Steps as exercise?

[Willow2017]

I’m a bit confused. Are the 10,000 steps per day classed as exercise? Because sometimes I am given calories for them By fit bit. Or is this an adjustment based on a projection over a 24 hour period? 

If these steps are classed as exercise I have been told that it’s not really exercise as it isn’t working my heart rate up and is just me going about my everyday business. It’s not a power walk. So if it is ni5 reall6 exercise then I shouldn’t eat back any calories?

[Dominique · Accepted solution]

Depending on what Fitbit tracker you have, exercise can be explicitely tracked by you, or autodetected by your Fitbit (if your activity exceeds a certain threshold, e.g. 15 minutes for walking). I assume some part of your daily steps are autodetected as walking, and will be included in your exercise pool. If you look at the IMPACT tab of exercises in the Exercise list of your Fitbit app, it will say something like:

IMPACT ON MY DAY: +2,585 of 16,205 steps taken

[Bill_k]

There's a set time you are walking that is about 10 minutes i think that if you walk longer than that it starts counting that as exercise and will register the total time as an exercise period until you stop for awhile.

The time is adjustable in settings.

It shows up on the fitbit app each time you do it.

Walking is exercise for me as my heart rate will rise about 40 bpm over resting which increases calories burned/minute .

It's just steady walking and not fast.

Metabolism calories are the ones that the fitbit registers automatically from your base stats.

Anything else you do that raises your heart beat will be gravy and walking should do that. .

[Willow2017]

I have adjusted my walking activity to not record until over 30 minutes continuous movement.

[Dominique]

@Willow2017: it’s a good idea if you want to distinguish more clearly between formal activity performed on purpose (e.g. a dedicated 45-minute hike) and informal/general activity aka NEAT (e.g. 20 minute walk to the railway station to catch a train when commuting). This won’t affect the energy expenditure for the day (total calories burned), which will remain the same. Fitbit gives you goals for both formal activity and total activity.