10000 steps a day or less

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tushar05
tushar05 Posts: 25
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi All,
I have a question about 10000 steps a day target. Does it mean 10000 steps on top of basic walking in house or at work or it includes daily tasks. I am 161lb male, so 10000 steps a day would be 500 calories, but just want to make sure that doesn't include basic walking for my daily 2000 minimum calories burned.

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  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    10k steps a day is without exercise...just regular walking around...doing house work, going to the bathroom, going to a meeting, coming to and from the car etc.

    It means you are lightly active before exercise.
  • tushar05
    tushar05 Posts: 25
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    thanks
  • telecoffeesaur
    telecoffeesaur Posts: 12 Member
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    I have no solid info to disagree with the other poster-- but it takes an EFFORT for me to hit 10,000 steps a day. Working a full time job where I'm not on my feet, there is NO WAY I would hit 10,000 just by "going to the bathroom" and "going to a meeting." Throughout the day I regularly take 20-minute walk breaks (which counts as exercise). If I didn't take these breaks and make a solid effort to hit 10,000, there's no way I ever would.

    I think 10,000 is a "goal" because you have to work to hit it-- which means exercise. I can't give you any detailed info about calorie burn or how to calculate it, but I would recommend getting a FitBit or other pedometer that does a calorie burn estimate. For example, I take 2-3 20 minute "walk breaks" per regular working day, but never put them into the exercise tracker. I just sync my FitBit to MFP and let it do it's thing.
  • tushar05
    tushar05 Posts: 25
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    thanks
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    I have no solid info to disagree with the other poster-- but it takes an EFFORT for me to hit 10,000 steps a day. Working a full time job where I'm not on my feet, there is NO WAY I would hit 10,000 just by "going to the bathroom" and "going to a meeting." Throughout the day I regularly take 20-minute walk breaks (which counts as exercise). If I didn't take these breaks and make a solid effort to hit 10,000, there's no way I ever would.

    I think 10,000 is a "goal" because you have to work to hit it-- which means exercise. I can't give you any detailed info about calorie burn or how to calculate it, but I would recommend getting a FitBit or other pedometer that does a calorie burn estimate. For example, I take 2-3 20 minute "walk breaks" per regular working day, but never put them into the exercise tracker. I just sync my FitBit to MFP and let it do it's thing.

    my 10k half comes from work, the other half is house stuff...getting supper, doing laundry sweeping floors etc. As a mom and wife (who is old fashioned) I do a lot of the house work and cooking.

    Anything I get over 10k is purposeful exercise.
  • hookilau
    hookilau Posts: 3,134 Member
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    It depends on your lifestyle =)

    I'm a part time dog walker & when it's hot outside, I move slower with the dogs so we don't get quite as many steps. However, weather permitting, I usually get 2500 steps per 30 minute walk.

    I used to wear my fitbit zip to sleep, so the minute I got up, it was counting steps. I usually did four 30 minute dog walks per day, and the rest of my 10k came from doing laundry, shopping, housework etc.

    I did all I could to increase my steps every day, parking at the far end of the lot, taking the stairs, making multiple trips rather than loading up etc. On a good day, I could get up to 15k, on a slow & lazy day, closer to 8k.

    Since I put my fibit zip through the wash, I've been using an app on my phone just to see if I'm still hitting the mark. It's a really good way to increase your NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis). Which I had no idea was even a 'thing' :laugh:
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    You can define it however you want but the general recommendation is to achieve 10,000 steps a day in total, not independent of some portions of the day or some tasks or activities.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    You can define it however you want but the general recommendation is to achieve 10,000 steps a day in total, not independent of some portions of the day or some tasks or activities.

    Yes but to define your activity level on MFP it is recommended that it be pre-exercise. So to be considered "lightly active" you need to take 10k steps in normal life with no exercise...esp since you log exercise here and eat back some if not all of the calories.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    You can define it however you want but the general recommendation is to achieve 10,000 steps a day in total, not independent of some portions of the day or some tasks or activities.

    Yes but to define your activity level on MFP it is recommended that it be pre-exercise. So to be considered "lightly active" you need to take 10k steps in normal life with no exercise...esp since you log exercise here and eat back some if not all of the calories.

    Is the OP asking about 10k steps purely to figure out his MFP activity level?
  • SuperSexyDork
    SuperSexyDork Posts: 1,669 Member
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    You can define it however you want but the general recommendation is to achieve 10,000 steps a day in total, not independent of some portions of the day or some tasks or activities.

    Yes but to define your activity level on MFP it is recommended that it be pre-exercise. So to be considered "lightly active" you need to take 10k steps in normal life with no exercise...esp since you log exercise here and eat back some if not all of the calories.

    May I ask where you're getting this information from? Most physicians describe sedentary as 2000 or less steps per day so I doubt that the next step up from that would be 10,000.
  • Peggy69
    Peggy69 Posts: 22 Member
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    SuperSexyDork wrote: »
    You can define it however you want but the general recommendation is to achieve 10,000 steps a day in total, not independent of some portions of the day or some tasks or activities.

    Yes but to define your activity level on MFP it is recommended that it be pre-exercise. So to be considered "lightly active" you need to take 10k steps in normal life with no exercise...esp since you log exercise here and eat back some if not all of the calories.

    May I ask where you're getting this information from? Most physicians describe sedentary as 2000 or less steps per day so I doubt that the next step up from that would be 10,000.

    True, a sedentary person averages between 1,000 and 3,000 steps. 10,000 steps is around 5 miles, so that's exercise!!
  • jeremywm1977
    jeremywm1977 Posts: 657 Member
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    Peggy69 wrote: »
    SuperSexyDork wrote: »
    You can define it however you want but the general recommendation is to achieve 10,000 steps a day in total, not independent of some portions of the day or some tasks or activities.

    Yes but to define your activity level on MFP it is recommended that it be pre-exercise. So to be considered "lightly active" you need to take 10k steps in normal life with no exercise...esp since you log exercise here and eat back some if not all of the calories.

    May I ask where you're getting this information from? Most physicians describe sedentary as 2000 or less steps per day so I doubt that the next step up from that would be 10,000.

    True, a sedentary person averages between 1,000 and 3,000 steps. 10,000 steps is around 5 miles, so that's exercise!!

    Not sure if 10,000 is around 5 miles for everyone in every circumstance.....it depends upon stride length among other factors. For instance, I was working as a proctor for our state's bar exam. The testing area seated over 700 test takers and was easily the size of a Costco/Sam's Club. I was tracking both my steps and distance walked.....my steps was over 8,000 yet my distance was under 2 miles
  • ScubaSteve1962
    ScubaSteve1962 Posts: 609 Member
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    SezxyStef wrote: »
    10k steps a day is without exercise...just regular walking around...doing house work, going to the bathroom, going to a meeting, coming to and from the car etc.

    It means you are lightly active before exercise.

    10000 is 10000 no matter how you get it, there are other ways to achieve the same goal with out getting 10000 steps, vigorous cardio exercise will yield the same results. That would be 135+ steps per min, or a heart rate of 80% for 15 mins.

    http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/adults/index.htm
  • alfonsinarosinsky
    alfonsinarosinsky Posts: 198 Member
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    I track my mfp steps when I walk on the treadmill and wherever I go. I usually come close to 10,000 most days and on occasion go over. I don't typically track my weight training or cardio any other way. I eat back all that is given me on mfp and it's been working well for me. Took a bit of tweaking but it's great now.
  • debbie0482
    debbie0482 Posts: 3 Member
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    How are you supposed to measure steps taken? I got a free pedometer through the mail. I bought one that had to be programmed. They were definitely not in sync. The free one seemed to count every time my feet touched the ground. The other wouldn't count hardly at all. I entered my stride (measured) as 24-25", walked an hour briskly and racked up only 2,300 steps. The free one read over 6,000. Help, please.

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