step counters-Rant

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245

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  • Alluminati
    Alluminati Posts: 6,208 Member
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    Here's a concept,OP: Worry about yourself.
    I know, mind blowing ain't it?
  • KD0BIK
    KD0BIK Posts: 44 Member
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    All I've done is walk and yes I own and love my Fitbit. I know others who just simply walk and have experienced extraordinary results.

    Let my results speak....
  • Lythy89
    Lythy89 Posts: 57 Member
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    Movement = calories burnt so if you walk 100 steps or 10,000 you have still burnt calories = done cardio.IMO
  • nentecular
    nentecular Posts: 101 Member
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    I deny your rant.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    10 miles at work is also a HUGE amount to walk in 8 hours. I assume he's a shift worker at a factory or something? I'd stop ranting at him and say that's damn good. If you two went on a hike in the forest, he'd probably be able to go further, faster than you can.

    this ^^^

    that many miles a day he must be some kind of manual worker. No way someone's going to walk 10 miles pottering around an office. I used to work as a postman years ago, I worked out that I must have walked at least 10 miles a day, i.e. all round the streets I had to deliver to, twice a day, plus going up and down each garden path. At least 10 miles. Yes, absolutely this is cardio. And considering I was paid by the day, not by the hour, I walked damn fast round those streets to be able to get home earlier. Even to this day I'm very fast at walking considering that I have really short legs - I think working as a postman had some lasting effect... maybe it taught me really good form for walking or something.
  • juliemouse83
    juliemouse83 Posts: 6,663 Member
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    Yeah...nevermind...

    Sounds like your coworker has the right idea.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    I'm wondering if the pedometer is as sanctimonious as you are?

    because most of them I know of can't tell HOW or WHERE you're walking- only that you are just ... you know- walking.
  • LiveLoveLift67
    LiveLoveLift67 Posts: 895 Member
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    I dont care whether he cardios or not....i was just saying how I personally feel about what cardio is and isint...my opinion only. Do i think straightening up the lunchmeat aisle or dishing out seafood for an 8 hour shift is exercise...no. Again only my opinion. I choose not to log it since its daily life not extra. I think you guys let it get you more bothered than i was in the first place.....sheesh.
  • JTick
    JTick Posts: 2,131 Member
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    I used to work a very active job where I walked 10-15 miles a day. There was no need for me to do additional cardio. I'd go to the gym and strength train, but I hardly needed more cardio. By the end of the day, my legs couldn't take any more pounding anyway.
  • JTick
    JTick Posts: 2,131 Member
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    I dont care whether he cardios or not....i was just saying how I personally feel about what cardio is and isint...my opinion only. Do i think straightening up the lunchmeat aisle or dishing out seafood for an 8 hour shift is exercise...no. Again only my opinion. I choose not to log it since its daily life not extra. I think you guys let it get you more bothered than i was in the first place.....sheesh.

    But who says he's dishing out seafood? Did you ASK him what his job is? I worked on a farm, and that's where those 10-15 miles came in. It was walking horses back and forth to the pastures, lugging buckets, etc. It was hardly straightening shelves.
  • airica25
    airica25 Posts: 50 Member
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    Do you think that maybe if he wasn't walking 10 miles a day he would still be in the same condition he is in currently? Take that 10 miles away and see how much weight he puts on.

    It is exercise.
  • LiveLoveLift67
    LiveLoveLift67 Posts: 895 Member
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    I dont care whether he cardios or not....i was just saying how I personally feel about what cardio is and isint...my opinion only. Do i think straightening up the lunchmeat aisle or dishing out seafood for an 8 hour shift is exercise...no. Again only my opinion. I choose not to log it since its daily life not extra. I think you guys let it get you more bothered than i was in the first place.....sheesh.

    But who says he's dishing out seafood? Did you ASK him what his job is? I worked on a farm, and that's where those 10-15 miles came in. It was walking horses back and forth to the pastures, lugging buckets, etc. It was hardly straightening shelves.

    I said he was because he is a co worker.....i know what he does all day...you didnt see that part lol
  • Birder155
    Birder155 Posts: 223 Member
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    Nice job on the weight loss, OP! Looks like you're doing something right.

    I worked in a factory and walked several miles a day and now I'm retired and do a lot of sitting. It's definitely made a difference in the amount of calories I can eat.
    I wouldn't have counted it as exercise but I would've listed myself as lightly active and not sedentary like I do now.
  • AnotherXFitGuy
    AnotherXFitGuy Posts: 58 Member
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    I dont care whether he cardios or not....i was just saying how I personally feel about what cardio is and isint...my opinion only. Do i think straightening up the lunchmeat aisle or dishing out seafood for an 8 hour shift is exercise...no. Again only my opinion. I choose not to log it since its daily life not extra. I think you guys let it get you more bothered than i was in the first place.....sheesh.

    If you don't care, why did you share? And I "personally feel" you don't know what you are talking about. Do some research and you'll discover the truth.

    And if you weren't "bothered", why did you call it a rant?
  • JTick
    JTick Posts: 2,131 Member
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    I dont care whether he cardios or not....i was just saying how I personally feel about what cardio is and isint...my opinion only. Do i think straightening up the lunchmeat aisle or dishing out seafood for an 8 hour shift is exercise...no. Again only my opinion. I choose not to log it since its daily life not extra. I think you guys let it get you more bothered than i was in the first place.....sheesh.

    But who says he's dishing out seafood? Did you ASK him what his job is? I worked on a farm, and that's where those 10-15 miles came in. It was walking horses back and forth to the pastures, lugging buckets, etc. It was hardly straightening shelves.

    I said he was because he is a co worker.....i know what he does all day...you didnt see that part lol

    Yes, missed that part. Still, though, if he's on his feet and moving, he's on his feet and moving and there's nothing wrong with not doing intense cardio on top of that. If he were at risk for heart problems or something like that, I could understand needing to do additional cardio. But weight training gets your heart rate up too...Sometimes my heart pounds more when I'm lifting than when I'm running.
  • RozzieVox
    RozzieVox Posts: 2
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    It depends on what your looking for from a gym membership ie... weight loss, building muscle, or cardiovascular fitness.

    If you want weight loss then you burn the same number of calories if you walk or run that mile. If your work colleague says he is walking 10 miles per day then he must be walking around 20,000 steps each day (based on the average male stride length 2000 steps = 1 mile). So if weight loss is his goal then it probably does not matter if he does no high intensity cardio at the gym.

    If he wants to build muscle mass and strength then he should be lifting weights and once again it would not matter if he did high intensity cardio.

    However, walking slowly around an office, interspersed with periods of sitting, for 10 miles a day does not build cardio vascular strength or fitness. As the heart is a muscle it should also be "exercised", and this means walking at a brisk pace for a minimum of 20 minutes 3 times a week (minimum recommendation), which will elevate the heart rate and thereby improve CV fitness and strength. What is brisk pace? Well we are told that the heart rate should reach between 50-80% of your maximum heart rate, which can be calculated by subtracting your age from 220. So for a 40 year old this would mean elevating your heart rate to somewhere between 90 and 144 bpm.

    It seems strange to me that your colleague would want to improve muscular strength in all areas of his body except the most important muscle of all - his heart. That to me seems like just working on the right arm and not worrying about the left arm, or working on your biceps but not your triceps. Just because we can't see the heart when we flex our biceps does not mean it can't be stronger, healthier and last longer.

    The added advantage of increasing your CV fitness level is that if you have to run to catch a train, or to the bank before it closes, walk up several flights of steps, or dance the night away, you can do so without feeling breathless :-)

    Just my humble opinion :-)
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    I don't consider it exercise either.

    Even when I worked in construction and I was on my feet constantly. But just because it's not "officially exercise" doesn't invalidate the fact it burns calories.

    Riding my motorcycle through the mountains- takes WORK. My friend burns upwards of 4-500 calories easily in 2 or so hours. That's not an extra little snack- or something to tuck away, that's an entire other meal. BUT- it's not "exercise".

    Discounting something because you don't view it as official exercise doesn't discount the fact it burns calories.
  • LiveLoveLift67
    LiveLoveLift67 Posts: 895 Member
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    It depends on what your looking for from a gym membership ie... weight loss, building muscle, or cardiovascular fitness.

    If you want weight loss then you burn the same number of calories if you walk or run that mile. If your work colleague says he is walking 10 miles per day then he must be walking around 20,000 steps each day (based on the average male stride length 2000 steps = 1 mile). So if weight loss is his goal then it probably does not matter if he does no high intensity cardio at the gym.

    If he wants to build muscle mass and strength then he should be lifting weights and once again it would not matter if he did high intensity cardio.

    However, walking slowly around an office, interspersed with periods of sitting, for 10 miles a day does not build cardio vascular strength or fitness. As the heart is a muscle it should also be "exercised", and this means walking at a brisk pace for a minimum of 20 minutes 3 times a week (minimum recommendation), which will elevate the heart rate and thereby improve CV fitness and strangth. What is brisk pace? Well we are told that the heart rate should reach between 50-80% of your maximum heart rate, which can be calculated by subtracting your age from 220. So for a 40 year old this would mean elevating your heart rate to somewhere between 90 and 144 bpm.

    It seems strange to me that your colleague would want to improve muscular strength in all areas of his body except the most important muscle of all - his heart. That to me seems like just working on the right arm and not worrying about the left arm, or working on your biceps but not your triceps. Just because we can't see the heart when we flex our biceps does not mean it can't be stronger, healthier and last longer.

    The added advantage of increasing your CV fitness level is that if you have to run to catch a train, or to the bank before it closes, walk up several flights of steps, or dance the night away, you can do so without feeling breathless :-)

    Just my humble opinion :-)

    I agree...this is the point i was trying to make. That to consider it fitness by taking a step here and there and not briskly is doing nothing for your cardiovascular health. That is the only reason i was discounting it as cardio and to add to your calorie burn.

    Yes, i do agree that any movement is better than none at all but would still consider it far reaching if your strolling around and consider that exercise. His goal is to lose weight as well.
  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
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    I dont care whether he cardios or not....i was just saying how I personally feel about what cardio is and isint...my opinion only. Do i think straightening up the lunchmeat aisle or dishing out seafood for an 8 hour shift is exercise...no. Again only my opinion. I choose not to log it since its daily life not extra. I think you guys let it get you more bothered than i was in the first place.....sheesh.

    There's a pretty big difference between walking to and from the train station a few blocks away and walking 10 miles a day planned or not.

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