Increasing Overall Activity Level With Step Counting

If you do not use a step counter, you may have a vague picture of how much energy you expend during a typical day.  I recently began tracking my steps for an employee challenge, and the data accrued over the past few weeks has been an eye-opener.  Many of the days that I considered to be a “rest day”, where I did not lift weights or perform a steady state cardio session, wound up yielding a surprisingly high step count.  Conversely, weekends that included a workout and cardio session barely got me to reach 10,000 steps.  The unconscious behaviors we have are hard to notice in our day to day activities, and the step counter gave me a new perspective on my overall activity level.  When I am working with a client, I am not actively participating in the workout.  They do the heavy lifting, while I provide assistance and support.  However, I seemed to never factor in the amount of steps I obtained by switching out weights, moving clients from exercise to exercise, and everything in between.  After a month or so of tracking, I found that a typical work day alone will get me near 12,000 steps.  For those with a sedentary career, these freebie steps will be harder to come by, but small changes to your day to day routine can help you increase activity without even noticing.

For those with weight loss goals, total daily energy expenditure (TDE) versus calories consumed will be the determining factor in which way your waste-line goes.  We must be burning slightly more calories throughout the day compared to the calories we take in.  A caloric deficit of just 200 calories per day (ie: 2200 calories burned/ 2000 calories consumed) can correlate to almost a half-pound of weight loss per week.  A balanced diet and exercise routine are a good place to start when trying to reach this deficit, but all of our other activity throughout the day plays a major role as well.   While you do burn calories with traditional strength training, many of us leave a lot on the table.  Active rest periods between sets will maximize calories burned while still allowing your heart rate to lower, having you ready to push yourself with the weights when the next set comes.  I have adopted this practice with walks around the gym during rest periods.  I feel as strong and ready for each set as I ever have, and I leave the gym with a bonus 1,000 steps that otherwise would have been missed by just sitting on the equipment scrolling your phone.

Out in the corporate world, this extra movement will be harder to come by working a desk job, but there are plenty of life hacks to increase the level.  Begin by taking that last parking spot in the lot and then proceeding to the stairs instead of the elevator.  If you live in an apartment you can adopt the same practice.  During lunch breaks, take a ten minute walk through the halls or outside the office after eating.  Ten minute walks after each meal of the day doesn’t take much thought or effort, but will greatly impact your TDE throughout the week.  This method is especially easy to apply for those who work from home.

Ultimately, counting steps has been a simple motivator for me to be more aware of my activity level.  It provides a subconscious push to want to get up and do more, whether it be chores or a fun activity.  My next small personal goal through the holiday season: round up the number of steps every time I check the count, so if I glance and see 1,460 steps, I am getting that number to 1,500 even on the spot.  Little games like this can go a long way for bettering your health and fitness pursuits.  Get the count going for yourself and see where the extra accountability can take you.