Is it time to ditch the Fitbit?

My friend taunted me yesterday. It was no perceived slight, or joke gone wrong. I got a notification on the Fitbit app on my phone: “Emily W taunted you.”

Emily has worn her Fitbit for a year. I got one to beat her. With 10,000 steps a day (about five miles) held up as the benchmark of an active lifestyle, it is a healthy outlet for our innate competitiveness – or so I had thought as I walked in circles around my small flat late at night, grimly determined to reach my daily goal of 12,000 steps before bed.

My view was that the more steps a day, the better, but fewer than 10,000 and you might as well be dead. So I am dismayed by the news that I may have been wasting my time.

According to the BBC documentary The Truth About Getting Fit, the hours I dedicate each day to my pursuit of step supremacy could have less impact on my health than fewer walks at a brisker pace. Host Michael Mosley and researchers from Sheffield Hallam University conducted an experiment, tasking one group of volunteers with taking 10,000 steps a day, and another with three brisk 10-minute walks (about 3,000 steps).

The 10,000 steppers not only struggled to meet their daily goal but broke less of a sweat than those doing the “Active 10”, who achieved 30% more moderate-to-vigorous physical activity despite moving for less time.


Source: theguardian