#1 Monthly Steps

[jthediesel]

So ....I noticed that the top step person was doing 1.2 Million Steps a month...Wow...did I miss 

something...Is this not Olympic numbers? Is that not 16.6 miles a day ,every day of your life?..Correct me.please..1 mile =2000 steps walking..or 1687 running.   So...I call BS..No one is running 15 plus miles a day every day of their life...Post that ...JJ

[Bill_k]

Depends what you do for a living. I used to work in a big plant and probably would do that doing rounds every shift or if they were a mailman or something .

[Dominique]

My advice: just ignore these people and focus on your own steps, and those of people who live a life similar to yours.

1.2M steps a month is an average of 40K per day. If/when you do reach a day when your step count is that high (yes, it’s humanly very possible) and ask yourself the question: could I repeat this every single day of the month?, you will have a better idea.

[BruceBu]

@jthediesel, I think the only thing that you can say with any degree of certainty is that YOU, yourself, cannot walk 20 miles or run 15 miles a day. I don't think you have the experience to pass judgment on anyone else. Your calling it BS is simply uninformed BS driven by a lack of personal experience and a lack of actual research on the subject..

[Mukluk4]

In a 7 hour shift at my part time job, I get 15-18K steps pretty easy (and well into 30K total on those days). The other 5 days of the week are 9 hours sitting (commute and office work) but can still reliably put in mid to upper 20K.  Since my work uses Sonic Boom for contests and fitness, I'm often within the 700K+ range on a monthly basis (granted that's good for #1 or #2 in my entire global organization).  If I were a waiter/worked in retail instead of an office job, I could see 1 million being a very feasible number.

[shipo]

---

@jthediesel wrote:

So ....I noticed that the top step person was doing 1.2 Million Steps a month...Wow...did I miss 

something...Is this not Olympic numbers? Is that not 16.6 miles a day ,every day of your life?..Correct me.please..1 mile =2000 steps walking..or 1687 running.   So...I call BS..No one is running 15 plus miles a day every day of their life...Post that ...JJ

---

While there is no question some folks cheat to get lots of steps, and while 1.2 million steps is a lot, it is nowhere near what an Olympic distance runner would log while at the peak of his or her training.  Consider the following:

• I am an older individual and far-FAR removed from anybody who might be considered an Olympian.
• Last fall I was engaged in a fitness challenge within my company.
• During October of 2016, at the age of 59, I completed my first 300+ mile running month of my life, and repeated that in November as well.

Octobers numbers:

• Running distance: 345 miles
• Total distance: 517 miles
• Total steps: 896,920

Did the person who logged 1.2 million steps cheat?  Possibly, maybe even probably.  In the fitness challenge I mentioned above I finished in 14th place; I would wager none of the top 13 individuals did as much as I did.  Did they cheat as well?  Possibly, maybe even probably.

[Mukluk4]

There's a couple of important points to make before you assume someone is "cheating"

1. You have no idea who these top people are or what they do.  They could be trainers, college kids, Olympians, etc.  In college, my campus was for the most part only really accessible via walking, had a full time job as a runner in a factory, and spent my summers either detasseling or roguing beans.  That doesn't even begin to include the time spent chasing beer or girls on a Friday night at the college bar scene and the various intramural sports I played. 

2. A very public competition is very motivating for some if not most people.  If you are within an extra hour of work of being the top dog, you may push for it.  And that has a cascading effect.

[jthediesel]

Thank you for your response..One reader noted that they might do postal
routes so that would account for at least 5 days a week and then they train
the other 2 days...I added the latter part...That I believe..FYI..I did a
little reading on Olympians who train for 1500 meters and those who train
for half marathons...good material..thanks again

[jthediesel]

Thank you for your response and great examples..I think I looked at it from
just a training perspective and what past Olympians who train for the 1500
M do daily ,weekly ,monthly etc...great points...thanks again

[jthediesel]

Excellent points and very logical especially being on a postal route..I
have completed 20k steps in a day as well as 25 & 30..I just don't
understand how the body holds up 24/7...that is tough..
Thanks again

[shipo]

---

@jthediesel wrote:
Excellent points and very logical especially being on a postal route..I
have completed 20k steps in a day as well as 25 & 30..I just don't
understand how the body holds up 24/7...that is tough..
Thanks again

Building the body up to endure thirty to forty thousand steps a day doesn't happen overnight; even with a running background, it took me an easy six months to ramp up to 10+ miles per day, every day, and even then I made sure I did the build-up miles almost exclusively on dirt.  Then again, I am older; I suppose I could probably have worked up to that level of running in half the time had I done it back in my 20s or 30s.  🙂

[MarciM]

@jthedieselI know it's tempting to question people with very high step counts, but really what is the point. They are cheating themselves out of honestly earning their ranking and more importantly the well being that comes from doing the work, if in fact they are inflating their step counts.

Focus on your personal goals and if you are in a challenge, watch the 2-3 people ahead of you and encourage the 2-3 people behind you. We grow healthier as a supportive community of like minded people. 

Have a blessed day! 

[jthediesel]

Thank you for the feedback and have a great wkend.JJ

[SunsetRunner]

sorry long post/rant, but it is starting to p*ss me off/annoy me

to me distance means nothing

stride length is everything for that, walk, jogging, running changes that

40k walking is completely different from 40k running

but 40k steps is 40k steps regardless of how it is done

someone who works 9-6 sat down in a office will struggle to do that

someone retired, out of work etc, basically has all day can do that no probs

for example, I am retired, to do 40k a day, from waking up to going to bed, I would need to do 2500 steps per hour

because of my epilepsy and the medication I take, plus one of the side effects caused, memory issues, I can not go out by myself, thus I jog on the spot whilst watching tv, which is the main root of my steps, unless I go out shopping or for a walk, if you feel that jogging on the spot is cheating then fine defriend me, I have no qualms about it, heck I have said numerous times that I jog on the spot, I don't hide fact that I jog on the spot

most days I do between 30-40k, why? because I have all day to myself, instead of sitting on the couch doing nothing but playing on the laptop, iPad, phone or watching tv, I choose to jog on the spot whilst watching tv, if I jog on the spot and watch say an episode of something, say The Big Bang Theory, that 1 hour I would do around 9k, which equates to 2.5 steps per second

if I jogged on the spot for 2 hours a day, 30 days a month, I would do 540000 steps, is that really that hard?

what really annoys me are those that do 10k every workweek saying those that do more cheaters

I am sure I have missed something, but you get the point, just because you can not or do not have the time to do it, does not mean someone else can not, 40k a day is not really that taxing when you have the time

so 2 steps a second, for 5 hours a day, every day for 30 days, 1080000 steps

2.5 steps a second for 5 hours a day, every day for 30 days, 1350000 steps

is 2 steps a second for 5 hours a day really that hard?

how many hours do you spend sat down watching tv?

from google

Experts recommend at least 10,000 steps--or about 5 miles--a day for health. It may sound like a lot. But most people walk about 4,000 steps doing regular daily activities. For example, if you are taking out the trash or picking up things around the house, you are probably taking around 100 steps per minute.

probably missed some stuff, but I think I have made my point

[SunsetRunner]

MarciM exactly

the whole point of the FitBit is to make people exercise by moving and lose weight

I love it how those that do low amounts call those that do higher amounts cheaters, yet those that do the higher amounts do not call them lazy

a 1 hour slow walk is 3600 steps at 1 step per second, I seriously challenge anyone who is physically abled to say why they can not do at least 1 hour a day, my dad who has a walking stick can nearly do that everyday ffs, even if you work full time, instead of sitting down watching that tv, jog on the spot, get off the bus 1-2 stops earlier, park further away

heck, go to the government website, most of what I have suggested etc is one there

1 slow hour walk every day for the month is just over 100k steps

the way it is going, I am seriously considering saying sod it to the forums, why should I come here to chatter and help, but take all the **ahem** and accusations of cheating just because I have the time to do those steps and choose to spend more time exercising than sat on my backside watching tv etc

granted, it is only a few, but at the end of the day, it only takes a few to ruin it for the many