Have you seen a the walking pad on your social media lately?
I know I have! This was such a timely question from one of the T180 ladies. Let us know what questions you have, so we can answer them for you too 🙂
Q: Do slow steps count the same as faster (walking) steps? I got a standing desk with a walking pad (tiny treadmill without arms), but can only walk at 1.5 to 2.0mph while reading or typing. Will this still help my overall step count?
A: First of all, nice work on figuring out how to walk at your desk! Second of all, yes, the slow steps count just the same as the faster steps do. They just take longer to add up because they accumulate at a slower pace.
In more detail: A mile takes about 2,200 steps for adults, so 1.5mph means you will only get 3,300 per hour vs 6,600 per hour for a more “normal” walking pace of 3.0mph. However, most adults get just 3,000 steps per day, so an extra hour of very slow walking (1.5mph) will double most people’s daily step count. No matter what your step count, adding 3,300 steps per day will have a BIG positive impact.
Since you are walking at your desk it is appropriate to slow down to the pace that you can still get your work done. Even if you needed to slow down to 1.0mph you’re getting infinitely more steps per hour than you would be getting by sitting down all day.
What does her walking pad set up look like?
The walking pad is a small treadmill without arms that is designed to go under your standing desk or table. 10+ years ago a treadmill desk situation was $10,000+. However, competition has brought the price of these “walking pads” down to $120 to $200, and standing desks can be had for $50 to $100 (which is even more impressive if you factor in inflation).
Tips and tricks:
· Leave it set up if you can: if space allows, leave the “treadmill desk” set up. When we are tired, or having a low motivation day we seek the path of least resistance. Having to stand on the treadmill to get to your desk means interacting with the treadmill (what you should do) is the path of least resistance.
· Start on the mill: in the morning you’re crisp, but in the evening you’re brain is crispy fried. Start with 30 or 60 min on your first tasks before you allow yourself to get comfortable sitting. Procrastinating on hard things usually means they’re not going to get done at all.
· Break it up: Implied above is that you will spend some time sitting vs trying to walk for the entire 8+ hours you spend at your desk. If your step count is in the 3-4,000 range test out an extra 3,000 for at least a day or two before jumping all the way to 10,000+. You don’t really know how your body will respond – you may have no soreness, you might be crazy sore, or you might be in the middle.
· Use a timer: using a timer to enforce the minimum walking pad time allows your brain to better focus on the work you’re supposed to be doing.
Extra details
· If you want to be nit-picky, walking more slowly does decrease calories burned per mile by about 5 calories per mile. I guess I could’ve said “it’s 95% the same,” but that seemed too murky. So, yes, we burn slightly more going faster, but nobody is really struggling or winning because of 5 calories in either direction. We all have more meaningful fish to air fry.
· Getting more steps during your day – like in the question – actually helps reduce your appetite. Said more precisely, it helps to better regulate your appetite. Motion is lotion for your joints and for your metabolism.
- More steps = more better. You have seen headlines saying “10,000 steps per day is unnecessary,” and other such nonsense. This is confusing clickbait vs being helpful in anyway.
- What these misleading headlines are “reporting” on is that the more steps you add the smaller the increase in health per step added.
- The idea that going from 1,000 steps per day to 3,000 steps per day is going to have a bigger impact that going from 8,000 to 10,000 (both are 2,000 steps) is common sense.
- It is also important to note that “smaller increase” is NOT the same as “no impact” or “negative impact.” In fact every increase in step count has a positive impact on health, and we have yet to find an upper limit.
· Running a mile only burns 20% more calories per mile.
- 20% isn’t nothing, but wearing a weight vest that equals 20% of your body weight would make walking burn the same calories per mile.
- Walking on an incline of 2-3% would also increase the cost of walking by 20%.
- The advantage of running would, obviously, be that it takes less time to get the miles done.
· Random thought: Something I think about is that I would expect running (jogging) at 6.0mph to cost twice as much energy as walking at 3.0mph because you are moving the same object (you) twice as fast.
Force is ½ mass * velocity2, so, it takes twice as much force to go twice as fast. However, our bodies are able to accomplish this task for only 20% more calories, which is pretty amazing.
All of that is to say the human body is remarkable at locomotion (walking, carrying stuff, and running). We were born to move.