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. 

[Corney]

Madogmolly: Time magazine had a cover story last year asking the question
"Is Truth Dead"? Well I see this happening all too often in America and in
this thread!

[blazingsword]

My husband ran the Boston Marathon twice and was in a running group in our city. They highly recommend two pairs of running shoes, and to put no more than 400 miles on each pair. Hubby was very good about that. He kept track of the mileage on his shoes and when they hit 400 he would donate the shoes to the running club for newbies or those that had no running shoes.

[mr.o.u.s]

I also buy 2 or 3 pairs when I find what I like because I know they will
discontinue anyting that is just right for me.🙄 But I put thousands of
miles on them, fix the soles with Shoe-Goo until the uppers fall off, sew,
tape and glue the holes until they basically fall off or my wife throws
them away. It is not that I don't just love to throw cash at shoe companies
but all I really want is a flat shoe that protects my feet from rocks and
glass. No cussion, no heel rise and a really wide toe box. In 1970 when I
was 7 or 8 all I really wanted was a moccasin but since they never had them
at the value shoe store Mom took us to The Waffel Racer was as close as I
have seen. I have run several 100's and other ultras and have never had a
major knee, ankle, hip, or back problem. Not that I do this now but 400
miles for some is just a month or 2.😉

[hkbikee]

80000 steps is easy with the right hardware 😉

[WendyB]

@hkbikee  Dont agree sorry.

There are people that do it daily and honestly

[b.chaudhury]

80000 steps more or less corresponds to twice the marathon distance. If it
is done every day over weeks/ months the person has to be a superman

--


Bikash Chaudhury

[Corney]

hkbike: Truth is dead in America!

[RobbieDi]

I cannot help but chuckle.

---

@Corney wrote:
hkbike: Truth is dead in America!

---

[Chik-n-lady]

I'm sure that number of steps sounds impossible for the average person... but, no... you don't have to be training for a marathon. I'm a farmer... I'd say the basic farmer covering even a small amount of acreage gets pretty close to this on a daily basis. It's just a lifestyle.

[blazingsword]

True.

Sent from my iPhone

[fitmaori]

I'm doing a step challenge,the top person is avging 33000

[debojenkins]

OMGosh!! This is the post that never dies!! Lol!!

[brunoray]

Why WON’T it die?  Who cares??

[mr.o.u.s]

How do we kill it?

[checking]

@mr.o.u.s  you kill it by not posting to the thread.

[mr.o.u.s]

Too late for that now. But why all the angst? It's a simple question with
many answers all of which boil down to you need to run about 50 miles each
day or do some equivalent activity. Doable but difficult to sustain.

[checking]

@mr.o.u.s Or walk about 36 miles a day (assumes the population average of ~2200 steps/mile): even though it make take a bit longer, it is considerably easier and more sustainable than running 50 miles. Plenty of people do it on the PCT, AT and in cross country (coast to coast) walks. However, I wouldn't necessarily believe anyone who claimed it using a Fitbit - too easy to cheat - I'd want to see other confirmation such GPS mileage on Strava, or similar. And actually the whole paradigm of number of steps being the primary metric, on which FItbit's whole existence is based, is actually quite stupid.

[mr.o.u.s]

Thats what I was thinking. I have done 100k for 2 days in a row finishing
the Susitna 100 but stride is shorter cuz you are pulling a sled and and
it's in the snow. Third day is pretty much a rest day or rest week for that
matter 🙂

[prc1977]

I don't know about seven 36 mile days in a row on the AT. A 30 mile day is generally considered a long hiking day and a good number of the hikers take zero days after big miles to avoid injury or burnout. I am sure there are exceptions and great hikers who could knock out a week of 36 mile days on the trail but the point isn't that it can't be done but rather that it isn't easy and it isn't likely.  When a person averages 80,000 steps a day it is reasonable to be skeptical.

The idea that a person gets more steps per day by taking smaller strides - maybe they're tired or maybe they choose to - makes a lot of sense. I appreciate the idea that step counts aren't true indicators of distance and are arbitrary. Your reference to the AT proves it to an extent because climbing up into the White Mountains might yield a lot of steps if not a lot of miles.

[checking]

@prc1977 , I am glad that you remind us that your original question referred to an 80k average OVER 7 DAY (sorry about the moderator edit), not doing it continuously for months or years on end. Several points:

1) averaging 36 miles a day does not mean doing 36 miles a day for 7 days in a row. much safer to alternate long and short days (or two long one short) to get to the same average, as you indicate.

2) the mileage I calculated was for an average person walking level on a relatively smooth surface. If you wish to apply to the AT you should use something like 3500 steps/mile (23 miles/day) and 3000 for the PCT (27miles/day).

3) First reference point for a question like "How does a person do a certain exceptional task in a certain amount of time" is to look at records:

PCT - 51 miles/day average

AT - 45 miles/day

cross country (SF -NY) 72 miles/day

So what we are really talking about is doing about 1/2 the mileage per day for 7 days compared to the record average daily mileage for various terrains over periods of 1.5 - 2 months. I think most anybody can do a 560 week if they really want to: dedication, sufficient pretraining, flat pleasant terrain to do it on, and a week vacation if you need it. A similar case: if an (elite) person can run a 2:20 marathon (5:20 mile pace) how hard is it for them to run a 5K at 10:40 mile pace - not very, most anybody can learn to do it if they so desire.

P.S. good to see this thread return to the subject matter, rather than bunch of disbelievers telling us how they can't do it, don't want to do it, and therefore don't believe anyone else can. (I would agree anybody using a fitbit as their only evidence would be highly suspect - but the question was how do people do something, not how to do they cheat to look like they are doing something).