10,000 steps a day or how much on a bike?

The popularization of activity monitors has led many people to try to avoid complete sedentary behavior by meeting the minimum activity standard that almost all of these devices set for the user, which consists of walking 10,000 steps daily. But what if we mainly travel by bike, how do we meet that minimum activity?

Fight against sedentary behavior also with your bike

Activity bracelets typically monitor the movement of the person wearing them using accelerometers. That is why this technology is especially useful for counting the steps taken, as they are very easy to detect through accelerometers due to the repetitive movement that produces a clear pattern of movement.

However, these bracelets often do not take into account cycling when automatically counting daily activity unless we intentionally record the distance traveled. This raises doubts for many people about how many steps are equivalent to the recommended minimum of 10,000 daily, as those who use their bike as a means of transportation often find it difficult to reach that step count unless their job is active.

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To find the answer, we just need to look at the caloric expenditure of those 10,000 steps. On average, walking for an hour burns between 200 and 300 calories, while the same amount of time on a bike usually translates to about 400 to 800 calories, approximately double. Therefore, roughly speaking, those 10,000 steps, which take about an hour to walk continuously, would be equivalent to about 30 minutes on a bike.

However, it is important to remember that the 10,000 step goal is completely arbitrary and not based on any scientific evidence; it is a round number that works well as a marketing and motivational tool. Nevertheless, it is an achievable goal that has encouraged many people to include reaching this step count in their daily routine.

With all this in mind, it is easy to infer that choosing the bicycle for our daily commutes can lead us to achieve the same or even more activity than taking those 10,000 steps, or to complement them. All with the same goal: avoiding sedentary behavior.

In any case, whether many or few, any daily activity we add up contributes in a world where work, personal, and family obligations often make it very difficult to maintain a constant exercise routine.