10,000 Steps In Addition To Regular Exercise
IsabeausRose
Posts: 129 Member
I apologize ahead of time for not having links to back myself up but I'm on my phone. I've been reading articles online about this 10,000 steps a day theory and found out that it doesn't count towards the daily exercise we are supposed to get. It's just how active we are supposed to be in general. So our daily aerobic activity and regular strength training are supposed to be IN ADDITION to the 10,000 daily steps. This is quite a lot of movement every day. I'd like some educated opinions on this and to be corrected if what I read was wrong.
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That's totally arbitrary and a way to complicate things. Personally I don't worry about what "the articles" say. I just stay active and work on getting my weight to a healthy level. I get a physical every year to ensure my stats are healthy.6
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I wish I was this active. I rarely get 10k steps more than a few days of the week when I exercise
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If you walk more then 10 minutes most fitbits will auto recognize that as active minutes. So it will add to your active time and add to your steps. At least my charge HR does.
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I am a nurse that works 10 hr days, much of which is on my feet, standing next to a procedure table. On a day when I work I average about 8000 steps. On a weekend or day off I get in about 12000 - 16000 as I move more in general and usually run/walk.
I sent each of my kids to school wearing my Fitbit.
The 13 yr old had >19000 steps.
The 11 year old had >13000 steps.
This is on days where they are sitting down in classes for 6 hrs.
It illustrated to me just how much more active they were, despite the large portion on the day they spend sitting in lessons or watching screens!11 -
i would not have the time or energy to do 10K steps AND cardio/strength. I don't even have time to get 10K. Who do they think has all this time?
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There's nothing hard and fast about 10,000 steps...there's nothing scientific about it...pedometers sold in Japan in the 1960s were marketed under the name "manpo-kei," which translates to "10,000 steps meter.
It's a reasonably good guideline to get you moving...don't know what articles you're reading, but 10,000 steps per day would be considered active.
Personally, I could care less about steps...I care about being active...I cycle 50+ miles per week and I'm pretty lean, healthy, and fit. I have a desk job so no way I'm getting in 10K steps...I'm better served to spend the time I can be active doing something a bit more intense than walking around.2 -
The more you move the better, but we each have to do what we can do. I'm not the most fit person among us, but I do aim for 10k steps daily plus strength training, or swimming 4-5x week. I count running towards my step goal but no extra calories.1
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cwolfman13 wrote: »There's nothing hard and fast about 10,000 steps...there's nothing scientific about it...pedometers sold in Japan in the 1960s were marketed under the name "manpo-kei," which translates to "10,000 steps meter.
It's a reasonably good guideline to get you moving...don't know what articles you're reading, but 10,000 steps per day would be considered active.
Personally, I could care less about steps...I care about being active...I cycle 50+ miles per week and I'm pretty lean, healthy, and fit. I have a desk job so no way I'm getting in 10K steps...I'm better served to spend the time I can be active doing something a bit more intense than walking around.
While there's nothing hard and fast about it, the reason they were sold in Japan under that name was because as people were becoming more sedentary and weight was and increasing problem some Japanese scientist had the hypotheses that by increasing activity in the average person from 4000 to 10000 steps/day would decrease obesity and related jazz thus being a simple and effective public health preventative strategy.
Modern 100000 step rhetoric stems from this Japanese experiment.
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cwolfman13 wrote: »There's nothing hard and fast about 10,000 steps...there's nothing scientific about it...pedometers sold in Japan in the 1960s were marketed under the name "manpo-kei," which translates to "10,000 steps meter.
It's a reasonably good guideline to get you moving...don't know what articles you're reading, but 10,000 steps per day would be considered active.
Personally, I could care less about steps...I care about being active...I cycle 50+ miles per week and I'm pretty lean, healthy, and fit. I have a desk job so no way I'm getting in 10K steps...I'm better served to spend the time I can be active doing something a bit more intense than walking around.
While there's nothing hard and fast about it, the reason they were sold in Japan under that name was because as people were becoming more sedentary and weight was and increasing problem some Japanese scientist had the hypotheses that by increasing activity in the average person from 4000 to 10000 steps/day would decrease obesity and related jazz thus being a simple and effective public health preventative strategy.
Modern 100000 step rhetoric stems from this Japanese experiment.
Yeah, that's why I said it's a good guideline for moving more...but I think a lot of people get hung up on "they have to be steps"...I'm far better off spending that kind of time on my bike from an overall fitness standpoint.
Basically, just move more...3 -
There was a study done in Scotland (I believe it was Scotland) invoking mail carriers. The mail carriers who walked at least 14-15,000 steps a day had the least amount of health issues. I'm assuming they walked their routes unlike those in the US.
Regardless of the number, the more movement we get and the less we sit, the better!1 -
@cwolfman absolutely agree re 'just moving more'.
Even the heart foundation & world health organisation ect suggest 10000 as 'optimum' but stress that other activities including cycling, swimming, strength training are all necessary; walking steps is not the be all and end all.
Personally I think for largely inactive people though, a numerical target (10000 or whatever) is a great motivator to get people moving. Particularly in populations that may not have resources to deliberately 'work out'.
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The more exercise I get, the fewer steps. If I'm walking in not cycling, swimming, or lifting.0
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When I wore a Fitbit, 10k was a pretty basic number for me. I typically walk my dogs 2 miles a day, at least (that, in and of itself comes to a bit over 6k in steps), and the rest I easily got just going about my day. I work a full time job that can keep me busy and on my feet (not always, but I have easily put 8k on a Fitbit at work on many occasions). I usually could still find time to do something else, though I didn't always necessarily do it.
Of course, some people just find walking super super boring, while I generally love it. That could be why I always found it very easy to hit that 10k mark most days, and easily surpass it. I'd be that person who would choose to walk a mile somewhere rather than get in the car and drive there.
FWIW, I no longer wear a Fitbit. I found it didn't necessarily change my habits at all (I was either going to be lazy or not), and the challenges drove me up the wall, especially when I would make the mistake of joining a weekend one and had to work- when people spend half their day on a treadmill on a Saturday just to win a stupid Fitbit challenge while you're stuck it work and then you get harassed because you're not able to keep up with them, you start to realize that little device is more annoying than its worth.1 -
I thought 10k had been fairly well debunked as being rather arbitrary, and basically a nice round number for marketing purposes with limited scientific proof as to this being the holy grail.
A bit like 2,000 calories for women and 2,500 calories for men. (There are sure to be more exceptions than people for whom this is actually right!)
And 5 fruit and veg a day. (Isn't it more like 10, but they thought that would scare people so they went down to 5...)
The UK goverment guideline doesn't currently mention steps...To stay healthy, adults aged 19-64 should try to be active daily and should do:
•at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity such as cycling or brisk walking every week, and.
•strength exercises on two or more days a week that work all the major muscles (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms)
OR
•75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity, such as running or a game of singles tennis every week, and
•strength exercises on two or more days a week that work all the major muscles (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms)
OR
•A mix of moderate and vigorous aerobic activity every week. For example, two 30-minute runs plus 30 minutes of brisk walking equates to 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity, and
•strength exercises on two or more days a week that work all the major muscles (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms)
Source: http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/fitness/Pages/physical-activity-guidelines-for-adults.aspx0 -
i get around 6000 steps on a normal work day, before any meaningful exercise. i also work out 5 x a week, running or biking, and a bit of walking, so i figure i am active enough!
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I wore a fitbit 2 days ago while I golfed 18 holes and walked, pulling my clubs. My FB registered 10.999 steps! However, when I synced it to my MFP, it only gave me credit for 200 calories!! FB obviously doesn't pick up the way I golf!! When I put golf in MFP manually, walking and duration, it credited me with 800+ calories! However, FB did do a manual adjust and took the 200 calories back! So, I use FB just to track my steps on days I am not actually doing physical exercise and do just walking. Otherwise, I enter the exercise manually on MFP.1
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Last October, I participated in a step challenge and for the first time I counted steps. Turns out I was getting 10,000 steps a day without even trying.
When I included what I count as exercise, my "step count" went way up!
So I get 10,000 steps + walking more, climbing many flights of stairs, cycling long distances, taking spinning classes, rowing at the gym, weightlifting now and then, etc.0 -
I took the 10,000 steps plus regular exercise as a challenge yesterday and walked 5 miles to get the 10,000 in and then did an hour of circuit training after and found the walking relaxed my muscles and actually fueled my workout and made me stronger. I felt great! But I found I needed to replenish with a banana after when I never usually eat back my calories. I could have eaten a house and usually normal exercise suppresses my appetite. MFP calculated I burned 1,000 calories from exercise yesterday so that's probably why my body was so depleted. I'm going to do the same thing today but do yoga instead of the circuit training. I like to rotate. If I'm going to be this intense on a regular basis I need to make sure I take two rest days a week.0
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IsabeausRose wrote: »I took the 10,000 steps plus regular exercise as a challenge yesterday and walked 5 miles to get the 10,000 in and then did an hour of circuit training after and found the walking relaxed my muscles and actually fueled my workout and made me stronger. I felt great! But I found I needed to replenish with a banana after when I never usually eat back my calories. I could have eaten a house and usually normal exercise suppresses my appetite. MFP calculated I burned 1,000 calories from exercise yesterday so that's probably why my body was so depleted. I'm going to do the same thing today but do yoga instead of the circuit training. I like to rotate. If I'm going to be this intense on a regular basis I need to make sure I take two rest days a week.
why would you not eat exercise cals back?
if you don't want to then use a TDEE calculation not MFP...0 -
TavistockToad wrote: »i get around 6000 steps on a normal work day, before any meaningful exercise. i also work out 5 x a week, running or biking, and a bit of walking, so i figure i am active enough!
I am the same- usually around 6000 steps in a normal workday before exercise.0 -
You can do both if you want to, but there's really no need.
I don't care about steps as long as I get at least 2.5-3 hours of moderate/intense exercise per week (30-40 minutes a day/5 days a week). Lo and behold, those exercise hours actually end up getting me to 10000+ steps per day since I generally run for my workouts.0 -
I found a step counter on my phone, so have been carrying it around for a couple of days out of interest.... I struggle to get 10,000 steps, even adding stints on the treadmill to build up numbers. It makes me feel like I need to make more of an effort to move during the day, before exercising. (it did make me do a couple of extra classes at the gym to get more exercise!)0
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I know, I see a nutritionist and an exercise physiologist and the exercise physiologist said this to me, she's like how many steps are you getting in, I am like not much I work from home, so how many I get going up and down the stairs, or walking around the house. But then I'm like heres my workouts (almost 1.5 -2 hours a night depending on what I am doing) and she's like this is good, but I want you to get your steps to 10k as well. WTF?0
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StarvingDiva wrote: »I know, I see a nutritionist and an exercise physiologist and the exercise physiologist said this to me, she's like how many steps are you getting in, I am like not much I work from home, so how many I get going up and down the stairs, or walking around the house. But then I'm like heres my workouts (almost 1.5 -2 hours a night depending on what I am doing) and she's like this is good, but I want you to get your steps to 10k as well. WTF?
That generally sounds like a WTF but it could be that she's trying to get you to up your cardio conditioning. Any chance that the bulk of your workouts are resistance work?0 -
my fitbit determines the difference between just taking steps and when I am truly active. I can have 5k steps from walking back and forth in the office but it will show 0 active minutes logged. I work a desk job so walk 30 minutes at lunch at a pretty decent pace and it will log that 30 minutes as active minutes or when I go to zumba for an hour it will log 60 active minutes and shows a higher calorie burn for those active minutes than it did for those 5k steps where I was just walking around the office. To me, just my little ole opinion, that 10K was just a number they came up with to get everyone more active... if you are taking 5k non active steps you are still burning more calories than you would while sitting on your couch so either way it benefits the user. I know, myself, that I am very competitive with this little rubber band on my arm so every time i go to the bathroom I walk in place and high knee it for a few minutes to get my steps in LOL... I don't manually put my exercise into MFP, my fitbit is synced and will make the adjustments for me. I try not to over complicate things, I kinda just go with the flow... the flow has seemed to work as I am down 70lbs so...
Don't over think it, just go out there and be active!!! 1 -
I do both. I lift weights and do HIIT as well as walk with my friend 3 times a week. I do yoga on my two rest days.StarvingDiva wrote: »I know, I see a nutritionist and an exercise physiologist and the exercise physiologist said this to me, she's like how many steps are you getting in, I am like not much I work from home, so how many I get going up and down the stairs, or walking around the house. But then I'm like heres my workouts (almost 1.5 -2 hours a night depending on what I am doing) and she's like this is good, but I want you to get your steps to 10k as well. WTF?
That generally sounds like a WTF but it could be that she's trying to get you to up your cardio conditioning. Any chance that the bulk of your workouts are resistance work?
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StarvingDiva wrote: »I am like not much I work from home, so how many I get going up and down the stairs, or walking around the house. But then I'm like heres my workouts (almost 1.5 -2 hours a night depending on what I am doing) and she's like this is good, but I want you to get your steps to 10k as well. WTF?
The issue is that if you're concentrating your training into a short period there are some issues related to a lack of movement during the day. I'd disagree that you need to be aiming for 10K steps, but there is a lot of value in regular movement. There is a growing view that protracted sitting leads to some foreshortening around the hips and pelvic cradle, so getting up and doing a bit every hour is quite useful.
Difficult to know without determining the conversation but from your response above it would appear that you could do with more movement.
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MeanderingMammal wrote: »StarvingDiva wrote: »I am like not much I work from home, so how many I get going up and down the stairs, or walking around the house. But then I'm like heres my workouts (almost 1.5 -2 hours a night depending on what I am doing) and she's like this is good, but I want you to get your steps to 10k as well. WTF?
The issue is that if you're concentrating your training into a short period there are some issues related to a lack of movement during the day. I'd disagree that you need to be aiming for 10K steps, but there is a lot of value in regular movement. There is a growing view that protracted sitting leads to some foreshortening around the hips and pelvic cradle, so getting up and doing a bit every hour is quite useful.
Difficult to know without determining the conversation but from your response above it would appear that you could do with more movement.
^This.
Basically, we all need to move more throughout the day.
10,000 steps is arbitrary, but I try to hit it in addition to my intentional exercise because I've heard the news stories about how bad prolonged sitting is for us. The only way to counter the effects of prolonged sitting is to get up and move around more!
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MeanderingMammal wrote: »StarvingDiva wrote: »I am like not much I work from home, so how many I get going up and down the stairs, or walking around the house. But then I'm like heres my workouts (almost 1.5 -2 hours a night depending on what I am doing) and she's like this is good, but I want you to get your steps to 10k as well. WTF?
The issue is that if you're concentrating your training into a short period there are some issues related to a lack of movement during the day. I'd disagree that you need to be aiming for 10K steps, but there is a lot of value in regular movement. There is a growing view that protracted sitting leads to some foreshortening around the hips and pelvic cradle, so getting up and doing a bit every hour is quite useful.
Difficult to know without determining the conversation but from your response above it would appear that you could do with more movement.
Yes ...
When I was being set up in my office by our ergonomic assessor, she asked whether or not I got up once and hour to walk around a little, and how much exercise I got.
I told her that I exercised for at least 1 hour a day.
That's good, she said ... but that leaves 23 hours out of every day where you're just sitting.
Oh ... well if you put it like that, it doesn't look so good.
Now I walk as part of my commute, get up and climb stairs mid-morning, walk at lunch, do some more stairs mid-afternoon, walk as part of my commute home, and walk or cycle after work. Plus I try to get up at least once an hour throughout the evening to walk around the house.
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