How much walking is enough?

[Paradise555]

I have been readin online by googling and on the fitbit forums in regarding how much walking is acceptible and how much is too much. I found this from  livestrong saying for the ideal "weight loss" and what not is between 12000-15000 steps a day. Yeah sure working out and burning calories is a big thing but  there is 2 sides of the coin. I want you guys opinion; what is the ideal daily step count for the average person?

[pidgeon92]

I don't know how many extra calories I've burned running vs. walking, but for me the biggest benefit of starting a running program was increased lung capacity. When I started, I was out of breath after jogging for a minute. Now I jog a ten minute mile without feeling out of breath at all, and I do three miles total three days a week. I think it has also helped my sleep, I'm feeling much more alert during the day than I have for the last several years.

[DominicJ]

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@Proudpatriot wrote:

The difference is pretty significant.  When I am walking at a slow rate I burn aroun 2 cal per min.  When I do a HIIT session I burn 10 cal per min.  The difference over 40 minutes equates to 320 calories.  If that's all you care about there is your difference.  If you actually care about your health you should be doing something that increases your heart rate.

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And when I run I burn 15-17 per minute, because I spend less time restng in between

But you've missed the point entirely
No one but you has tried to compare a 10 minute walk to a 10 minute run

[Peggie]

This has been an idea I struggle to make people understand, too. I get my steps mostly thru walking (although after losing 80 pounds, I jog short distances now) and I find that my "stay fit" step number seems to be 12k-13.5K while my "lose weight" step number seems to be 14k-18k.  So I set my fitbit for 18k per day and normally hit the number from a perspective of averages.... But the rest of my friends and colleagues are frustrated because they "get their 10k per day" and don't understand why they aren't losing weight. I put that down to a lack of understanding of calorie burn versus calorie intake-- they justify an ice cream sundae with a quarter-mile walk (eye roll)--- but also that they either need to go faster or do more.... I guess they could eat less too, but they all had high hopes of doing 10k/day and magic would occur. 10k is a great starting point for most of us, but sometimes that number needs tweeking based on other factors.  And I agree with others that strength training is SO important in terms of weight loss, but also, if you get injured and can't walk, it's nice to have an exercise to turn to that won't tax your ouchies----  I've found some great high-energy upper body workouts on YouTube--- found out of necessity when I succeeded in giving myself a heel blister that then got infected and put my walking out of commission for 10 days.   But, yes, 10K is NOT a magic number... it's a great place to start though.

[Mcore]

I agree with @WendyB. It all depends on the person. I believe that if your current step goal is 10K, after a while, your body will get used to walking this amount and you will need to gain more steps so you can actually feel that you are giving your best.

What is your daily step count now @Paradise555?

[Raviv]

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@Peggie wrote:

But the rest of my friends and colleagues are frustrated because they "get their 10k per day" and don't understand why they aren't losing weight. I put that down to a lack of understanding of calorie burn versus calorie intake-- they justify an ice cream sundae with a quarter-mile walk (eye roll)--- but also that they either need to go faster or do more.... I guess they could eat less too, but they all had high hopes of doing 10k/day and magic would occur.

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This is REALLY common.  There's a YouTube video of a guy on a treadmill, and he's not just walking at an easy pace.  He is running at about 7 mph, which is very fast.  Next to him is a guy slowly eating a pizza and sipping on a root beer.  Both of them are calling out the calories burned or consumed.

So the guy on the treadmill is calling out "35!" while the guy eating the pizza counters with "200!"  Just a minute or two later, the runner yells "100!" while the pizza guy is into the 400s or something as far as calorie consumption.  And, like I said, he's not even trying to wolf down the pizza, just leisurely grabbing a slice at a time and eating it.

People seriously overestimate the calories they burn when they exercise.  A very rough estimate that seems to hold true for me is 100 calories per mile - walked or run.  100 calories is about half a granola bar, so not a whole lot.

[SunsetRunner]

depends on your life style, how healthy you are, what other exercises you do, how active you are etc

Someone fit will be able to do more than someone who is unfit

A postman for example will more likely do more than say a receptionist/telephone operator etc

If you do a lot of other exercises like running/jogging, then you won't need to do as much walking

In short, it depends on the individual

[tanias001]

Sometimes i wonder what the point of high stepping is. To say that I am pissed off at the moment with fitbit would be n understatement. Yesterday i was 7th n my leaderboard where i desereves to be with the few steps i did over the weekend. That's fair enough clawed my way back to 3rd took me the best part of the day but I was happy to do it. When I went to bed last light i was still 3rd withthe person in front of me by only 400 steps in front. I was just over 200,000 steps. When I woke up and went for my walk this morning i was back down to 7th and i had lost over 40,000 steps. I was down to 163,000 steps. The nearest person behind me was at least 30,000 steps behind., how can so many people jump in front over night unless they all did massive stepping, which could be possible but not probable. Feel so fecking ripped off with fitit not going to do the high steps any more if you get penalised this bad for trying to keep fit. They should work on actual daily steps and not their stupid system of average daily steps.

[Peggie]

Your leaderboard counts everyone's steps over the last 7 days. Each night, the 7th day falls off the count. So if 7 days ago you had 30k steps you have a big loss and have to do another 30k that day to maintain position. If the other people had bad days seven days ago and only got 7k steps then they only lost 7k off their total. Also, some people sync their fitbit all day and others only sync now and then. If you were ahead of someone when you went to bed at 10 pm and they hadn't synced up since 5 am and synced up after you went to bed, well then, yes, I guess this can cause some consternation.  Try to find an average that makes YOU happy; competition is good if it inspires you, not frusrates you.  Good luck and Happy Steps!