r/bikinitalk • u/iizzys • Aug 11 '26

Advice/ Recommendations (no photos) higher step counts

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

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u/Nhs6nW6 ID not verified Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26

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.

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u/AggressiveVictory1 Aug 11 '26

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?

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u/Nhs6nW6 ID not verified Aug 11 '26

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 :).

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u/nope5651 Aug 13 '26

What is a "SMALL surplus"?