600-700 Thousand Steps in Work Week Challenge?

[Sbarsell1220]

I saw a post on my Fitbit App where a group of people had 600-700 thousand steps in the Work Week Hustle. How is that even possible, that's over 100,000 steps a day for 5 days. My best 5 days is 150,000 and that was not working, running and walking for 5 days almost non stop. So how does someone get over 600,000, it has to be fake or they manually load their steps to get that many. 

[Ronlaub]

It is possible to do 185k in 24 hours if you are an ultra runner (or train like one). Even though I can't do it, I've seen many that have done it in a race. You would have to run the majority of the time, but could walk some. It will take an incredible toll on you, both physically and mentally. The people that claim to average 100k or more steps a day over a prolonged period are the ones that I don't trust. 

[Sbarsell1220]

Yep it sounds like she runs/walks does cardio for 20 hours. I suppose it's possible but my goodness. Who would want to do that, you can get a great workout in a few hours and be done. Then have a productive day lol

[checking]

Here's my reference point for (current) best ultra-ultra performance: Pete Kostelnick (55 mi/day for 98 days) he also did San Francisco - New York in 42 days (72 miles/day, supported).

[Ronlaub]

Pete is a legend without a doubt. But I feel certain he doesn't do any Fitbit challenges to impress people when he is on his crosscountry treks.

I've had a chance to meet other ultrarunning legends (I'm certainly not one of them). A lady that I raced with recently in a 24-hour race just completed a 6-day race where she did 453 miles (over 75 a day). How did she train for it? Reportedly, she ran 100 miles a week prior to the race (which would come out to less than 30k steps a day).

Unless they are in races or trying to set records like Pete, even your top ultra athletes DO NOT train by trying to average 100k steps each and every day. The human body is not made for that type of pounding without a chance to recover.

[DanielleinDC]

Yeah, that sounds weird, given that I usually max out in the 90,000 range, and that's when I have a good week. Going at a good clip, I can get 100 steps a minute, give or take.

I also attend hockey games regularly and know that when I'm clapping, I"m getting "accidental" steps. Being at the front row of my section, I also get a fair number of steps when I go to use the restroom, even if it is outside my section (which I only do during intermission).

[Pauljames_01]

I don’t believe it’s possible to achieve 185k steps in a day. Even if you average 6k steps an hour for 24 hours your still no where near 185k steps. Plus once you factor fatigue and need of a break and food consumption and toilet breaks, all this makes that number impossible to achieve. 

I have done 100k steps in a day once, and it’s brutal. I started at 3.30am and didn’t finish until 8.15pm. I had an hour and half break in between. I’m pretty fit guy too. I’ve done a couple marathons and I can honestly say that it took me longer to recover from the 100k challenge than a marathon. So I don’t believe 185k steps in a day is possible at all, on top of that I don’t believe for a second that people who claim 600-700 as an average step week is possible. You just wouldn’t be able to recover from one day going into the next. 

[checking]

@Pauljames_01 , As Baltoscott as told us, some consider every accelerometer trigger to be a step, so long as it is a measure of physical activity. E.g. rebounding, or by extension, shaking you arm, or sitting and tapping your foot with you hand resting on you knee creates "Fitbit steps". By the Fitbit ethos, almost any rapid motion that produces a device acceleration around 1 G is considered and step, and is nearly meaningless, in terms of the traditional definition of "step". Thus "Fitbit steps" are nearly meaningless unless the person that takes them is willing to specify and defend how accelerometer triggers were caused. A few of us are willing to talk in detail about how they do it (although it does not guarantee honesty, it is a good start) - Those that aren't willing to talk are not (IMHO) doing real steps and should be called out and then totally ignored.

[WavyDavey]

I've noticed that among folks with 100K steps reported, none will post their hourly breakdown for each day, so we can see the distribution. The amount of steps per hour should have some variance in it. Some of the more creative people end up with charts where there's huge blocks of steps with no variance, as if...something automated was going on.

[checking]

@WavyDavey I'm not trying to defend the ~100k/day x 7 day claims (I don't believe it, certainly not as a regular thing), but that automated thing going on could be a treadmill. Or targeting, such as 2000 steps every clock 1/4 hr (very light jogging), stay slightly ahead of that pace and stop for a short (~1 min) break after hitting target, until starting in on the next 1/4 hr - it will look like very regular bars at Fitbit graph resolution.

[Ronlaub]

There are many ultramarathoners that can do 185k steps in a day. If you look up results from a 100-mile race, many finish in less than 24 hours. And in 24-hour races, several knock out 100 miles or more. 

Can anyone do it day after day, week after week? My answer to that is DEFINITELY NO!