The_Inquisitor
Member
This is mostly do-able for me as I am constantly half-marathon training and most days I am running 40-65 minutes. The issue is my job is relatively sedentary (I do get up and walk around).
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
NYT: Should 15,000 Steps a Day Be Our New Exercise Target?
- Thread starter Dalek
- Start date
- Status
nextgeneration
Member
Unless you're at a job where you're walking/on your feet the whole day, this is an unrealistic and unreasonable goal. Sure, you could squeeze this in on the days when you're not working, but for the majority of the population who have jobs that aren't mobile, to do this every day is an unrealistic and unreasonable goal.
Walking is arguably better than running, just based on the havoc running does to your knees. Unless you run on a composite track or grass only vs concrete sidewalks.
There's this girl I know who runs like multiple 5ks a week and her knees and back are always fucked up. I tell her, you know, that's probably because you run too much. She just shrugs it off and is incapacitated for weeks at a time until she can run again. It's like, but why?
giant_frying_pan
Member
As soon as I got my Fitbit, I changed the goal to 15k straight away. I hit it every day I'm out of the house.
It's not too hard! Just take a little detour here and there
It's not too hard! Just take a little detour here and there
It really isn't if you don't drive literally everywhere.
If you drive everywhere you'll hit like 5k. If you take the bus and trains, or just walk for an or hour after work and during lunch, you'll hit 15k no problem.
nextgeneration
Member
True, but for most of the population, it's not a realistic goal, since everyone is so dependent on their cars.
triplestation
Member
I walk about an hour a day, it's relaxing and good for body and mind fam
I also do 6 mins interval training daily, 2 mins hard 4 mins casual cuh
My program is so easy u never skip a day fam
I also do 6 mins interval training daily, 2 mins hard 4 mins casual cuh
My program is so easy u never skip a day fam
Yeah, but you don't have to be dependent on your car. And if you absolutely have to be because of a lack of public transit, then set aside an hour for walking.
Doctoglethorpe
Member
Yeah... it's too inefficient to just walk as your sole exercise. 5-10k steps plus some push ups and sit ups, or something else that doesn't just involve your legs, makes more sense.
nextgeneration
Member
Yeah, it can be done, I'm sure. It's just that for most people, I don't really see them changing their ways in order to be able to do this. For heavens sakes, most people I know have trouble hitting the gym even once a week, if even that.
Camper Van Beethoven
Banned
I walk 20k+ steps every day and can still gain weight if I eat bad or don't do real excercise. I've never seen any real relation between the amount of steps I do and my weight. I only lose weight if I do real cardio like running or cycling or specifically diet.
triplestation
Member
Dude I'm not gonna count 15000 steps
FortuneFaded
Member
My record is 44k.
crisdecuba
Member
I think you mean "I can still gain weight if I eat bad AND don't do real excercise." How do you gain weight if you're walking 20k steps and eating properly?
adamantypants
Member
15,000 in an urban city isn't unreasonable. Now try doing that at a desk job in most cities where transportation by car is the norm.
An average walking pace is about 3mph. Using average stride length (2.5') this means most people will get around 6300 steps for an hour of walking. At a sedentary job, this means before/after work, you have to walk for probably another 2-3 hours to get 15,000 steps. The steps could be defeated pretty quickly by jogging/running for about half an hour but seriously. Try to ask someone who already doesn't move enough to run for half an hour every day. They're not gonna do it.
We shouldn't make new step goals, we need new nutrition goals
An average walking pace is about 3mph. Using average stride length (2.5') this means most people will get around 6300 steps for an hour of walking. At a sedentary job, this means before/after work, you have to walk for probably another 2-3 hours to get 15,000 steps. The steps could be defeated pretty quickly by jogging/running for about half an hour but seriously. Try to ask someone who already doesn't move enough to run for half an hour every day. They're not gonna do it.
We shouldn't make new step goals, we need new nutrition goals
crisdecuba
Member
Same would go for anyone who is eating too much compared to what they burn, including people who lift. No one is proposing that 15k steps means you can ignore how you eat. Same as I'm sure you're not proposing you can lift and get "super fit" without caring about what you eat.
nextgeneration
Member
Agree 100%. It's because of the way most people eat is the reason why they're now recommending 15k steps. This is essentially treating the symptom but not the cause.
metsallica
Member
Yeah this is pretty much what I do I suppose, although I'm usually over 10k steps. Sit ups, push ups, pull ups, lunges, and dumb bells in the morning. I don't go to gyms.
Camper Van Beethoven
Banned
My BMI is around 22-23 so that's probably a factor, but I know that if I walk significantly less steps one week (say I'm off work or something) I don't gain or lose weight any differently than when I'm walking my regular 20k.
Walking just doesn't seem to be a factor at all. I guess if you go from doing next to nothing to 15k a day it would help, but that would probably only be if you went for a semi strenuous walk. Not just walking for 30 seconds a lot.
Don't eat like 2500-3000 calories unless you are burning an extra 1000-1500 to cover it.
crisdecuba
Member
I think the time scale in your example (i.e. a week) might be too small to come to any conclusions.
I usually walk about this much everyday. When I'm feeling lazy and take a bus I'll get in 10k steps, and in fairly active days I'll get 20k steps. But usually it's in the 14k-16k range.
In my case it's more of a necessity rather than a conscious choice though. I don't have a car, and the commute to my university has terrible public transportation options. So I just walk instead
Not sure about the health benefits since I've always been thin as a rail, but it's a pretty good way to wind down mentally
In my case it's more of a necessity rather than a conscious choice though. I don't have a car, and the commute to my university has terrible public transportation options. So I just walk instead
Not sure about the health benefits since I've always been thin as a rail, but it's a pretty good way to wind down mentally
titiklabingapat
Member
The design of our cities is the one killing us all in America. Walking when you don't have to think about it is the best way to do it and it's hard to do in most of America's city.
Mark my words that it will be the future focus of obesity science. I mean, we have cut fat, we have cut carbs and cut calories but heart disease risk and metabolic syndrome are still up. Obesity science is focusing on the wrong causes of being overweight. The solution is simple but it will take tons of political will.
Mark my words that it will be the future focus of obesity science. I mean, we have cut fat, we have cut carbs and cut calories but heart disease risk and metabolic syndrome are still up. Obesity science is focusing on the wrong causes of being overweight. The solution is simple but it will take tons of political will.
Of course they are related, but they are not the same. A healthy diet will not protect anybody from the effects of a sedentary lifestyle. You still must move.
From Johns Hopkins:
Lack of physical activity has clearly been shown to be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and other conditions:
Less active and less fit people have a greater risk of developing high blood pressure.
Studies show that physically active people are less likely to develop coronary heart disease than those who are inactive. This is even after researchers accounted for smoking, alcohol use, and diet.
Lack of physical activity can add to feelings of anxiety and depression.
Physical inactivity may increase the risk of certain cancers.
Physically active overweight or obese people significantly reduced their risk for disease with regular physical activity.
Diet and activity are both important. You can't just do one. They both affect different processes and are both important to health for reasons both independent and interrelated.
You Are Viewtiful
Member
Y'all must've sucked ass on Pokémon GO. Even 10000 steps is too much?
Ether_Snake
å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®
Some research doc I saw a few weeks ago showed that a 5min super intense workout was better than an hour of moderate workout, and they showed some amazing results with elderly folks.
This topic got my ass on the treadmill tonight.
I admittedly lead an extraordinarily sedentary life. I'm 42, and when I was 28 I began having anxiety that resulted in actual heart palpitations, hundreds per hour. I was terrified of dropping dead and avoided exercise like the plague.
I've since beaten the anxiety and in recent years have gone through stages of running, both treadmill and outside but have never sustained any period of this past about two weeks due to my knees.
As I am a married father and own a business that requires me to sit at a desk for ten+ hours a day, finding the energy to run has been my biggest challenge. I'm now totally rethinking this approach, as I just finished a one hour walk at 3.8mph and a small incline while watching Twin Peaks on Netflix. I feel -amazing- and my knees don't hurt at all.
Thank you GAF- may have just found the magic formula to keeping me active so I don't die in my 50s.
I admittedly lead an extraordinarily sedentary life. I'm 42, and when I was 28 I began having anxiety that resulted in actual heart palpitations, hundreds per hour. I was terrified of dropping dead and avoided exercise like the plague.
I've since beaten the anxiety and in recent years have gone through stages of running, both treadmill and outside but have never sustained any period of this past about two weeks due to my knees.
As I am a married father and own a business that requires me to sit at a desk for ten+ hours a day, finding the energy to run has been my biggest challenge. I'm now totally rethinking this approach, as I just finished a one hour walk at 3.8mph and a small incline while watching Twin Peaks on Netflix. I feel -amazing- and my knees don't hurt at all.
Thank you GAF- may have just found the magic formula to keeping me active so I don't die in my 50s.
A 5k is like ~6,000 steps. So do that around 1.5 more times and you'll be good.
The Albatross
Member
My wife does fucking like 20k - 25k every day. It's insane.
ZackieChan
Member
I think this is what I was thinking of when I posted earlier in the thread. Maybe not Tabata, but just really intense exercise. I thought they said something like only a minute of extreme intensity is really needed.
Earthbound64
Banned
Everyone should move to downtown Minneapolis - problem solved.
H.Protagonist
[-_-]/
Y'all must've sucked ass on Pokémon GO. Even 10000 steps is too much?
I can barely get in 4k of steps before my phone dies using that thing. And the egg tracker sucks. -_-
CyclopsRock
Member
I do it every day but only because my commute involves a lot of walking. If that weren't "useful" (IE it helps me get somewhere i need to go), it would take FAR too long to do just for exercise.
SuperBanana
Banned
I do between 12,000 and 22,000 steps each work day so that's one big plus of working on your feet.
Ever thought about getting the train/bus to work? You could probably ride to the closest train station and not add much time to your commute if you live in a city/Area with good public transport.
RedAssedApe
Banned
I have to try just to get past 5k. (I.e run a couple of miles)
15k my ass. Maybe if you're trying to lose weight and don't want to cut your calories.
15k my ass. Maybe if you're trying to lose weight and don't want to cut your calories.
The most time I get to work out is if I wake up before my wife and daughter and rush to the gym, work out, then rush back before my wife leaves. By the time she gets home I don't have the energy for anything more than trying to get an hour or two of gaming. So I have to make those 30 minutes count.
This was during the winter, though. Now that it's nice out I'll take my daughter out at least once a day for a walk, but it's not going to get me close to 15k steps.
This was during the winter, though. Now that it's nice out I'll take my daughter out at least once a day for a walk, but it's not going to get me close to 15k steps.
There is this crazy machine. I don't know I think it is so advanced not too many have heard of it. It has a mini conveyor belt, can fit in a small corner of a room, and most models now fold up to save space too. Can be had for less than the price of a ps4 these days as well. I think it is called a treadmill.
I don't drive, and the bus stop to get to work is a fair distance from my house, so I'm generally looking at about 7k on a normal workday (there and back again). That's without any specific intent to walk more.
I'm too sedentary at the weekends, though.
Marky Mark
Member
I've been tracking my steps with this new phone. At first I managed about 6k per day just by walking to the bus and a short walk at lunch, lately only hitting 5k as I haven't been lunch walking as much. I reckon I could easily get to 8k if I got off the bus two stops earlier so I'm going to try that starting next week, and if I add my lunch walk in again then I'll make the 10k. 15k would probably need a bit more persistence though.
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked