SubscribeWalking Off The Pounds: Did it Just Get Harder?
It's a great way to shed weight or at least keep from gaining additional pounds--buy a pedometer and track your daily steps. The target number you hear most often is a daunting 10,000 steps a day. Ten thousand steps is almost five miles. That's pretty challenging if you have a hectic schedule, but it's worth it, right?
Well, unfortunately, a recent pedometer study says it may take just a bit more than that.
The study (summarized here ) was a collaborative effort involving 14 researchers from the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, and Sweden. The researchers investigated how many steps per day people should accumulate for weight control. They looked at "cut-off points" between normal weight and overweight/obese individuals, based on BMI.
New Targets:
The bad news? For men, and for most women, 10,000 steps a day just wasn't enough.
The less-bad news? It wasn't too much more. Here are the targets:
For women, by age:
18-40: 12,000 steps per day.
40-50: 11,000
50-60: 10,000
60 plus: 8,000
Men:
18-50: 12,000
50 plus: 11,000
The same research team already recommended that girls aged 6–12 get 12,000 steps, and boys 15,000 steps every day.
What Does it Mean For You?
Everyone is different, and frankly, I'm not sure it makes sense to treat any general target as gospel and focus all one's energy on it. Ten thousand steps seems to be more than enough to keep a lot of folks at a healthy weight. Others aren't as fortunate and may need more than that. Plus, there are other important aspects to a fitness program to take into an account, like strength training, interval training, balance, and flexibility. (And that's assuming the walking is brisk and aerobic--if not, that's yet another thing to think about).
So can most of you folks find the time to rack up almost six miles a day? Do you think you're exercising that much? Some of us are, but it sounds like a tough target for a lot of people to meet.
These studies come out with new data and "thoeries" all the time. The truth is that everyone is different and to keep a sensible weight, everybody has their own "targets".
Classifying people by age is something I hate to see because frankly - you get people over 80 who are as fit as a 60 year old and so on.
Thanks for the information!
ReplyAnd it's just the number of steps you take each day but the speed/intensity. Look, all physical movement can be beneficial, especially if compared to a sendentary lifestyle. But to lose weight by walking, you must get your heart rate up and keep it there for a certain period of time. I've heard that time can be anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. And you must do this at least 4 days each week, which I would guess to be the minimum.
Personally, I burn an average of 260 calories on the treadmill about 4 days/wk. At that rate, it will take me 2 WEEKS to burn 1 pound. However, I don't get on the treadmill to lose weight; I do it for other health reasons.
The best advice I can give is to stop dieting and exercising to lose weight. Don't become wound up in counting calories and grams of fat and carbs. Stop estimating how many steps you have to take to lose a pound. That's a losing game, no pun intended. Instead, focus on other issues -- enjoy life! -- and the weight will come off.
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ReplyWell, 10k is easier to remember than 12 for him and 15 for her or whatever. Isn't 10 such a great number? 10 fingers, 10 toes, 10 commandments.....
ReplyLOL.....
ReplyI guess I must be abnormal, being that I've lost a great deal of weight (all the way down to 120 or so) and kept it off by walking about a mile a day at a nice, easy strolling pace that lets me scope out the world around me. But, hey, I'm not complaining!
ReplyIf only we were designing our developments and cities to be more walking-friendly, then we would tend to get at least 5 miles in each day just getting around to work, shop and play! I find it so bizarre that we DRIVE someplace to exercise. :)
ReplyAll that time walking could be better spent lifting weights or running intervals. The person would lose more weight and better improve fitness, shapeliness and strength.
Then get back home in time to cook dinner from scratch.
Of course, some people can't stand the pain. They make all sorts of excuses.
Too bad for them.
I couldn't press for four months due to rotator cuff pain, but I still pulled and worked legs. A person can still do some lifting, no matter their condition.
BTW, I like to take leisurely walks. They're good for meditation.
ReplyDoes this study at all take into account walking speed? Or the incline on which one walks?
10,000 steps seems a bit much for an average person, and this is coming from someone who walks quite a bit and does so very quickly. As a matter of fact I'd be curious to see just how much I walk on an average school day going to and fro the bus stops, up, and down the stairs what have you.
ReplyPeople want the easy way - but death doesn't care about convenience.
ReplyLow intensity training does nothing. Get your heart rate up and stop being lazy. People day they don't have time to exercise. What do you do when you get home from work? watch tv?
ReplyLike I said, when they're on death's bed 20 years too soon, their regret won't count for squat.
ReplyI do 60 minutes walking on a treadmill at 75-80% of max heart rate four days a week, and weight training two days a week. I've managed to lose 65 pounds since July and I've NEVER walked more than 9000 steps in a day. I have a fairly accurate pedometer, it loses no more than a hundred steps out of 10,000.
Screw studies AND absolutist advice by anonymous online know-it-alls. Find your own optimum zone in a combination that works for you. Make it fun and make it so you can push yourself without pain, and you will have success.
ReplyCongratulations! I'm very impressed with your weight loss just from walking. Did you also change you diet or did you the same things and just added exercise? I also started walking, but have only cut out eating junk and fast food.
ReplyI usually get around 10,000 steps on my pedometer. (I take it off while exercising) I walk the dog 20 minutes in the morning, try to make it a point to park far from the door wherever I go, get up and walk around during the workday, etc.
I've noticed that it's much more difficult to get in 10,000 steps on days when I don't work unless I make a special effort to walk the dog 3-4 times.
ReplyOk, I'm a fitness buff and I even get discouraged when the recomended daily amount of exercise keeps getting higher and higher. I'm starting to feel the same way about working out as I do about eating healthy... can't I just do it and not worry about what some government group or study says? Please?
People are more likely to work toward achievable goals, even if those goals are below some magic number that makes us "healthy". It's a start at least. Stop raising the bar!
ReplyWell, not a problem for me, but most the people I know weren't getting the 10,000 in in time for the increase in recommendations :(
ReplyI work out on my elliptical machine every day and I also take a mile walk at night with my dog. I do it to keep the extra weight off, but when I first started losing weight, I walked for my only exercise. I used to walk something like 4 miles a day in addition to the walking I did anyway. I definitely lost weight by doing that, but my body did get accustomed to it and I had to step it up after a while.
ReplyI have a pedometer and I usually get about 16,000-18,000 steps a day in on weekdays and then like 5,000 on weekends if I don't exercise.
At this rate I lose about a pound a week.
10,000 steps a day is child's play :)
ReplySorry, I don't buy the fit but fat mantra. Carrying around a lot of visceral fat is dangerous for the health.
ReplyMorning,
Back when I was 170+ pounds, I started my exercising by walking 2.4 miles a day. It wasn't much, but it was a start! And after I got into my get-healthy lifestyle, I was able to add different workouts like Taebo, treadmill cardio, Richard Simmons, etc.
Anything that gets you started, I believe, is a Good Thing. It's been over a year now and I've progressed to Karate, Kendo, P90x and strength training. But...it all really did start with walking.
Enjoy,
Barbara
ReplyI'm not certain what I think about this. I know that from personal experience that when I started walking a lot--to class, on the stairs, just because I wanted to, etc.--I really started losing weight that I needed to lose. Although I tend to walk faster than most people, losing weight just by walking more than you already do or need to is possible. I just think the slow, leisurely jaunt that people tend to like won't cut it.
ReplyStrange targets. You don't need less exercise as you age. They should just have one number for all adults.
ReplyWeight loss studies have shown that 80% of weight loss success is dietary habits and calorie cutting. Eating a hamburger without cheese takes away about 2,000 steps right there. There are many people who can lose weight without walking to China.
ReplyI walk one hour a day, at a stroll and I light weight weights 5-15 pounds. I've dropped over 50 pounds. I don't give a rats butt what the so called experts say. Oh by the way 10000 steps is 10000 steps, fast or slow as long as you get there just like a mile is a mile. If you jog a mile or walk a mile it burns the same amount of calories. You just burn them more quickly by jogging because you cover the distance faster.
ReplySheddingpounds!
ReplyYour statement about walking versus running made me curious, so I looked into it. Of course the bottom line is results, not numbers, and I'm glad to hear that you are doing well! However, in spite of what is often repeated, running burns twice as many calories as walking the same distance. Actually, if you do them for the same amount of time, running burns four times as many calories!
http://www.possibility.com/epowiki/Wiki.jsp? page=RunningBurnsMoreCaloriesThanWalking
http://www.possibility.com/epowiki/Wiki.jsp?page=RunningBurnsMoreCaloriesThanWalking
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,5033,s6-197-200-0-8402,00.html
ReplyI don't know about all these studies and what not, but I can tell you from personal experience that after walking for 2 years and eating 3 small meals a day, my weight dropped from 215 to 165, and my blood pressure went from 160/95 range to the 120/75 range. I'm 6'0" and 37 years old, people say I looked better when I was bigger. Guess because I was more muscular then, but my goals have changed in life to being around for my children and maybe grandchildren someday. Anyways my point is for me walking has been very beneficial to my health, and I wish everyone good luck with their own challenges.
ReplyYou hear all kinds of things about the benefit of walking, how much and how fast and the sad thing is most people would like to hear that a few steps here and a fews steps there throughout the day will do the trick. I wish it were so, and it is for those who naturally have a high metabolism. However, let's not mislead people and full ourselves. Staying in shape or losing weight for that matter requires a certain commitment, ooh that nasty word! If you are serious about your health and managing or reducing your waistline then do what it takes, but do it as if it were a treat to yourself, which it is really. Because what's not great about being healthier, having more energy and looking better?
I don't know one person who doesn't waste throughout the day a half hour doing completely unproductive things. Use that half hour to your best health advantage, and go for an energic walk with your favorite upbeat music. I will help you keep a good pace and you will feel wonderful at the end of that walk, so much so that you will want to do it, if not daily 5 times a week to get real results.
We beat ourselves up about how to fit in exercise into our lives, but really isn't it a matter of just doing it?
ReplyShedding pounds... that is actually a myth. Running is biomechanically less efficient than walking and burns more Calories. I addressed it in my blog a while back so I'll quote here:
"This myth is probably more believed and quoted than any other myth I addressed here. It makes sense on the surface: you'll burn the same number of Calories, it will just take you longer while walking. This sounds so plausible, and has been repeated so many times, that it is generally accepted as the truth. Unfortunately, general acceptance is no replacement for reality.
ReplyThe problem is that running and walking are biomechanically different activities. There are additional Calories required in the less efficient activity of running, which requires more vertical lift. While speed does not make a huge difference in the number of Calories burned, the activity does. You'll burn about twice as many net Calories (that is the number of Calories you burn in the activity less the number of Calories you would have burned sitting around) running a mile rather than walking a mile-- which is probably 4 times as many Calories per hour since you can run faster than you can walk.
The exception, however, is if you are walking at speeds exceeding 5 mph. Your body doesn't like walking that fast. It is biomechanically inefficient to walk that fast. This is one area of life where being inefficient is a GOOD thing.
Here's a little help to estimate net Calories per mile burned at running or at walking at speeds of 3 or 4 mph.
RUNNING== .63 x your weight (in lb)
WALKING== .53 x your weight (in lb)"
Thanks for that equation Heather, that really helps me understand how my calorie counter on my Dance Dance Revolution game works. I worked out the equation for my weight and it works out to what the counter says.
I burn higher on more difficult levels of my game. The game gets me moving at far more than 4 miles per hour. The more steps there are per minute, the more parts of my body have to move and tighten to complete the step pattern. When there are more than six steps per measure of the song I have to hold and turn my arms to balance and sometimes go into a moderate squat while moving. The faster the steps are the tighter my abdominal muscles hold. In fact they feel a little sore (in the good way) right now just as if I had been doing crunches but I have not. These body movements don't occur at lower intensities. The harder I work on DDR the more it seems to tone, a lot like circuit training without the weight machines. These muscle movements cost energy to carry out so I burn a lot of calories in a shorter distance. I know that as my weight goes down I'll have to start lifting the weight that my body has lost to keep my body toned. Remember this study quoted here talks about weight control. 10,000 steps per day will have dramatic results the more you weigh. This study just reminds us that as we lose weight, we need to increase our steps to keep the weight in control. The study doesn't mention what the calorie intake of the participants was, I'd really like to know what it was.
I've tried losing weight unsuccessfully and successfully. I have found that the key to success is knowing and being honest about the numbers. Weight loss and gain is about the numbers and statistics as much as people hate to admit it.
Guesswork has never helped me lose weight no matter what approach I tried. Now that I know exactly what I burn in calories during my daily exercise and I know exactly the amount of calories in my food I can lose weight. When I eat more than I should I know exactly what to do to make the numbers work. I am finally in control of my weight.
When I weighed 278 pounds, walking 10000 steps per day at 3.5 miles an hour was melting the weight off. Now that I weigh 220 I jog an equivalent of 6 miles a day and the weight is still melting off.
As I lose weight I need more exercise to keep going. I don't want to discourage myself with stalls and plateaus.
As a side note, before I got DDR I used to huff and puff at 3.5 miles on a treadmill and it was embarrassing. I can now get on a treadmill and run at 7 miles per hour for about 20 minutes and not get worried that I need to slow down. No one else that is my similar weight in the gym can do this. Some women that weigh almost 100 pounds less than I do can't go over 4 miles an hour. I feel like Superwoman sometimes because of DDR. It's really changed my life and I did it in the privacy of my own home during the hours that best suited my needs.
Reply10K is not a lot at all. I thought it was but once you do it you get so used to it. It sounds a lot if you are sitting on the couch a lot. Honestly any attempt of working out a bit more than usual will show results. Maybe not in a week but it sure will in the long run. I've lost 20lb by just walking 10k steps a day and eating healhty. By the way, I dont even have to reduce my calorie intake at all. I just cut off a lot of bad food and I saw change. 10k is not much at all.
ReplyRunning will burn more calories when compared to walking over a certain period of time. But when compared to distances they burn the same amount of calories, e.g. walking 4 miles vs running 4 miles is the same thing. The running will be finished much quicker therefore you will have to walk longer to achieve the same results. Running will also raise your heart rate which increases cardiovascular health. it's basic energy expended over a period of time, same amount of energy expended but in a much shorter time if running.
ReplyHi everybody - I'm an editor with First For Women magazine. I'm trying to find someone who lost a sizable amount of weight from walking. The catch is that we want to talk to someone who walked (or walks) alongside her tween, teen, or child who is old enough to keep up the pace on the walk.
I'm also looking for anyone who attributes weight loss to regular dog walks. Did your dog lose weight, too?
ReplyIf you fit any of these two profiles or know anyone else who might, please get in touch with me by e-mail: akuperinsky@bauerpublishing.com