Counting Steps - Exercise or not?

       I am often asked "How many steps per day do I need to take to lose weight?"... and each time my heart silently cries and I scream in my head about how this current obsession with counting steps is in reality a fuzzy feel good, band-aid type quick fix, rather than an actual solution to obesity and obesity related health issues.
       The current culture of counting steps began with the arrival of fitness tracking watches and the studies that followed. One is generally considered to be sedentary if they take less than 5,000 steps per day and highly active if they take more than 12,500 steps per day. Somehow, 10,000 steps per day became the magic number and daily goal to achieve good health and/or lose weight. But what has been left out of the conversation is the quality of steps taken. The truth is that not all steps are equal. In order to discuss the quality of steps, we must first understand the difference between physical activity and exercise.

My training zones chart. 

          Physical activity is any body "movement that is carried out by the skeletal muscles that requires energy", such as turning the page of a book or walking to your car. Exercise is "planned, structured, repetitive and intentional movement intended to improve or maintain physical fitness. Exercise is a subcategory of physical activity". Examples of exercise include a planned brisk walk, swimming, and weight lifting.
        There is significant research proving that all physical activity is good for our overall well-being and health (less sitting, move moving!). However, it is exercise that will help improve our cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength fitness, muscular endurance fitness, flexibility fitness, body composition and help prevent disease. Therefore, if one wants to lose weight (change their body composition) and improve their heart health while preventing or reversing disease (cardiorespiratory fitness) it is important to not only increase our physical activity but more importantly to incorporate exercise into our daily lives and make sure that part of the 10,000 steps per day are exercise steps, not just physical activity steps.
        How do we know if the steps we are taking are physical activity steps or exercise steps? Exercise steps are easy to spot - they raise your heart rate into your training zone in a meaningful way for at least 10 minutes at a time. In order to discover your training zones, simply subtract your age from 220 to locate your maximum heart rate, example: 220 - 46 = 174. Therefore, 174 heart beats per minute (BPM) is my maximum heart rate. The chart above breaks down my BPM's into training zones. When my physical activity raises my heart rate to 87 BMPs I am at 50% of my maximum heart rate, or in training zone 1 and this would be considered a low exercise (yoga, slow walking). As the exercise becomes more intense, you'll enter into higher training zones. For example, running raises my heart rate into zones 4 and 5. The higher the zone you are working in, the greater the health benefits.
       Currently exercise recommendations are to achieve a minimum of 150 minutes per week of low to moderate exercise (zones 1 and 2) or 75 minutes per week of vigorous exercise (zones 3 and 4). So, simply make sure that part of your 10,000+ daily steps are exercise steps and then yes, counting steps will help you lose weight!