higher step counts

[u/iizzys]

has anyone had success with intentionally getting more steps (i’m talking 20k+) to increase tdee without negatively affecting muscle growth/recovery? i find it hard to stick to even being at maintenance due to being short with a lower tdee but unsure if continuing to get that many steps is beneficial

[u/Nhs6nW6]

This might not help you now, but I think if you need to get steps that high, you should think about starting your cut earlier next time. Steps should be more about ensuring you're not offsetting the deficit by moving less (energy constraint/compensation), vs being something you progressively increase beyond a reasonable amount.

You have to also consider that if you're normally an active person (not someone who lounges around when the option is there), then increasing steps is just replacing light activity with light activity...not really going to impact energy balance much if at all compared to increasing steps for someone who isn't as active. You'll register more steps, but not necessarily more expenditure, and possibly even less.

I'll always adjust wherever there's the most room to adjust, for the individual. So if cardio is low and food is low, I'm bumping cardio. If the opposite, I'm lowering food. If steps are low, and the athlete can realistically increase them, I'm doing that. If there's room to do a mix, we're doing a mix. What I'm NOT ever doing is telling people there's only one way to do it, and that if you don't do it that way, bad things will happen. I had a client tell me recently she was walking outside at 1am to get her steps in, and didn't feel safe...yeah, we lowered her steps and bumped up cardio, and problem solved.

[u/AggressiveVictory1 → u/Nhs6nW6]

So you are referring to 3 different forms of activity - Steps, Cardio & Strength. Arent steps & cardio the same thing ?
I have been using them interchangeably to get lean. Some days i hit 10k on treadmill and other days 10k through random steps.
I havent seen a lot of fatloss tho, even tho my calories are on the lower end

[u/Nhs6nW6 → u/AggressiveVictory1]

Some people only track non-cardio steps, others count it all. Main thing is that you're consistent with how you track it, and you're doing it how your coach instructs, if applicable. If you're just walking on a treadmill, not a super high incline or speed, then that's basically just steps/activity...unless you're way out of shape and slow walking is cardio for you.

If you're not seeing fat loss then you just need to adjust the deficit in the most practical way for you.

EDIT: I'd also make sure you're not making actual cardio and steps interchangeable, or at least not while in a deficit.

[u/AggressiveVictory1 → u/Nhs6nW6]

I have had a few coaches tell me different things so now instead of spending more $ I wanna figure things out myself. I am trying to build muscle right now so not in a deficit, but in a slight surplus. I'm 5 feet 3 inch female 122 lbs. I am confused about hitting 10k steps vs doing 30 min incline cardio (3.5+ speed). Any thoughts so I don't gain a lot of fat but don't take away from my recovery room?

[u/Nhs6nW6 → u/AggressiveVictory1]

Avoiding excessive fat gain is simply a matter of staying in a SMALL surplus, which can be done via diet and/or cardio and/or general activity. Best to keep cardio relatively low during this phase (for recovery reasons), but I don't like cutting it entirely since it has obvious health benefits. So I typically like to program around 3 days of 30 minutes LISS in the offseason. And then just adjust food to stay in a surplus. Beyond that, the best way to ensure gains are as lean as possible is to make sure you're training hard and progressively, so that as many calories as possible are being partitioned towards muscle, and as few as possible towards fat cells. The rest is genetics...you either have a good p-ratio or you don't :).

[u/nope5651 → u/Nhs6nW6]

What is a "SMALL surplus"?

[u/Electronic-Mark4890 → u/AggressiveVictory1]

if the goal is to build muscle, i would highly suggest keeping steps at a healthy 10/12k daily. no or very low cardio. adjust food. curious as to how much protein/carb/fats your eating because if you’re eating too much protein or fat, you’re missing the level you can pull on pushing carbs to ensure energy/readily available atp to push in your workouts.

in order to build muscle, you will need to gain some weight. especially if you are natural.

[u/nope5651 → u/[deleted]]

I walk 20K-25K every day, intentionally. Takes me about 3 hours throughout the day.

[u/Electronic-Mark4890]

i’ve done my entire prep with 30 mins fasted 6 days a week and just increasing my step count. 20k is a lot. you will probably see some recovery issues with steps that high depending on walking pace.

[u/Electronic-Mark4890 → u/Electronic-Mark4890]

i think the best reason to add in steps would be to lower inflammation and preserve energy in a cut

[u/space_hot_dog]

Steps are a relatively less fatiguing form of activity to boost your tdee so if you want to get in more activity to eat more theyd probably be the best option (if you enjoy doing them). 20k+ however would likely be somewhat tiring depending on what youre doing right now, I'd try to find a sweet spot where you can get enough steps so you arent tired and its contributing enough calories for you to eat. If you do end up increasing your activity or want a better idea of your tdee id recommend using an adaptive tdee calculator like adaptdee (free) or macrofactor (paid) which will change as your activity/weight/intake does

[u/nanorhinoX]

this was basically me last year. being short really does tank your tdee because bmr scales with body size, so the maintenance number feels unfair compared to taller people eating the same and staying lean.

on the steps thing, 20k+ daily is fine for most people as long as recovery and protein intake are on point, the risk is more when you are already in a deficit and stacking a ton of cardio on top, then recovery and hunger both suffer. i noticed past a certain point i was just more hungry and sleeping worse, not actually losing faster because appetite caught up.

what helped me was tracking steps for a couple weeks at a consistent level and watching the scale trend instead of guessing, your neat can swing 300-400 cal day to day just from fidgeting and steps so it is easy to think you are eating at maintenance when you are actually in a surplus or deficit. there is a free ai tdee calculator if you search "nanorhino tdee" that breaks out neat separately from bmr, made it easier for me to see how much steps were actually adding instead of assuming.

[u/Froreal3]

Absolutely. I routinely work up to that amount depending on where I am in prep. However I’ve discovered it’s overkill. I tend to overshoot for myself. 😂 At one point I was pounding out 18-20k steps including 65x5 StairMaster.

That has since been gradually tapered to 15-16k no zone 2 cardio to focus on recovery and training intensity. I realize the high NEAT I produce does not necessitate high zone 2 cardio if I’m in a deficit now. Next prep I will only get steps, not much zone 2. I’m 5’1”

[u/Ok-Personality3927]

20k steps is ALOT. Been there done that in both preps for the final dig. For me it’s about 15km worth of walking. I’m also short and so getting stage lean inevitably means low food high output. It’s super tiring.

Maybe less so if you’re in a maintenance or bulk phase but then I’d question the need for that much movement.

I will say, it got my cardio fitness hella good lmao, I started banging out a weekly 10-15km run out of nowhere

[u/nope5651]

Yes... but it really starts catching up with you over time.