The Reverse-Step-Count Challenge: How to Win at Being Lazy

Aug 3

You will regret nothing about keeping it below 250.

Every so often I get to a place where I literally don’t want to hassle with getting out of bed. Or getting dressed. Brushing my teeth is a Herculean feat and the idea of walking to the bathroom to fill my water is so monumentally distressing, I push the very image of doing so aside.

This kinda looks like, and occasionally feels like, depression. Considering “tiredness and lack of energy,” and a sense that, “even small tasks take extra effort,” among other symptoms, are real signs of this, you wouldn’t be wrong in sharing that concern during times you, too, may experience a profound sense of exhaustion. Even physical symptoms, like back pain and fatigue, abound during these bouts.

It’s not depression that makes me want to keep my step count below 1,000 for a day, though. I realize the number mentioned above is 250, but that’s just a goal, really, one I have yet to achieve. What makes me want to step as little as possible has to do with some terrifying statistics about work-life balance in the United States, and how it compares with other industrialized countries.

It’s this balance or lack thereof, that has led so many of us to obsess over the glowing numbers on our smartwatches. While I’ve seen, read about, and reaped many of the benefits of both wearing such a device and generally keeping my fitness level as measured by step count and PAI (personal activity intelligence), there are some issues with focusing only on the numbers presented.

We really need to stop glorifying the busy.

The US is the only industrialized country in the world with no mandatory minimum requirement for paid vacation for employees. Out of 41 countries researched, it is also the only country to lack paid leave for fathers and mothers with newborns. We’re prioritizing work and a skewed concept of “productivity” over family and mental health. Never mind that so much of the money our productivity generates isn’t even money we earn for ourselves or our families, but money for people with billions.

We really, really need to stop glorifying being busy.

I get it, I really do, being busy can feel like an indication you’re needed, that you have a vital role in something bigger than yourself. The whole office or school or classroom or store will stop functioning if you take a sick day. That’s how important you are to the very core of what you spend the majority of your time doing, right?

Wrong. Not taking that sick day, or a mental health day as needed actually decreases your productivity.

We all need to rest, relax, and rejuvenate, and with increased productivity as one of the end results of doing so, these kinds of days should be encouraged by our workplaces. Also, if there’s one thing I hope the pandemic taught us, it’s how utterly uncool it is to not call in sick when you are, indeed, sick. Employers, too, should actively encourage sick workers to call in, including on days when you’re so exhausted, you just need to rest. Seriously, lack of sleep, stress, and exhaustion can wreak havoc on your immune system, causing sickness where there was none.

Getting a smartwatch and the ensuing dilemma…

A friend finally convinced me to get a smartwatch, despite my partner’s warning that this particular monitor is just a way for the company to mine all our data. Conspiracy theories aside, it was a while before I jumped on the tracker bandwagon because it seemed like everyone was wearing one, with dozens of people wearing them as a sort of fashion statement who don’t seem to get any healthier, fitter, or less stressed as the result of the purchase.

I guess I just didn’t believe they worked.

I’ve since learned that the combination of a step count goal and a pedometer can actually help your cardiovascular health, improve your sleep, and lower your overall stress levels. Between that and my experience with heart rate monitors in general, I purchased a mi band, which covers not just steps and heart rate, but sleep, stress, and something called the PAI, or Personal Activity Indicator.

I’ve enjoyed using the band and have increased my cardiovascular health. The data shows I’ve started sleeping longer and deeper, and my stress levels have plummeted. It’s nice to see graphs showing this, though it’s not the band that caused these changes, it’s the combination of the data and my shifting goals. It’s a lot like how I approach my job as an educational coach and consultant — assessing, analyzing, and targeting practice towards need, reassess, and adjust.

One thing this cycle does not immediately take into account, however, is the need for rest and being utterly lazy once in a while. The band just measures your steps and cardio and stuff and gives you a little buzz when you’ve reached your goal. I like that buzz. It’s a great feeling to reach a goal every day. But if I’m constantly striving for and meeting that goal, there’s literally no day I can just be a sloth, and that could lead to the myriad problems associated with glorifying the busy.

Enter: the Reverse-Step-Count Challenge

One Sunday while laying around all morning watching movies in bed with my fiancé, the clear solution struck me.

“I’m going to keep my steps below one K today. It’s my goal,” I remarked.
“Oh yeah? What prompted that?” He asked.
“I just don’t want to stop this. We should get takeout and laze about all day, eat in bed, and just binge.”

He pursed his lips and nodded, considering. “I love that idea.”

With this, the Reverse-Step-Count Challenge was born. I’ve done it a couple of times since, with absolutely no regrets. Unfortunately, I don’t get any buzz from the tracker to congratulate me for making my goal, but I celebrate it nonetheless. My fiancé even pointed out that it’s the only challenge and goal I ever post on social media. These posts always get laughing face emoji responses, but I’ve had more than one friend tell me they were really going to do it and get super excited about it. I was thrilled to hear about these experiences, and I love seeing others embrace the need for completely slowing down.

How Personal Activity Intelligence Research Supports the Reverse-Step-Count Challenge

The PAI on my tracker is a pretty cool thing. It measures how much your heart rate increases over the span of one week. Studies have shown that keeping your PAI above 100 for the week can dramatically increase your cardiovascular health. What really works about using this indicator when you’re planning your reverse-step challenge is the PAI focus on weekly accumulation, not daily.

In other words, you work out doing whatever you like to do to increase your heart rate. This gets you PAI scores, and once you’ve gotten above 100, you can usually take at least a day off. On a recent vacation, I ran, swam, and hiked so much that I earned two days off, simply because all that exercise had raised my PAI all the way to 188. I had a great reverse-step weekend when I got home from that trip.

“Me time” is really not all about you.

When you take care of yourself, truly, you are genuinely taking care of those you love. When we’re tired, stressed, unhappy, exhausted, or feeling mentally unwell, we are not at our most productive, and we are less likely to show up for our kids in ways that are healthy for them. Just because it feels really, really good to take a day off does not mean doing so is some kind of junk food for the brain. Some things that feel really good, like massage, really are super healthy for us.

So do it. Take the Reverse-Step-Count Challenge. Keep it below 1,000 steps or so. Read a book under a tree, sleep next to a pool all day, or stay in bed and eat take-out in your pajamas. Whatever appeals to you, do it. Just let the day go completely free from obligation and steps. One word of caution, however: keeping it below 250 is really, really hard. I tried this a couple of weeks ago.

“Oh no,” I said, stopping on the way to the bathroom.
“What is it?” asked my fiance, concern at my tone lining his face.
“I just hit 231 and it’s only noon.”
“Do you need me to help? I could give you piggyback rides and stuff.”
My face softened, seeing another benefit to my goals. “I guess with this challenge, it’s kind of important to have a really, really supportive partner, huh?”
“Yup,” he said, leaning over to offer his back.

Gentry Bronson