Counting Steps FAD

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  • JustMissTracy
    JustMissTracy Posts: 6,338 Member
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    mgeshwilm wrote: »
    Tell me about it while I'm walking circles in my dining room at 11:30 at night to get my 10 K by midnight. Huge motivating factor, and as has been said before, any steps are better than no steps. I also heard the "30 minute continuous exercise, or don't bother" but then I have also heard, every little bit you move helps, even if you walk from the far end of the parking lot. I believe the 10K was recommended for heart health, not necessarily training for a marathon, and I think there is solid science behind it.

    Ya, I don't believe in that 30 minutes or don't bother theory either...many days if I don't have a solid amount of time, I will hit the treadmill in 15 min increments....I've still burned 500 calories by the end, but am able to fit little bursts in much easier. {PS...I've been known to walk up and down my stairs, over and over, just to get those last steps in at 11pm!!}
  • LorettaB1967
    LorettaB1967 Posts: 29 Member
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    Have you worn one? How many steps did you take in a day? Just wondering! I am 66 and when I started I could barely do 5,000 and it is a LOT of work for me to get 8,000 - 10,000 steps in a day.
  • bendyourkneekatie
    bendyourkneekatie Posts: 696 Member
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    Look at it this way, OP, they're a way for you to feel superior, so they can't be all bad.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    My normal life requires me to take *maybe* 2500 steps. I walk expressly as exercise for my remaining 7500-10500 steps each day. My step counter helps me move more because it's a solid way for me to see how I'm doing.

  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    I believe strongly that anything that encourages people to get off the couch and move more than they would have done is a good thing. Is getting 10k steps going to make you an olympian? No. Is getting 10k steps better than nothing? I think so.
  • 100df
    100df Posts: 668 Member
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    I don't need a peer reviewed study to tell me that walking 10k steps is better than walking 2k steps a day. It is a tool to help measure calories out. I appreciate knowing how much or really how little calories I am burning.
  • upoffthemat
    upoffthemat Posts: 679 Member
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    You may be surprised how few steps you take during a day and these trackers will actually point that out. Getting to 10,000 steps pretty much demands a dedicated time of running or walking. Unless your bathroom and coffee machine is 3 or more blocks from your desk, you aren't getting 10,000 steps just getting coffee quite a few times a day. (And if it is that far away, it has to be helping you get healthier)
    If it is a fad it is one that is probably leading people to better fitness not a false sense of security
  • valente347
    valente347 Posts: 201 Member
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    Just from personal experience, when I went from working as an elementary special education teacher in a self-contained classroom to a high school traveling SPED teacher I was able to lose at the same rate while eating 200ish more calories a day, despite exercising less often. I'm pretty sure this was because of all the walking in the huge building between classes.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    There are countless threads and posts on here where people say that because they are a petite female with a desk job that they have low maintenance calories and are destined to have to eat 1200 or less to lose weight.

    Well I'm 5'2 and have a desk job and my TDEE (both from the FitBit as well as proven results) is about 2200. Why? Am I a special snowflake? Hardly. Do I run marathons? Nope. Lift heavy things? I wish. Most of my activity is from getting 15K walking steps a day, something I had to work up to over the last three years when I was losing weight and now that I'm maintaining. And while some of those steps come from purposeful exercise, many of them come from walking in the office, walking my kids into school, walking from the back of the every parking lot into every building, and sometimes just pacing in my basement if the weather is bad or I haven't had time to exercise.

    So yes those steps count for something. And those step counters are a great motivator to put people on that path for better health. It's a shame your graduate courses and attitude prevent you from seeing that.
  • scolaris
    scolaris Posts: 2,145 Member
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    I walk over 100k steps a week. My cut shapely legs laugh at your reservations sweetie.
  • KiwiAlexP
    KiwiAlexP Posts: 185 Member
    edited February 2016
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    koinflipper wrote: »
    I am a big disbeliever in the idea that counting steps taken under any circumstances during the day are actually has any meaning to becoming physically fit. My physiology classes in graduate school taught me that to contribute towards fitness, there must be sustained physical activity for at least 30 minutes at cardio training level.

    A friend proudly showed me his fitbit today saying he had 10,000+ steps for the day. How many of those steps were from his office down the short hall to get cup of coffee and back to his office chair (drinks at least 10 cups of coffee a day) ? Do those steps matter in the overall fitness? What about meandering around WalMart avoiding cart collisions and frequent stops to select item and put in cart? Do those steps contribute anything? How about multiple trips from family room to kitchen to get snacks to watch TV? He finally admitted that only half of those steps were during his morning run.

    Is it the hypothesis that to get in 10,000 steps per day, you had to have been pretty active during the day? If I walked slowly all day to get 10k steps, is that equivalent to random steps taken throughout the day of any duration and any pace?

    Step-Counting gadgets have become big business. Can anyone point me to a single peer-reviewed scientific article that indicates that step counting is a proven method to improve fitness? I doubt it. It is just a FAD that may lull many into the illusion that they are getting physically fit merely because they logged a certain number of steps each day. Is 10k steps the "daily recommended" amount for physical fitness? What happened to cardio exercise as the gold standard?

    Peer Reviewed article - "Impact of a 12-week, pharmacist-directed walking program in an established employee preventive care clinic" by Fanous, Kier, Rush and Terrell, Copyright © 2014, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Inc. All rights reserved. 1079-2082/14/0702-1219$06.00. DOI 10.2146/ajhp130484

    Just one that is currently stored on my work computer, I have a number of others from a research project I did last year on workplace step programmes
  • KiwiAlexP
    KiwiAlexP Posts: 185 Member
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    And a few more:
    Bowden D, F. L. (2010). Do Wellness Programs Really Work? Benefits & Compensation Digest, 20-25.
    Choi B, C. J. (2007). Daily step goal of 10,000 steps: A literature review. Clinical and Investigative Medicine, E146-151.
    Russell, N. (2009). Workplace wellness A literature review for NZWell@Work. Retrieved from http://www.nzwellatwork.co.nz/pdf/wrkplc-wellness-lit-rev-feb09.pdf
    Tudor-Locke, C., & Basset Jr, D. (2004). How many steps/day are enough?: Preliminary pedometer indices for public health. Sports Medicine Vol. 34 Issue 1, 1-8.
    Tudor-Locke, C., & Lutes, L. (2009). Why do pedometers work?: A reflection upon the factors related to successfully increasing physical activity. Sports Medicine, 39(12), 981-993.
    Wilde, B. E., Sidman, C. L., & Corbin, C. B. (2013). A 10,000-step count as a physical activity target for sedentary women. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 72(4), 411-414, DOI:10.1080/02701367.2001.10608977.

  • happymom221
    happymom221 Posts: 73 Member
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    jtsher01 wrote: »
    You don't have to like the fad, but the math is simple.

    Pedometer makes you cognizant of your daily steps, and this usually results in increased step count post purchase. More steps = more distance. More distance = more calories burned (x amount of calories are required to move y distance of something that has a mass of z). Increase y, increase x.

    And more steps even if around the mall, Home Depot or your neighborhood means less time sitting in the couch eating snacks while watching HGTV.

    For me the challenge to get 10,000 steps
    By 4pm means that I have had a day that didn't involve sitting on my *kitten*. It takes a run and a leisure walk to hit the 15,000 steps that I shoot for
  • shor0814
    shor0814 Posts: 559 Member
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    10K leads to 12K ad 15K and more. Might even lead to running or an exercise routine. Might want to hit the books some more.
  • shadowfax_c11
    shadowfax_c11 Posts: 1,942 Member
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    Why do you care what other people are doing? How does it affect you personally? What kind of a friend is derogatory towards a person who is making an effort to improve themselves?

    I happen to find the data I get from my fitness tracker very useful. I also happen to really enjoy the challenges that I take part in with friends and co-workers. It motivates me to get up and do things when my natural inclination would be to spend a whole day off sitting on the couch with a book and lots of hot beverages.

    If you chose not to use a device like this to handle your own fitness/weight loss, well that's your choice.
  • pgray007
    pgray007 Posts: 47 Member
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    The 10k steps is apparently a somewhat arbitrary number that originated with a government study in Japan. That said, I like my tracker since it buzzes if I've been on my butt too long. I get up and walk around if I'm on a conference call at home, or stroll around the office for 5 minutes that I would have otherwise spent in my chair.

    Is it magical and revolutionary? No. Does it make me move 10-30% more than I would have otherwise? In my case, yes.
  • Fit4LifeAR
    Fit4LifeAR Posts: 233 Member
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    I believe it's soley related to movement and not necessarily fitness. I track my calories and steps, and add workouts on top of my steps. I don't not consider my steps to be exercise in any way.
  • Fit4LifeAR
    Fit4LifeAR Posts: 233 Member
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    Fit4LifeAR wrote: »
    I believe it's soley related to movement and not necessarily fitness. I track my calories and steps, and add workouts on top of my steps. I don't not consider my steps to be exercise in any way.
    I forgot to add, tracking steps for me is very important. I may not consider it exercise but it definitely allows for a higher daily allowance of caloric intake.
  • WordWhisperer
    WordWhisperer Posts: 33 Member
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    1) My fitness tracker has completely changed my life, my attitude toward movement, my belief in what I am capable of, my goals for myself, my confidence, and is the sole reason I have dropped 20 pounds in a little over five weeks.

    2) The best thing about this thread is learning how many other people are marching around their houses at 11 PM. Totally thought I was the only one!
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
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    Hornsby wrote: »
    Bought one. The next day my back looked like that
    <~~~

    They are magic.

    Mine only gave me 1/10 results :( must be defective ;)

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