10,000 steps a day

I've just received my pedometer, I ordered it so I can keep track on my daily activity level, Ideally I would like to get to a point of being able to take up running, but I feel I need to get the basics first.

I do try and keep fit, I go to the gym, cycle, row and use the cross trainer, but I find I get knackered when attempting to run.

So, I thought I would monitor my everyday movement, not just the gym and purposeful exercise. I have to say I was quite surprised by how little I move, when not being active.

I only racked up 4389 steps :ykies and that was on a day when I was keen to walk places because of the new pedometer. 10,000 steps is not that easy to achieve when you have a desk job.

Anyway, I will keep you updated on my progress.

Park your car a little further away, take the stairs and not the lift, go for a walk after your evening meal, its the small things that help it to all add up.

I think it's a great idea what your are doing, especially if you have a desk job.

I'm not sure what I rack up throughout the day, I suppose it varies. I might be tempted to join you.:encouragement:

Where did the magic 10,000 figure come from?:ne_nau:

I think that 2,000 steps is equal to a mile. So the recommendation is 5 miles a day. I'm not how easy that is to rack up those miles if you have a desk job and go to and from work in your car, sit at a desk all day at best you would be achieving 2,000 steps. It would be a lot to cram in in the evening, every evening.

It is a world wide recommendation, not just a national one. I don't think there is a suggestion that 10,000 steps or 5 miles is the pinochle of fitness, I think that there is a recommendation that it's a good baseline in which to start.

It's good to have a goal and miss it by 2,000 steps than no goal and do a total of 2,000 steps. I believe the general feeling is that any movement is good, but it needs to be sustained and moving from the sofa to the kitchen isn't going to cut it.

It's going okay so far, my working days I'm finding it harder to get in the 10,000 steps, whereas my days off are easier, I often top up my steps on my days off to balance out any loss on my working days.

At the moment I am still enjoying the satisfaction gained from achieving the 10,000 steps, but I can see that eventually it will become a bit of a chore. When that occurs I may think about mixing it up a bit to keep up my interest in exercise.

So, I have ordered my pedometer, although I do have a step counter on my watch, I'm not convinced it is accurate, I much prefer the idea that the pedometer is attached to my legs.

Anyway, I thought I give this concept a go and see how I get on, I can understand your point Garyfries52 regarding maintaining the constant level of exercise and getting bored of it. But it would be interesting to see how many steps I rack up during the course of my everyday and then seeing how I can improve upon this.

Let's face it, any increase from my baseline has to beneficial.

I used one of these for a month to see how much I moved about in my everyday, I did not add in anything extra, but I totalled 6,000 steps a day, I was quite impressed.

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Originally Posted by guv-ner

Where did the magic 10,000 figure come from?:ne_nau:

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I think it's a number that 'they' feel is achievable for most people, but even if people miss the target they will still be moving more than they otherwise would, in trying to achieve it.

I think 5 miles a day is quite difficult for a lot of people to achieve day in day out. I'm not sure I could achieve it consistently.

I'm still sticking to it, I may not be reaching my goal everyday, but I do try to make up for the lost steps on other days. I can achieve it whilst the lighter nights and longer days are here, Im sure how achievable it will be during the winter months.

I was doing okay, until the weather become unpredictable and generally ruined my plan. I know it sounds lame to say I've been rained off, but truly the rain has been very heavy and not a joy to walk in.

I need to find a plan B for foul weather days.

I took the plunge recently and bought myself a Fitbit so I can track my steps and push myself a little. I have to say I was somewhat discouraged when I realised I had managed to achieve 5000 steps before I had left the bedroom just by body brushing alone! then I went to the cinema and it logged me as being asleep for 2 hours.

I don't wish to knock the Fitbit too much, I like it as a guide now I understand its limitations, But it is fair to say it does have have limitations. That being said, I have noticed that on non walking/exercising days I massively under-achieve on steps, perhaps more than I would have estimated. Its made me realise I do a lot less than I think I do, which has helped me to step up my game, or alter my food intake accordingly.

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Originally Posted by Emma

I took the plunge recently and bought myself a Fitbit so I can track my steps and push myself a little. I have to say I was somewhat discouraged when I realised I had managed to achieve 5000 steps before I had left the bedroom just by body brushing alone! then I went to the cinema and it logged me as being asleep for 2 hours.

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Ha, Ha, I love the fact you racked up 5000 steps through body brushing:rolleyes: I did think about buying one, but I wonder how much it's limitations reduce the effectiveness of the information you are trying to gain from the device.

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Originally Posted by Emma

I took the plunge recently and bought myself a Fitbit so I can track my steps ..... I have noticed that on non walking/exercising days I massively under-achieve on steps, perhaps more than I would have estimated. Its made me realise I do a lot less than I think I do

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I think this goes for a lot of people, many, if not most people massively overestimate their daily movements and also underestimate their calorie intake. If by buying the Fitbit you have increased your exercise, then despite its limitations the Fitbit will have paid for itself. :thumb

Are you aware that your iPhone will count your steps if you keep it on you, there is no need to buy a Fitbit, if your only reason is to count steps, additionally, it is more likely to be accurate because it is not affected by arm movement in the same way a device worn on the are is affected.

I have to say, I've struggled to achieve 10,000 steps a day and have been made acutely aware of the very little movement I do. I genuinely thought this would be an easy task, with effort being made to achieve the final 1000 steps, but the reality for me is that I am having to make the effort for 5000 steps.

At first I forced myself to make this effort, but very quickly I found this became a chore and something I did not get pleasure in, So now I have compromised and have decided to achieve 50,000 steps a week and do something different like cycling or rowing. This has taken the pressure of myself, given me permission to mix it up a bit and made it more interesting.

I think that If you have a very active job, achieving 10,000 steps a day, should be relatively easy, if you are an office worker, I think you will find this difficult to achieve.

Did you read that the media have suggested that this concept was a marketing campaign from the 1960's. Heres a link to the article on BBC health http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-42864061

The article suggests that the idea of 10,000 steps a day was to sell a pedometer:doh.

All these healthy suggestions are so frustrating, it is no wonder no one is interested in listening to them or following them, when we here this kind of thing.

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Originally Posted by Domenic

Did you read that the media have suggested that this concept was a marketing campaign from the 1960's. Heres a link to the article on BBC health http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-42864061 The article suggests that the idea of 10,000 steps a day was to sell a pedometer:doh

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Really! How sad, and bought into it too, not the original pedometer from the 60’s, but the concept :doh I always find it sad to hear stories like this. The amount of times I talk to people about diet and lifestyle and I hear that ‘what and who are they meant to believe’ and sadly, I don’t have the answer. I don’t even believe research papers now:ne_nau: and stories like this just add to the confusion.