Walking may be the simplest and most popular fitness activity in the world. Getting out and putting one foot in front of the other feels good, clears the mind, and has been proven to help us live longer and healthier lives.
However, not all walks are workouts!
In Count.It exercise challenges, we apply a common sense litmus test to walking: Was the walk an intentional workout, or was it just part of normal daily movement?
To prevent every day walking from showing up as intentional exercise, Count.It does not credit "walking" workouts that are sync'd from fitness apps. (NB: This change effective as of 3/1/2026.)
If you are planning a proper walking workout, either outdoors or on a treadmill, you can absolutely still log this as a workout. Simply select one of the following activities on your fitness app or via the Count.It manual entry logging form:
Fitness Walking
Walking - Treadmill
Hiking
For those just out for a walk, not to worry: In any challenge that combines steps and exercise, you will still earn a point for every step you take during your non-workout walks. Those steps will add up, but the points earned from steps during a normal walk are a little less than the points earned if you were actually "working out" for that same period of time. Exercise is more intense and burns more calories, and intention matters!
Why the change?
The distinction between walking and walking workouts gets confusing as some fitness wearables auto-track walks as "workouts." For example, if you go on a 20 minute walk to your friend's house while wearing your Fitbit or Apple Watch, the wearable may prompt you to "Log an outdoor walk." If you accept the prompt, you'll see that walk logged on your fitness app as a workout. This isn't quite fair to your fellow challengers who did a hardcore bootcamp workout for 20 minutes. SO, this will not be sync'd or credited on Count.It as exercise. Again, to get credit for an intentional walking workout, log it as "Fitness Walking," "Hiking," or "Walking - Treadmill."