Well, counting them is easy but getting enough is hard work!
The other day I ran 3 km, I rode my bike, and I did a bunch of housework yet when I looked at my Garmin it read a measly 5574 steps. Short of my modest 7,000 step goal. And much short of the 10,000 step goal many people set.
I confess I’ve been skeptical about the step counting thing. I walk a lot. I have a standing desk. I live in a 3 story house, filled with teenagers, and I feel like I go up and down the steps all day.
But apparently not as much as I might think and especially not on the days I run.
It seems that one the days I run, I become, like my son, a sedentary athlete.
I’ve only been counting steps because I bought a Garmin watch for running. I wanted some way of tracking my pace and heart rate while I run and the one I chose also acts as a general activity tracker, keeping track of steps and reminding you to get up when you’ve been sitting too long. I like the MOVE! reminder.
But I’ve become extra conscious of my sloth like behavior on days that I run or ride a lot. Today, finally, I made it. I ran and I counted 10,133 Steps | 100% of Goal. Phew.
See Nat’s post on fitness trackers, Count what matters and make what matters count.
What kind of garmin did you buy?
Forerunner 15. It’s pretty basic but includes pace, heart rate, distance..
https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/into-sports/running/forerunner-15/prod145621.html
And it counts steps? I have the forerunner 310XT and I don’t think it does that. And it would run out of juice before the end of the day anyway.
It has two modes, run mode and regular watch mode. The regular watch mode counts steps. The battery lasts forever b/c it’s only run mode that’s taxing. It only uses the GPS in run mode.