Anonymous wrote:Walk the dog twice a day!

Are you walking your dog 2+ hours a day? Bc if not that's no way 10k steps.

I run for 30 to 45 minutes 6 mornings a week. I also walk my dog twice a day. Sometimes I will walk around while my kids are at sports and sometimes I have several errands to do.

I like to do 15,000 steps on weekdays and 20,000 steps on weekends.

Walk the dog twice a day!

How many of you responders actually track your steps with a pedometer every day? I find some of the step counts hard to believe, even based on the accompanying list of activities.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you trying to hit 10,000? That number has been debunked as a health goal.

8,000 is the minimum but 10k is better.

"Particularly, a recent meta-analysis showed decreasing mortality risks with an increasing number of daily steps until 6000 to 8000 steps are reached for adults older than 60 years and at 8000 to 10 000 steps per day for those younger than 60 years."

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2802810#:~:text=Particularly%2C%20a%20recent%20meta%2Danalysis,those%20younger%20than%2060%20years.

I read an article, I think in the Washington Post, a few months(?) ago about studies showing # hours moving around/not sitting each day is a key measure. It makes sense that the more hours a day you're on your feet, the more steps you'd be taking. So maybe not worry so much about # actual steps; rather, strive to be on your feet 4-6-8 hours a day. That incorporates physical movement and activity that doesn't get logged as "steps" but are important and "count" for health regardless. For example, for some reason, my pedometer does not count steps taken while vacuuming. Some pedometers don't count "marching in place" or just going up and down a step like in step aerobics. But mopping the kitchen floor is more of a workout than walking down the street!

I walk my kids to school in the mornings and just doing stuff around the house or walking around when I’m waiting for my kids at their activities gets me to 10k pretty effortlessly.

I also run and workout regularly so I regularly exceed 10k anyway but I still try to get 10k in outside of my workouts.

I do a 15 mile hike on weekends and take public transit or walk everywhere. On average this gives me 10k per day but there are often a couple days when I wfh and there’s only 600 steps on those days.

I WFH. I wake up very early to get kids off to school. I start getting my steps in by walking my child to a bus stop .75 miles from home and continue walking with our dog until I am required to begin work and clock about 3 miles before walk. Lunch is a quick walk around the block with the dog. At 5pm a head out with my husband for s nice walk (usually about an hour—3 miles) and then home to make dinner, supervise homework and get everyone ready for bed. Since working from home I have definitely had to make it an intentional part of my routine rather than become sedentary.

I go for a 30 minute walk/run after breakfast, a 20 minute walk after/during lunch, and then walk when I take kids to practice. I get about 12K a day. My walk run is running "hard" for about 100 yards and then walk for about 4-5 minutes, then run hard for 100 yards, then walk for 4-5 minutes...I do that about 5-6 times or so.

I don’t. Between full time work & kids, I don’t manage. It takes me about 1.5 hours of walking. I aim for 3500-5000 per day, which is more manageable and then walk more on weekends. Get about 12-13k on weekends. I find 3500-5000 does the job for me.

I walk before work, usually sneak out for a walk around the block during the day, and then walk again after work most days. I usually get 15k steps - have a desk job.

Also I wear an Apple watch and it notes that I end up getting in usually around 2,000 steps per day just wandering around the house.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would prioritized 30 minutes or cardio and not worry about the number of steps.

30 minutes isn’t enough. This is why most of you do need a step tracker to keep you honest. You think “putzing” or 30 minutes of cardio makes you active. It doesn’t.

But it actually does mean you're active. It's called NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis). Not all of your activity has to be purposeful i.e., running, cardio class. Those who are metabolically healthy live a life where they are literally "putzing around" - gardening, cleaning the house, taking the stairs, leisurely walk to the corner coffee shop.

I understand that . That’s why you need a tracker though. Because doing “30 minutes of cardio” isn’t enough, nor is light putzing. Being active is good but people WAY overestimate how active they are. The number 10k isn’t what’s important but lots of movement throughout the day is. A 30 minute spurt of cardio is truly still sedentary. The putzer isn’t putzing for 10k steps. Probably 2k max. The tracker helps you gauge an ACTIVE day so eventually you don’t need it. Wearing one helped me start to average 15-18k steps a day because I became aware of how often I would need to move to build in enough activity throughout the day.

I run several days a week- 9-11k steps.
I hit the gym the other days - 6-7k steps.
I walk at lunch - 4k or so.
On my in-office days I get about 1-2k steps on the way to work via bus and metro, each way.
If my kid has a practice or class, I can usually do errands on foot for another 2k steps.
My step goal is 15k/day but I get 20k on run days.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would prioritized 30 minutes or cardio and not worry about the number of steps.

30 minutes isn’t enough. This is why most of you do need a step tracker to keep you honest. You think “putzing” or 30 minutes of cardio makes you active. It doesn’t.

But it actually does mean you're active. It's called NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis). Not all of your activity has to be purposeful i.e., running, cardio class. Those who are metabolically healthy live a life where they are literally "putzing around" - gardening, cleaning the house, taking the stairs, leisurely walk to the corner coffee shop.