5 ms·
Isn't 12k steps like 6 miles? I could plausibly jog that much, but to walk it every day seems like a huge time commitment.
by dooglius 11mo ago
Isn't 12k steps like 6 miles? I could plausibly jog that much, but to walk it every day seems like a huge time commitment.
- John23832 11mo agoThen jog it? That's not a negative.
- striking 11mo agoThere's a difference between aerobic and anaerobic exercise. For many people, that manifests as walking being different from running. Which "zone" your heart rate is in (as compared to your maximum heart rate for your age group) tends to be a good indicator of which kind of exercise you're doing. It's important to do both kinds of exercise, with an 80/20 rule being pretty commonly followed.
- justinator 11mo agoThey wrote "jog" not, "better Kipchoge's marathon record"
- pandaman 11mo agoBoth walking and jogging are aerobic. Unless you can jog 6 miles under 2 minutes, of course.
- nradov 11mo agoThe 80/20 rule is kind of bullshit unless you're a professional endurance athlete. People who are only exercising a few hours per week will probably benefit from spending more than 20% of that time in higher intensity zones. https://open.spotify.com/episode/1vTgpKtseKCA3r4fKbrTUi?si=5vaUGQnXScSAHE6PfQ6qGg https://open.spotify.com/episode/1vTgpKtseKCA3r4fKbrTUi?si=5...
- sublinear 11mo agoThe walking is the only true daily exercise commitment here, and 10k steps is a classic goal. Close enough for me would be reinterpreting this as "walk about an hour a day". Otherwise, I think once-a-week HIIT and once-a-week strength training sounds very reasonable and easy to maintain for just about anyone.
- daemonologist 11mo agoAn hour is only 5k, maybe 6k steps for me (I'm sure it varies by individual). 12k is two hours of walking minimum, six or seven miles, which is a pretty big chunk - I did that much in college walking to class, and when I briefly lived in a city, but no way I'm getting that in on a daily basis out here in the suburbs. The other stuff, yeah no problem.
- djtango 11mo agoI'm pretty sure steps count when you get up and go to the toilet... When I did my masters, we were in a Chemistry wet lab 8 hours a day and during the first month I would come home completely exhausted. I realised later that this was because I wasn't used to being on my feet all day walking around even though it didn't feel like I was being active shuffling from machine to machine, fume hood to sink etc
- Libidinalecon 11mo agoSo much depends if you work remote or not. Before covid, I would hit 10k steps with just a 30 minute walk after work because the office involved so many cumulative steps. Since going remote, it is very difficult with a 60 minute walk. Walking 90 minutes after work is not going to happen so I just focus on my nutrition all the more now.
- sublinear 11mo agoI work remote and live in a very car-centric suburb. I still somehow average about 10k steps a day with just daily chores and errands. Maybe I should thank my parents for raising me the way they did because there's zero effort on my end other than the desire to take breaks outdoors, keep things clean indoors, and eat well. On that last point I try to cook most of my meals with fresh ingredients and enjoy shopping in person instead of delivery or pick up.
- nine_k 11mo agoCombine it with other commitments: walk the dog, do small-scale shopping (walk to the store and back), have a lunch break in a few minutes of walk from your office, etc. This is, of course, most easily done in a proper walkable city. Elsewhere biking around could work, probably.
- sublinear 11mo agoEven if you don't live in a particularly walkable area, about 5k of those steps would come naturally even to a young-ish sedentary person in the form of basic daily activities.
- lumost 11mo agoIt's typical/not difficult in major metro's - I do about 8-10k steps per day if I commute to and from my office without any lunch walks etc. Do any lunch/dinner/evening activity and you'll go over 12k. I don't know how to replicate this in a car centric environment.
- tom_alexander 11mo agoWikipedia puts the "preferred walking speed" around 3 miles per hour, so that would be 2 hours of walking per day. So with 8 hours of sleep, 8 hours of work, 2 hours of walking, 1 hour of hygiene, 1 hour of commuting, and 2 hours for meals, you'd still be left with 2 hours of personal time to do all your extracurriculars like cleaning, parenting, spousing, hobbying, shopping, repairing things, etc.
- throwup238 11mo ago> you'd still be left with 2 hours of personal time to do all your extracurriculars like cleaning, parenting, spousing, hobbying, shopping, repairing things, etc. In what way is parenting an extracurricular activity?
- danielheath 11mo agoIt's usually not part of a class you're taking?
- PantaloonFlames 11mo agoI took the comment as sarcasm.
- throwup238 11mo agowhoooosh I’ve been relying on Poe’s Law for so long I never thought it could happen to me.
- PantaloonFlames 11mo agoYou are neglecting the optimizer approach of working while walking; etc. Also, hygiene during the commute - just shave and brush your teeth on the bus. And sleeping while bathing is a real time saver.
- IanCal 11mo agoYes, it’s going to be harder to hit if you live an extremely sedentary lifestyle and do absolutely no walking at any other point in the day. Frame it differently - it’s two hours of your day spent moving around at a walking pace.
- inopinatus 11mo ago“Ideal” outcome here is likely a lot more time investment than the 95%ile-effectiveness “good enough” outcome; and in any case, an effective exercise prescription is as personally specific - perhaps even more so - than many pharmaceutical ones, to account for physiology, morphology, age et cetera. For example my knees are too old for shuttle runs or whatever the intended HIIT might otherwise be, but I can happily go do 500W hill efforts on the bike.
- d_silin 11mo agoEasy when you don't have a car. I average this much daily for the past 30 years.
- lucyjojo 11mo agoi don't have a car and i probably do less than 2000 steps a day. (probably in the hundreds)
- strken 11mo agoI get about 6000 daily steps from my commute[0] plus about 2000 from miscellaneous movement around the house and office. The extra 4000 are pretty easy to fill in with a lunchtime walk and some housework. I don't think most people are going out and just walking for an hour and a half every day. A couple I know like to go for a walk with their morning coffees, for example. They've added walking into something they'd be doing anyway. Other people own a dog, or take their kid to the park each day, or do some other regular activity which integrates walking. [0] 3000 each way, which is 2km and takes me about 20 minutes at a moderate-to-fast walking pace.
- domenicd 11mo ago12k steps is about 2 hours. It helps a lot to have a walking pad (basically a mini-treadmill), and possibly standing desk. I do 45 minutes of Anki per day on the walking pad, and then if walking around the city hasn't gotten the other 1.25 hours, I can fill the rest with watching TV on the walking pad.
- justinator 11mo agoYou'll miss walking when your older and your bones turn to dust. I'd honestly walk as much as you can. Rust never sleeps.
- nradov 11mo agoGet busy living or get busy dying.
- chaostheory 11mo agoUse a walking treadmill for your desk. Life changer
- kjkjadksj 11mo agoYour body evolved to walk double that a day foraging and persistent hunting.
- YZF 11mo agoYou can get 3k-4k steps easily just by moving a bit more during your day. The other 8k can be done in an hour walk. You can jog as well if you're short on time but it's probably nice to spend an hour outside every day anyways?
- hn_throw2025 11mo ago[Loads up Fitbit] Yesterday, I did 15,686 steps which it reports as 6.5 miles. I always aim to get above 10K. Due to an illness I currently have digestive problems, so I walk (stroll, rather) after eating as it provides relief. I allow an hour after breakfast and also after the evening meal to do somewhere between 3K and 5K steps. This is at home. It’s not tedious as I listen to podcasts, audiobooks, talk radio, or music. As someone else mentioned, if you do it on a walking pad you could watch video. The rest of the steps stack up naturally as you go about your daily business.
- tasuki 11mo agoMy commute is a little less than that. It's certainly a better time investment than being stuck in traffic...
- lurking_swe 11mo agothis is why i love walkable cities! You don’t need to “schedule” time every week to meet basic fitness goals. You just walk to the subway, bus stop, etc. Walk to lunch. Walk to the park, Walk to buy groceries, etc. For those living in suburbs, I hear dogs can be a good excuse to walk more. :)
- GrzegorzWidla 11mo agoThen jog that much in zone 2. I’ve done exactly that, replaced 10K steps a day with < 30 mins jogs if I can’t hit the target for any reason (I work from home so it happens quite often unless I’m mindful about moving).