Steps vs Cardio | Which is Best for Fat Loss, Health, & Performance?

“Move more”, they say; but does it matter how quickly?

Use it or lose it

For general performance:

• More steps per day do offer slight aerobic benefits but do not significantly improve endurance.
• Higher-intensity cardio (ideally, HIIT) is essential for improving aerobic fitness.
• Training should match endurance goals (e.g. long-distance running vs team sports vs whatever it is that you care about for you).

For general health:

• Both cardio and step tracking reduce mortality risk and improve longevity.
• 2–3 hours of cardio per week provides most health benefits, with diminishing returns after 8 hours per week.
• 10,000+ steps/day is optimal, but 5,000+ steps/day still benefits health. And, not mentioned in this video, but really (per science) there seem to be diminishing returns after about 8,000 steps per day.

Fun fact: the reason it’s 10,000 steps per day that everyone talks about as the default goal, is just because the Japanese person who popularized it noted that the kanji for 10,000 looks a bit like a walking person: 万

For fat loss:

• Both step tracking and cardio do help.
• Step tracking better reflects total daily movement, while cardio burns calories in sessions—but if it’s not HIIT, there is likely to be a compensatory metabolic slump afterwards.
• High-intensity cardio increases fatigue, which may impact resistance training and diet adherence.
• Excessive endurance training can slightly inhibit muscle growth, but low-intensity steps have minimal interference.

So for fat loss, it’s best to get those steps in, and throw in a few HIIT sessions per week, with adequate recovery time between them.

For more on all of these things, enjoy:

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Want to learn more?

You might also like to read:

How To Do HIIT (Without Wrecking Your Body)

Take care!