I'm new to this walking thing. Are you supposed to walk 10,000 steps a day as a total--or are you supposed to add an additional 10,000 steps to what you normally walk?

10,000 step total - which i believe is 4 miles - 2500 steps per mile...

I wear my pedometer just for kicks to see how much I do walk - and i thinkI walk a lot - except for my office cleanout days where i made too many trips to the dumpster.. I barely get 5000 steps in a day... and that usually includes a lap around the grocery store...

Yeah, I work from home so I don't get a lot of walking in during the day unless I take some initiative to do on my own.

I took a trip to Walmart today and was disappointed that I wasn't logging in more steps. I swear it felt like I was walking forever in that store, but I got maybe 500-650 in.

This week I started taking my dogs on long walks in the morning to log in some extra steps (I do 2 sets of morning walks with our 3 dogs). I have been getting about 4-5,000 just from that, and it's been great for all of us. I feel more energetic and giving the pups the extra exercise can add years to their lives.

I'm hoping to add an evening walk, too, but I have to take it slow so the pups don't overdo it--especially in this summer heat.

the 10K is a number you should shoot for - definitely pace yourself getting there- the past few weeks I have been working from home - to get in extra steps - to go to the bathroom, I take a lap thru the living room and don't just walk across the hall.. I make myself go the long way every time...

even just adding 200 steps a day - you'll get to your total before you know it...

Question about the pedometer
how do you getr them to acuretly to read i can walk 10 steps have alot more then that on it are they not meant for big people? no offence anyone but i am big

most pedometers have a place to adjust them to fit your gait.... you basically want to attach it to you - to your waist, the back of your pants, somewherein the middle of your body and walk 100 steps.. the pedometer should record those steps accurately.

what's a gait?

gait is a person's stride.. how big a step that they take or how fast they take it... (I think..

Pedometers are a great idea and walking is the best fat burning exercise of all - certainly the easiest to build into your daily routine without a trip to the gym or getting changed for a run.

Remember, though, that whilst you'll be burning calories with each step you take, unless you walk for more than a few minutes, you'll be mostly burning carbs, not fat.

To burn significant amounts of body fat you need to walk at a steady (brisk) pace for around 20-30 minutes in one go. More if you have the time. You'll burn 100 calories a mile (more the heavier you are) of which around 70%+ will come from body fat.

As Maleficent stated, 2,500 steps in a mile - do 10k a day and that's around 400 calories (approx 300 fat calories). Whatsmore, your, metabolism will gradually return to normal after the walk, meaning that you'll continue to burn extra calories for an hour or two afterwards.

Say you burn an extra 500 calories a day doing your 10k steps. There are 3,500 calories in 1lb of fat. 7x500 calories is 1lb of weight loss a week. 52lbs in a year. Combine that with eating 500 calories a day less than you need and you could be looking at 2lbs a week or 104lbs in a year. Soon adds up!

All the best,
Marcus

Ok, now I have a question.

When I walk on the treadmill, the calorie counter NEVER says that I've burned 100 calories per mile, maybe 45 or 50 tops. Is the counter wrong? I'm walking at an average of 3 mph for 30 minutes but the counter never goes higher than 110 for the whole workout (which is about 2 miles). Who's wrong, who's right, who do you believe?

Hi Katie,
100 calories a mile is an average. A small woman for instance, carrying less weight will burn fewer calories than a larger man. Also, the more muscle you have the more calories you burn off. Apologies, the 100 calories a mile was for example purposes and is going to vary from person to person.

The speed at which you walk is also important - you'll burn 25% more calories at 4mph than 3 mph. A brisk walk is around 4mph.

Also, I'd take the calorie counters on treadmills, steppers, etc with a pinch of salt. I can cycle for 30 minutes on one Lifecycle at the gym and burn 360 calories, on another machine it will be 320 calories. Ditto for treadmills, etc.

The treadmill I use at one of the gyms I go to shows shows me having burnt 100 calories more for exactly the same workout than at the other gym I use. Exacty the same make and model of treadmill, too.

In my experience they're not very accurate and should be used for guidance purposes only.

Sorry for any confusion,
Cheers,
Marcus

Actually, I know this much... You usually can't burn fat by walking. If that was true, my father would be skinny as a pole (he's a HUGE man who takes strenuous 5-mile hikes everyday).

Exercise doesn't burn fat (unless you do crazy amounts of it). It tones muscle and burns off some of the calories you consumed for that day (which is great if you are also watching your diet). This is why exercise alone usually doesn't work for most people.

Running burns 100 calories a mile. It takes 18-21 miles of continuous running before your body actually starts to go after the fat reserves. This is called "the wall" by runners (it makes you really REALLY sleepy). Even in a marathon, you don't lose much fat as it's 26.2 miles long--yet it takes 36 miles to run before a pound is burned off.

All this aside, exercise is supposed to be a fantastic supplement to dieting. If you watch your calorie intake, you can lose faster with exercise and dieting than just dieating alone.

thanks for the pedometers information I really appreciate it

Hi Impish,

You're absolutely right about exercise alone not being particularly effective for weight loss - it's not. The UK's Health Development Agency did a review of randomised control trials and confirmed as much. Diet alone is more effective than exercise alone, but diet and exercise combined is the best way to achieve long term weight loss.

However, walking burns proportionately more fat than any other aerobic activity beacause it's relatively low intensity and as a such your body draws more on its fat reserves. Running burns more calories, but proportionately less fat. However, you'll burn more total fat running for 30 minutes than walking for 30 minutes.

You start burning fat as soon as you reach a steady state, which for most people is after a few minutes of steady aerobic activity (once you're warmed up and breathing steadily).

The wall you refer to when marathon running is when your body has pretty much exhausted its carb reserves (approx 400-500 calories). Your body burns mostly fat during a marathon (assuming you're fit enought to run one!). Fat burns in a carbohydrate flame, in other words your body finds it difficult to burn fat without carbs. Hence at around the 20 mile point the going gets very tough. Regularly drinking isotonic carb drinks during the race - normally after 5 miles or so helps.

As a rule aerobics/endurance exercise burns fat and anaerobics, eg weight training builds muscle, although they're not mutually exclusive (just look at the quads on Tour de France cyclists!).

You're bang on as far as exercising whilst dieting is concerned - you will lose the weight more quickly if you do!

Best wishes,
Marcus