Sunday, October 25, 2015

The Legend of Chad Bisher


step
/step/
noun

an act or movement of putting one leg in front of the other in walking or running


Seems simple enough. Straight forward definition. But my buddy Chad Bisher challenged this definition and taught us all to reach for our dreams and follow our hearts this week.

It all started with a friendly Fitbit Work Week Step count challenge thrown down by none other than thejoestory. I invited a few Fitbit friends to step up to the challenge in what I am now labeling "THE Hot Stepper October Work Week Challenge of 2015, Murderer".

I knew something was a miss Early Tuesday of the competition. Chad Bisher had a big lead (like a whole day's worth of steps lead) by Tuesday Morning. I quickly rememberd what gave Chad Bisher the early week edge.

Chad Bisher owns a desk cycle. For the uninformed, the desk cycle is a small bicycle apparatus you can fit under your desk that allows you to pedal while you are sitting at your desk. Chad Bisher was racking up thousands and thousands of steps on the desk cycle.

Taken a back by this brazen display of competitive advantage I decided to email some folks for an impartial opinion. The problem, in my opinion, was that a step counted on a desk cycle is not truly a step. You are not supporting your full body weight and you are not moving from your current position.

Emails started flooding in, and quickly two teams formed.

FREE CHAD BISHER






Some crazy folks were actually in support of Chad Bisher.

"hahahahahaha" was one response which I counted as a support for Bisher.

"So have you ever tried so called deskcycle? What's preventing you from doing the same thing?"

"If seated cycling was allowed it should have been clear to all competitors"

"Would you count steps any differently if he was riding a stationary bike...if you would then you count the deskcycle steps too"

Some supporters went as far as printing up some tshirts for the FREE BISHER CAUSE.



CHAD BISHER RUNS SCAMS



The other side of the argument, the more sane people, had this to say.

"I am sure he is a nice guy and all but it also seems like he is a pumpkin eater (cheater cheater)"

"In my world there are many kinds of steps, but they all requires two components... moving ones lower extremity forward (even 0.01 inches), AND transferring standing body weight to that extremity. So I would say that he is not taking a step by pedaling a bike in a non weight-bearing position, as one cannot sit and walk simultaneously. Id have a hard time coming up with a formula to translate pedaling a bike to walking, too many variables. Walking and pedaling use a few of the same leg muscles, but it would be like comparing casually throwing a ball 100 times to doing 100 push-ups. Similar arm and shoulder muscles used, but too many variables to compare. If it was a competition of STEPS, I would say he knowingly racked up thousands of "steps" on his pedometer without leaving his seat, and should either subtract the approximate number of revolutions he made on he bike from his score, or be disqualified from he competition."

"While it seems that the majority of the competitors are all within "steps" reach of one another, Chad is walking away by 20k plus. I feel that this is similar to the Barry Bonds doping scandal with home runs. Rumor has it that steps are being calculated with the Fitbit attached somewhere other than the proper wrist location. I feel there needs to be an investigation launched by federal authorities into this scandal. "

"I don't have a Fitbit so I don't feel like I should get a say. Since you asked though, it's cheating for sure. Punish him!"

"I think the CBDBCC should be set to whatever value makes his total steps lower than yours.  Is that impartial enough for you?'
I agree that Chad has an advantage that does not permit a level playing field.

Adjustments Needed


So after the crowd weighed in...where do we stand? I think we have to do a step adjustment. I proposed a very straight forward calculation for adjustment.


  • Legs account for 16.88% of the average Male Body weight
  • Add a multiplier for unknown resistance setting of the bike
  • Multiply Chad Bisher's steps by .328
  • Add 10000 steps back to his total to account for non bike steps


From here you arrive at the adjusted step count for Chad Bisher. Then we see where he stands in the leader board. If he is still ahead of me then we subtract off just enough steps so the calculation still looks legit while allowing me to maintain the step total victory. Seems simple enough.

Battle to the End


So for all intents and purposes Chad Bisher was out of the competition. So it ended up being a battle between me and the Doc. Friday I ran to The Scout and back which is around 4.75 miles. Doc hit the gym after work and straight owned it.

I was down by about 5000 steps when I got home. The Royals started Game 6 of the ALCS at 7:00PM. By 8:10PM I convinced myself that I must defeat the Doc. So I embarked on another 4 mile run.


I get back from the run and realize I am still 1200 steps behind. The Doc is on the move, the Royals game is a nail biter, and we only have about 3 more hours to go on this competition.

I would sync, up 300 steps, the Doc would sync down 412 steps. We are both pacing and walking at this point in a fight to the finish. The ALCS game had a 45 minute rain delay and the Doc made the mistake of taking a breather during the rain delay. I never stopped walking from 9:00PM - 12:00AM and finished up a couple thousand steps on the Doc.

I earned the 35K step badge. It took 8.5 miles of running and 3 hours of constant walking but somehow I managed to edge past the Doc.





Results


The step contest ended 10/23/2015 @ 11:59:59PM. Here are the final results: Adjusted and non-adjusted.

Non-Adjusted

Hot StepperSteps
Chad Bisher115375
thejoestory105036
Doc102577
Wild Man David64380
The Professor52821
Brown Bear47335
Major H35160

Adjusted
I ended up multiplying Chad Bisher's steps by .582 which, to me, factors in resistance settings and other steps taken throughout the week. Remember this is me coming up with some arbitrary metric to ensure my victory.



Hot StepperSteps
thejoestory105036
Doc102577
Chad Bisher67148
Wild Man David64380
The Professor52821
Brown Bear47335
Major H35160

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