10,000 Steps or not?

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pwedge68
pwedge68 Posts: 36 Member
edited March 2017 in Health and Weight Loss
I alternate days between aerobics and weights. When I do weights or aerobic workouts should I still be concerned with getting 10,000 Steps a day? I just don't know.

My schedule is

Mon, Wed, and Fri Weights
Tue, Thu, Sat Aerobics
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Replies

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    pwedge68 wrote: »
    I alternate days between aerobics and weights. On days I do weights should I still be concerned with getting 10,000 Steps? When I do my weight workout I get around 1,072 Steps, should I not be concerned with 10,000 steps at all and just worry about my workouts? I just don't know.

    My schedule is

    Mon, Wed, and Fri Weights
    Tue, Thu, Sat Aerobics

    No, you do not need to be concerned with it. Here's some info on 10,000 steps:

    http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33154510
    So where does the magic number come from? It's believed that the concept of 10,000 steps originated in Japan in the run-up to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, says Catrine Tudor-Locke, an associate professor at the Pennington Biomedical Research Centre at Louisiana State University.

    Pedometers became all the rage in the country as Olympic fever swept through Japanese society. One company came out with a device called a manpo-kei, which means 10,000 step meter.

    "It was a business slogan, like 'Just Do It' for Nike, but it resonated with people," Tudor-Locke says.

    The idea is to be active, period. That activity includes your aerobics and weight training. For example, we recently got an Airdyne so my steps have gone way down because I no longer walk on the treadmill. The bike is just as good as the walk IMO and I don't worry about how it has affected my steps number.
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,072 Member
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    The only reason you need be concerned about getting your 10000 steps in, is if this is part of your normal lifestyle and you have factored it into your Activity Level in MFP instead of logging as exercise. If that's the case you would need to update your activity level in your profile to ensure your calorie goal reflected your true non-exercise activity level.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
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    pwedge68 wrote: »
    I alternate days between aerobics and weights. When I do weights or aerobic workouts should I still be concerned with getting 10,000 Steps a day? I just don't know.

    My schedule is

    Mon, Wed, and Fri Weights
    Tue, Thu, Sat Aerobics

    It's a rather arbitrary recommendation that originated in Japan in the '60s when they were marketing a pedometer called manpo-kei which translates to 10,000 steps. Nothing particularly scientific about it...it's rather arbitrary. The idea is to just move more.

    I focus much more on deliberately training...I have zero clue how many actual steps I take in a given day, nor do I particularly care. Just move more, whatever that entails.
  • johnnylakis
    johnnylakis Posts: 812 Member
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    I am still not sold on the significance of 10,000 steps if they are not all at the same time
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
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    If your goal is to lose weight then an arbitrary number of steps isn't really something I'd pay tons of attention to. Setting an activity goal is fine but diet is going to be the driver for weight loss. Think of it this way. For the average person a mile is about 2000 steps and will burn around 100 calories (these numbers change quite a bit based on a lot of factors but it's fine for this example). If you hit 8000 steps instead of 10000 you burned about 100 calories less for that day or 1 banana's worth of calories. Now if you all of a sudden go from 10k steps everyday to 5k steps every day you'll be burning 1750 less calories per week. This can turn a 1lb per week weight loss into a 1/2lb per week weight loss. In this case you either need to be more active or decide to eat less to compensate. Step counters are nice to tell you your average activity and can allow you to see if you are overall becoming less active. Again it's fine to set a goal, but what particular number that goal is be it 8k, 10k, or 15k only matters in the context of how much you eat versus how much you burn.
  • size102b
    size102b Posts: 1,370 Member
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    Loosing weight is 80% diet if your calories are in deficit then you should loose weight
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
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    pwedge68 wrote: »
    I alternate days between aerobics and weights. When I do weights or aerobic workouts should I still be concerned with getting 10,000 Steps a day? I just don't know.

    My schedule is

    Mon, Wed, and Fri Weights
    Tue, Thu, Sat Aerobics

    Nah. I think the recommendation came about mainly to get sedentary folks who would otherwise just sit on their *kitten* all day to do SOMETHING - at least they are now parking further away from the shops entrance or pacing the mall, etc. If you are actually working out regularly, don't worry about it.
  • annacole94
    annacole94 Posts: 997 Member
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    I aim for one hour of activity - both intentional exercise and incidental walking - in a day. Some days it's lots of steps, some days it's few. It's part of the reason I didn't get a Fit Bit when I did buy a tracker. My Misfit at least logged cycling (it, unfortunately, didn't last long as the battery contacts were built poorly). Now, Google Fit works to incentivise all kinds of activity, not just steps.
  • fitmom4lifemfp
    fitmom4lifemfp Posts: 1,575 Member
    edited March 2017
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    I've used a fitbit for several years now, and I like the motivation. I'm at a desk all day, so I really need the movement. 10000 steps is about 5 miles for me, and that has always been my daily goal. Now we have this new Virgin Pulse program at work where we get points for steps ( as well as other things), and the points translate into cash (they are trying to offset the insane insurance premium increases). I do work out regularly, but that does not always get me the steps. For instance, 150 floors on the stepmill only gets about 2500 steps. 30 hard minutes on the elliptical gets me about 4300. So while that is great cardio, I still have to hit the road/treadmill to get enough steps in for the day. I've really become accustomed to the 10k mark, so while it may be a PITA at work to track all this crap, it definitely helps to keep me moving as I sit on my butt all day.
  • Theo166
    Theo166 Posts: 2,564 Member
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    Tacklewasher wrote: »
    TeaBea wrote: »
    johnnylakis wrote: »
    I am still not sold on the significance of 10,000 steps if they are not all at the same time

    I work in an office, unless I make a deliberate attempt to move more (throughout my day) I'm only putting in a measly 3,500 steps. The significance is I pick my butt off the chair & move. Americans are waaay too sedentary.

    Hah. I've got that beat. Didn't feel well last week and looking at my step count on the days I went to work, Tues 1383, Thurs 1710, Friday 2216. (Wed I stayed home and didn't wear my tracker). Before I started wearing a tracker, I swear this was normal for me. And I'm not even American :)

    Normally I'm at 5,500 before I leave the house in the morning and struggle to get to 8,000, let alone 10K.

    I just got my fitbit on Sat, on Sunday I discovered I can easily spend the day with under 1,000 steps. I'm going to try beat 5k/day this week
  • rsclause
    rsclause Posts: 3,103 Member
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    I track steps for fun and to get a little more calorie room for wine and beer. Other than that I don't pay it much attention.
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
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    I count 10k steps as my cardio so I don't do any extra. If I'm particularly lazy and go for a short run instead then I don't care so much about total steps. Don't overthink it.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
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    TeaBea wrote: »
    johnnylakis wrote: »
    I am still not sold on the significance of 10,000 steps if they are not all at the same time

    I work in an office, unless I make a deliberate attempt to move more (throughout my day) I'm only putting in a measly 3,500 steps. The significance is I pick my butt off the chair & move. Americans are waaay too sedentary.

    I also do deliberate cardio exercise, sometimes it's step based. This fast paced, heart pumping activity IS exercise. So more activity PLUS cardio exercise is important for me.

    Being more active and/or adding deliberate exercise......it's a choice. Anything people can do to move more is an improvement over sitting in a chair for 8 hours, cooking dinner, then sitting some more.

    Firstly I agree that being more active even just be getting up and walking around a little is better than not BUT as this is in the General Diet and Weight Loss area of the boards, in that sense I want to agree with TeaBea that getting 10k steps over the 16 or so hours or so a day you are up and about will have negligible effect on your calories out.
  • ercarroll311
    ercarroll311 Posts: 295 Member
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    Steps can be useful for holding yourself accountable for being active in general, but 10,000 is an arbitrary number. You can also be active if you do things that don't get steps. I'd say focus more on calories burned. I still make sure to get in some low impact cardio on days that I left just because I have so few calories to work with if I don't.
  • NewMeSM75
    NewMeSM75 Posts: 971 Member
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    MelanieCN77 wrote: »
    TeaBea wrote: »
    johnnylakis wrote: »
    I am still not sold on the significance of 10,000 steps if they are not all at the same time

    I work in an office, unless I make a deliberate attempt to move more (throughout my day) I'm only putting in a measly 3,500 steps. The significance is I pick my butt off the chair & move. Americans are waaay too sedentary.

    I also do deliberate cardio exercise, sometimes it's step based. This fast paced, heart pumping activity IS exercise. So more activity PLUS cardio exercise is important for me.

    Being more active and/or adding deliberate exercise......it's a choice. Anything people can do to move more is an improvement over sitting in a chair for 8 hours, cooking dinner, then sitting some more.

    Firstly I agree that being more active even just be getting up and walking around a little is better than not BUT as this is in the General Diet and Weight Loss area of the boards, in that sense I want to agree with TeaBea that getting 10k steps over the 16 or so hours or so a day you are up and about will have negligible effect on your calories out.

    Huh? You lost me. So getting 10k will have little effect on calories out??
  • NewMeSM75
    NewMeSM75 Posts: 971 Member
    edited March 2017
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    annacole94 wrote: »
    Steph38878 wrote: »
    MelanieCN77 wrote: »
    TeaBea wrote: »
    johnnylakis wrote: »
    I am still not sold on the significance of 10,000 steps if they are not all at the same time

    I work in an office, unless I make a deliberate attempt to move more (throughout my day) I'm only putting in a measly 3,500 steps. The significance is I pick my butt off the chair & move. Americans are waaay too sedentary.

    I also do deliberate cardio exercise, sometimes it's step based. This fast paced, heart pumping activity IS exercise. So more activity PLUS cardio exercise is important for me.

    Being more active and/or adding deliberate exercise......it's a choice. Anything people can do to move more is an improvement over sitting in a chair for 8 hours, cooking dinner, then sitting some more.

    Firstly I agree that being more active even just be getting up and walking around a little is better than not BUT as this is in the General Diet and Weight Loss area of the boards, in that sense I want to agree with TeaBea that getting 10k steps over the 16 or so hours or so a day you are up and about will have negligible effect on your calories out.

    Huh? You lost me. So getting 10k will have little effect on calories out??
    Definitely burns a few hundred calories, regardless of how it's accomplished.

    People can be a bit snobby about their exercise.

    Gotcha! I know I usually earn over few hundred calories. I always have around 12k steps. For most part, I rarely eat these calories back. I figure someone having more to lose than I do would benefit greatly with a 10k step day goal, especially if they've always been sedentary.

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