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How to convert almost any activity into a step count

Find out how to convert your afternoon of gardening or your morning Joe Wicks PE session into a step count

Published:07/05/2020

This year's Step Count Challenge has a special focus on staying active at home. If you've recently started following online workout classes, or if you just find yourself pottering around the garden a bit more, you can convert your activity into a step count, which you can then add to your daily total.

The maths bit...

Each type of physical activity has a step conversion factor. This number is the amount of steps that 1 minute of a specific activity is equivalent to. For example, 1 minute of yoga is equivalent to 45 steps.

To use a step conversion factor to calculate a step count for a specific activity, you should use the following calculation:

Time spent doing activity x step conversion factor for activity = total step count for activity.

So, if you did 20 minutes of yoga, your steps would be calculated in the following way: 20 minutes x 45 steps per minute = 900 steps. 

Step conversion factors for different types of activity

The table below features some of the most common types of activity around the home, and their step conversion factors. If you've spent some time taking part in an activity that isn't featured on your step count dashboard, check below to see if there's a conversion factor, and calculate your step count using the formula above.

Activity Step conversion factor
Aerobic fitness class 181
Circuit training 199
Dancing 109
Gardening 80
Mowing the lawn 120
Pilates 91
Playing hide and seek
(or any playground game) with the kids
136
Rowing machine 212
Skipping with a rope 250
Stair climbing 181
Stretching 15
Trampoline 90
Washing a car 71

Once you've calculated how many steps your 30 minute gardening session is worth, you can add this to your step count activity log manually by navigating to "Add activity" on your account dashboard and recording your calculated steps under "walking".

Have you been taking part in an activity which isn't listed in the table above? Drop us a line at walkatwork@pathsforall.org.uk to let us know!