walking 10000 steps per day..cardio?

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hamelle2
hamelle2 Posts: 297 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
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
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Replies

  • kellymac518
    kellymac518 Posts: 132 Member
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    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
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    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
    hamelle2 Posts: 297 Member
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    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
    bethanytapp Posts: 79 Member
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    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
    runningriot16 Posts: 3
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    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
    lauren3101 Posts: 1,853 Member
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    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
    scubasuenc Posts: 626 Member
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    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
    hamelle2 Posts: 297 Member
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    You all have been very helpful. I know I am on the right path. Thank you.
  • stackhead
    stackhead Posts: 121 Member
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    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
    runningriot16 Posts: 3
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    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
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    "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
    hamelle2 Posts: 297 Member
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    "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
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    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
    hamelle2 Posts: 297 Member
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    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
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    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
    kbanzhaf Posts: 601 Member
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    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
    knra_grl Posts: 1,568 Member
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    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
    knra_grl Posts: 1,568 Member
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    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
    cookiealbright Posts: 605 Member
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    Walking is good excercise. If you want to add cardio to the mix, it wouldn't hurt. Good luck to ya! :flowerforyou:
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    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.

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