How can a person average 80,000 steps in a day?

[prc1977]

I don't mean to call anybody out or question somebody's integrity but there are fitbit users who average better than 75K steps a day over the course of a week. Assuming they get eight hours of sleep, that means they're walking almost 40 minutes each hour every hour of the day unless they're asleep. Every day for a week.

It is possible that they're running or training for a marathon or walking really fast or are really really into this walking thing but it seems like it is too much. Any way you do the math, it is an incredible amount of walking and it is sustained over the entire week.

What's the most anyone has ever walked in a day? How about in a week? 

I wonder what it would be like if I got up at five am and walked all day until midnight? Doing the math, it would theoretically be possible to break 100k but I don't think I could get anywhere near that. And 80k a day for a week seems too much too.

What do you think?

Moderator edit: Clarified subject. 

[danae]

I'm lost- where do you get people averaging 80,000? The 80,000 or so in the box with "You" and our pictures are how many we walked over the last 7 days- total, not average. That is why it changes each day- we lose a day and add to the total with that days amount. I see most people averaging from 7,000 to 14,000 each day, highest I have seen was around 25,000. I am not saying you are wrong- I just don't know where you get that info.

[Colinm39]

@prc1977Have you clicked on the RH arrow in your Friends tile and examined the Steps there because I feel you are referring to the weekly steps.

There have been some Fitbitters who have achieved the 80,000 and 100,000 in a day, but that has been in a 24 hour walk/run contests.

I have two friends who are averaging/day 40k and 50k respectively genuinely, one is in his 70's and uses a treadmill to watch TV, but his goal is to record steps to virtually walk around the world before he is 80.

That's what Fitbit does to us.....!!!!

[JenniLacey]

I average more like 120-140k per week.

Some of us work active jobs. I work in a factory on a fast-pace assembly line and am constantly moving for 8 hours a day 5-6 days a week. I'm also a mom of 3 young children so when I get home from work, I can't exactly sit around. I may get done work at 3pm but I don't get a chance to sit down until around 7-8pm.

I run 6 days a week for 45-60 mins. We also do a lot of hiking together as a family. In the spring/summer/fall we usually do 2-3 hikes per week where we walk for 3-5 miles.

I usually get around 22-24k steps on the days I work. Around 12-16k on my days off.

Too much? Too much for what? You make it sound as though we live to get all these steps in, lol. It's the other way around, these steps come from living. I wish I had the luxury to sit and rest once in awhile. Some of us don't have much of a choice in how many steps we get. Sure I could give up on my running and hiking but I enjoy those things and even without them I'd still easily clock 80k/week. I can't exactly quit my job and let my house go to shambles and my kids go hungry.

[Mary]

Jenni- I think some people get super high steps values and those steps don't 'come from living'.  I see advice given here to get up hours before dawn and hit the treadmill.  

There are always going to be people who think if a little of something is good, a LOT of it must be great.  I think that's rarely the case.  Moderation is important.  I plan to be using these feet for a long, long time.  

[alex45674]

If I did 80K in a week I would be disappointed to be honest.  I usually have 100K-130K weeks.

I do sit behind a desk at work but take every chance to leap up and walk somewhere to see a colleague or pass paperwork on.

I run 3.1miles (5K) every morning, or run a mile and then do a workout DVD which usually gives me a couple of thousand steps plus the mile (2200 steps approx)

I go for a walk most lunchtimes at work 1-2 miles.

I often go for a mile walk after dinner

and frankly I never sit still, I love being active.  Weekends I usually run a bit further on one of teh days, and walk into the City to do shopping, or walk to Sainsbury's and back (1 mile round trip).

10-15K steps a day is not many with all that.  I am a bit obsessed with my fitbit and love to see those steps mounting up.

[Canbit]

I am guessing you are looking at the 7 day totals.  Unless someone is a pro athlete, and running marathons every day, it's very unlikely someone would have a 70,000 step-per-day total.  

I usually achieve 7-10K steps in my daily activities - work, errands, housework, etc.  I set my goal to 15K because that is a reasonable number I can achieve on most days with a reasonable amount of effort (45 minute to 1 hour run, 2 hour walk, usually).  The days I have more time, I aim for a higher goal, like 20K or 25K steps.  I am by no means super fit yet when compared to others on fitbit groups, my friend list, etc, I tend to be above the average.

[JenniLacey]

.....

[prc1977]

Just to be clear I am not talking about the weekly total. There are people who use a fitbit who have a daily average of 75k steps. Others I have seen have daily averages of upwards of 80k steps.

I get to 200k weekly if I try really hard but never more than 40k in a day.

[prc1977]

If I click on some of my friends I see a daily average for the past seven days for each of their friends. I just did this twice to be sure I'm not crazy and it was easy to find people with a daily average based on the last seven days that were above 60k steps average for the past seven days.  One woman was at 86,000 steps average for the last seven days.

That's 602,000 steps in a week....unless there's something else going on and I am missing it that represents approx. 5000 steps per waking hour every day of the week for seven days...at my pace (which is admittedly slower than many) that represents 45-50 minutes of walking per hour every hour 18 hours a day for a week.

[Mary]

There are people who clip it to their hyper dog's collar or ceiling fan.  I would ignore it and de-friend them, if needed.  

[Colinm39]

All manually added steps are included in Friends totals. If the average was very high and a high proportion was manual steps, not Tracker counted steps they wouldn't  show a high badge for steps.

[Canbit]

There is realistically no way any normal person is achieving 80 000 steps per day. Perhaps once in a rare /extreme day, but not as a daily average. So yeah, I'd ignore it as bogus. Or message them to ask how they manage to achieve that number.
It just sounds like such a common 7 day total number that I see often that I assumed that's what you were looking at and misinterpreting.

[JenniLacey]

In that case I would agree that it's just not possible. I think those of us who are 100-200k **for the week** would be considered very active. I have to run for 75 mins, work 8 hours at a fast pace job, run around and take care of my house and kids until 8pm in one day just to get 28k. I could see 40k (maybe 50k tops) for those even more active than myself but that would be an insane amount of steps and require a lifestyle like farmwork, plus planned exercise. 80k? I'm going to have to agree with the PP... they either have their stride set way too low or they put it on their hyper Jack Russell terrier.

[Ali]

I average about 225,000 steps per week and I work darned hard to get there. It is not impossible, just requires a lot of dedication to whatever form of exercise you are doing. Mine is walking.

[WendyB]

There is actually a group of people that average 45-75K a day here.

Most of then use treadmill desks at work

[Trice]

I agree with you, its hard for me to see how someone can walk 80k to 100k a day. How many miles is that???

[Cybertekkno]

I usually fall in the 90,000 - 130,000 steps per week range and I really have to work at it, since I work a desk job.  I walk on my lunch breaks, run 5 - 7 miles per day 2 to 3 days per week (about 17,500 - 20,000 steps per run) and am training for a half marathon.  I also walk the house and neighborhood whenever I get a change.  I assure you that it IS possible to achieve that many steps in one week, but those of us who do work hard to get there.  I personally am disappointed if I do not hit my 100,000 steps per week by midnight every night.

[Canbit]

The OP was talking about 80000 steps per DAY average, not weekly total.  I'm still baffled by those that claim to acheive it.  90-120K or so as a seven day total is quite do-able.

[Ali]

If you read the title of the discussion you can see where confusion comes from.