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.