Is riding a bike on challenge cheating?

[MeredithC]

I did a work week challenge and one day I hiked 2.5 miles then did a 12 mile bike ride.  One of the people said I was cheating.  I think working out is working out.  A bike logs less steps than actually stepping.  What do you think?  BTW this person won the challenge 'cause he paced around the house until midnight.  I think that's a little compulsive just to win.

[WendyB]

I does not matter how you get your steps. I have heard this about others things to like the elliptical. I don't get it. Steps are Steps

[Ukase]

Cheating would be tying your fitbit to a string and twirling it around while you drink beer and eat Fritos. 

But - consider this: The challenge is for steps, not pedaling. I think that you would probably need to do a little test. How many calories are burned when you walk 10,000 steps vs how many miles do you have to ride to burn an equal amount of calories? Or, note your current caloric burn. Walk 100 steps and reassess for every 100 feet. (or every 1000). Do the same with the bike. Compare and contrast and see if you do have an advantage. 

[shipo]

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@WendyB wrote:

I does not matter how you get your steps. I have heard this about others things to like the elliptical. I don't get it. Steps are Steps

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Prior to logging on to these community forums I would have said the same thing.  That said, I have since learned "Steps" in many cases are not in fact, "steps".  Compare and contrast the following (which statement do you consider true):

• Steps are steps, regardless of whether the stepper is walking/jogging in place, or running a 5-minute mile up a 10% grade.
• Not all steps are created equal.

[BWright1175]

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@shipo wrote:

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@WendyB wrote:

I does not matter how you get your steps. I have heard this about others things to like the elliptical. I don't get it. Steps are Steps

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Prior to logging on to these community forums I would have said the same thing.  That said, I have since learned "Steps" in many cases are not in fact, "steps".  Compare and contrast the following (which statement do you consider true):

• Steps are steps, regardless of whether the stepper is walking/jogging in place, or running a 5-minute mile up a 10% grade.
• Not all steps are created equal.

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True, but the challenges are about steps, not what activity was involved in reaching those steps.

Taking the flip side, I can spend 20 minutes at a light jog on my treadmill and get approximately 3000 steps... or I can spend 20 minutes doing the Max Intervals on my Bowflex Max Trainer, dripping with sweat by the time I'm done, and end up with just under 2000 steps.

So whether stepping in place, or all out sprinting... the steps in a step challenge are exactly that.

[shipo]

Agreed.

That said, unless a challenge is for qualified steps (via GPS tracking or a heart rate or some such), I won't be joining; too many folks "walking in place in front of their desks" while racking up thousands of fake steps.

[Lily-Mari]

my mom rides on the bike all the time and gets way more steps then me, it annoys me but i realize that if  i were the one biking and if i were biking with a friend or for a reason (like if my knee hurt so walking hurt) then my friends would understand. but if you are biking just for fun, it takes less effort to bike and get alot of steps then to walk and get alot of steps.

[JohnRi]

I walk every other day, and ride every other day.  I take about 4 rest days a month.

I ride 15 miles or so, but I've only been riding for a month or so. 

When I walk for 4-5 miles I get around 12,000 steps.

When I ride for 15 miles I get around 2000 steps.  But I think your fitbit would make a huge difference.  Get one of those that clip on your waist and I bet the step count would be much higher than my Blaze on my wrist.

As for calories, I burn about half the calories riding than I do walking.  But not always.  I have a few 90 minutes rides burn 900 calories.  I burn 1200 calories walking 5 miles.  But most of my rides have been in the 400 to 500 calorie range.

So from my point of view, riding a bike is handicap.  I get far less steps this way and burn fewer calories.  I used to win the challenges when I walked 4-6 miles each day.  But now that I ride, I never win. 

But winning the challenge isn't what I'm doing this for.  I'm exercising to lose weight to have fun doing it.

[Lily-Mari]

if you clip the fitbit to your ankle(like my mom) then you get alot of steps.

[Lily-Mari]

alot more then i would walking.

[USAF-Larry]

As Wendy said, Steps by any other name would still be Steps. But, with any Challenge it all comes down to what was agreed to for the challenge. If the Challenge was for Walking or running, then only steps registered by walking or running should be counted. If the Challenge was open-ended for activity, then any activity would count.

[SunsetRunner]

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@Lily-Mari wrote:

if you clip the fitbit to your ankle(like my mom) then you get alot of steps.

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I don't understand why someone would do that.    Why have a bunch of steps and not have the body to show for it.   It's not about winning and who gets the most steps. It's about being active, healthy and fit.   

I give more credit to someone who is physically fit with 0 steps for the day rather than someone with 50k steps and out of shape.    The point is people are only cheating themselves which makes absolutely no sense.  

[shipo]

Well said;  real steps (or even no steps at all if done well) > fake steps any day of the week.

[Lily-Mari]

biking is not "fake" steps, biking is excercising, you can log it in the dashboard.

[Lily-Mari]

plus when you bike you burn calories also so you can have the "body" to show for it.

[shipo]

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@Lily-Mari wrote:

biking is not "fake" steps, biking is excercising, you can log it in the dashboard.

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Please understand, I was not referring to steps converted from biking; I was referring more to "steps" logged from doing stuff like jogging in place in front of the TV.

[sunshine923]

So what is so wrong with jogging in place? It's exercise, your body is moving, it might not be as strenuous as running but it is still activity and they are still "real" steps and not "fake".

[shipo]

Sorry, I have to disagree; jogging in place, while more active than sitting on the sofa, is, IMHO, simply a device to log a bunch of steps while doing very little real work.

[sunshine923]

We can agree to disagree. I walk, jog, run and hike outside but I also occassionally jog in place and for others that might be their only activity, so I don't think we should discredit anyone's efforts by calling an activity fake when it is in fact very real.

[shipo]

Then we disagree.  You're welcome to join challenges where some folks work hard, and others don't; I'll pass.

I know a lot of folks here are stunned and dismayed when they see the step totals of some of the members (hence the number of threads on high totals and cheating).