Should Averaging > 7,000 Steps per Day Count Towards Cardio

Bigger Stronger Leaner
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For the goal of increasing lean body mass and strength over the next 8-10 months, would it improve my results to include formal steady-state cardio sessions (running, elliptical, cycling) or would daily 1-3 walks (sometimes with kids and/or dog, sometimes with weighted vest) totaling >7,000 steps per day be sufficient “cardio”.

The current program I am using is the Westside for skinny bastards 3 day (2 upper body, 1 ME lower body), plus one conditioning workout consisting of high rep bodyweight/kettlebell swings or sled dragging (at a nearby park).

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If your fitness in kinda low the walks will be a nice Start, for a month or so.

If you really want to make some gains and progress over the next 8-10 months think about Gradually, Steadily making your cardio more and more intense over time.

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Walking is not hard for me, even with a 28 lb weighted vest. I do it for general health and so I’m not sedentary. I could add another conditioning workout, for 2 total.

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Walking is cardio just like carrying groceries or doing yard work is going to the gym.

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Getting your HR above 120 is when you start to hit cardio territory

Unless you’re on a ruck or walking up a hill with a savage gradient then I fail to see how walking would get you there

As an aside and this isn’t aimed at you OP, what is with this fascination nowadays pushing walking as some form as exercise?

I guess it’s an indictment on society that a basic human function is now touted as exercise. We’re one step away from WALL-E world

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Depending on the audience
Its one of the simplest and most beneficial things people in general can do to improve their state of health.

It actually carries big bang for very little buck at a very low risk for injury compared to jogging/running.

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I agree with you man. It is dependent on current health status.

I’m probably blinkered by the lens of staying in a big city for the majority of my life and not learning to drive until I was in my mid 30.

20k steps is a pre lunch stroll

It’s jarring to see it on a fitness site, particularly when people are panicmaxxing about losing muscle due to walking :joy:

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I do 30,000+ steps most days. Never lower than 20,000 and I don’t consider that cardio as it rarely will get my heart rate up high enough to count it.

Entirely up to you if you add some cardio to your program, but I wouldn’t count the walks towards anything myself.

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Gotta call out the walking 20,000 and 30,000 steps. That’s walkinb 2 1/2 -3 hours unless you are jogging. In the warehouse we would generally average 20,000 steps granted pulling four poster cages a lot of time.
It would be foolish not factor in that many calories.

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I walk 50 minutes to and from work (7 days a week). I’m on my feet at work and often will go out somewhere during the day as well.

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So you don’t factor it in calories at all. It’s a lot calories. Do you eat about 4 ,500 -5,000 calories.
I found I maintained on about that

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I don’t treat walking as a workout, I treat it as a general health activity. My workouts consist of 3 weight training sessions plus 1-2 gpp workouts (bodyweight circuit, kb swings, sled).

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I track steps to make sure I’m not sedentary, but I don’t track walking as a workout. You can go to the gym 3-4x per week plus 1-2 general conditioning sessions and average less than 5000 steps per day, making you essentially sedentary

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I haven’t ever tracked how many calories I eat. Never found the need to.

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Ok. So do you feel you would benefit from adding some cardio 3x per week or not?

Like, whats the impetus for these thoughts? The desire to avoid it or to do it?

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I think I like where the discussion is ending up.

Walking is “Good.” Being outside makes it even better for you. Spending time with the kids and letting the dog get some outside time are all good too. For everyone involved.

That’s great if you want some general moving around and non-sedentary activity.

But if you want Specific gains to your cardio-vascular system, you’ll want to get your heart rate into that 120-130 “cardio zone” for 20 or more minutes.

Maybe walking will get your there, to count as “Cardio,” maybe not. It sort of depends on the pace your kids and dog can maintain. If your walks don’t get your heart rate up enough, and you still want “cardio,” you’ll have to figure something out.

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I’m a big fan of doing some sort of stupid high intensity conditioning blitz for 3-5 minutes before going on a walk so I can ride out that heart rate high for as long as possible. Dan John talks about a similar approach in “Easy Strength for Fat Loss”: doing the 15 minute easy strength workout and going for a walk.

And then there’s “Heavy Hands” by Leonard Schwartz, which Marty Gallagher has been a big advocate for, and Dan John as well.

And then you can steal from Tactical Barbell and do “fun walks” keeping a heart rate monitor on and, as soon as it dips too low, just drop and do some push ups or burpees until you get it where you need it to be again.

And I know none of this is new to you, but it’s still fun to talk about, haha.

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If your goal is fat loss…I don’t think it matters that much, just do whatever is sustainable for you. If you want to lose some bodyfat and improve your cardio in a ‘fitness’ kinda way, than that’s a whole other ball game.

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When it’s time to hit the streets and actually get walking I freeze up and forget all the good ideas.

Looking back, “Fun Walks” would have been perfect cardio for the Stroller phase. I could have even put a jump rope or kettlebell or something in the bottom of the stroller.

Something hard before the walk is a great one, too. Or a great one-two? Both kinds of work knocked out in one dose. I was just complaining about how long it took my HR to drop after conditioning/interval/circuit work.

I could have just added a short walk to that 6 or so minutes I already spent pacing around.

Now I feel silly.

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You might dig this, if you wanna make it a 1-2-3. I’ll do something like 5 minutes of Armor Building Complexes, go for a walk, and then, upon my return, repeat that 5 minute workout. The goal is to minimize the delta between performances, and it’s a nice little sandwich of hard and easy conditioning.

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