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. 

[shipo]

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@MihaiMVP wrote:

How about running backwards, is it bending the rules as well? That would be the opposite of a forward motion, but it still counts on my tracker as (positive) steps. I even get a slightly higher cadence than with normal running. Are these fake steps, or a good staregy to fit in a bit more? 

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I assume your tongue was firmly implanted in your cheek when you wrote the above post.  🙂

Moving from point A to point B, regardless of which way you were facing during the run means those are real steps.  The thing about running backwards for any significant distance is the motion itself; the body didn't evolve to run that way and I'm pretty sure there is a much greater potential for injury by doing so.  That said, using it as a warm up motion or a cross training motion sounds like a good idea.

[shipo]

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PinkRayneDrop wrote: 

Fake steps would be NOT moving your feet off the ground at all.......as far as I can tell. Otherwise there would be no steps registered via a Fitbit One...... cause it's on your hip....

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How about this; you've claimed 100,000+ steps in a day is "simple", I would like to see you go outside and try to walk or run even half that many steps in a day and then back it up with a MapMyWalk image of what you did.

Doing the above will give you an idea of what real steps are like.

[LetsMove]

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@PinkRayneDrop wrote:

Treadmill must be fake cause you are NOT moving forward at all, you stay in the one spot. 

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On a treadmill with no incline, you burn lesser calories than actually walking, because the treadmill does some of the work for you. So, the steps are not entirely fake, but they dont represent real steps 100% either, unless the treadmill is on an incline. Then you can compare it to walking on a flat surface. 

[SunsetRunner]

Well u can get a treadmill that have incline. And not everyone can go outside and work, if that's all u can do is go to a gym and work out, u moving that better then trying to get 80k , 100k steps in a day.

[paso]

Re: treadmill
My understanding is using an incline of 1% on a treadmill compensates for the average wind resistance when walking. However regular walking also improves balance (good for anyone planning on growing older😉). Being in nature doesn't hurt but if it's not possible for ANY reason not to be outdoors I can't imagine why a treadmill would not be considered a good or great choice.
Whatever moves You😉
Happy trails-indoors or out:dim_button:

[LetsMove]

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@paso wrote:
Re: treadmill
My understanding is using an incline of 1% on a treadmill compensates for the average wind resistance when walking. However regular walking also improves balance (good for anyone planning on growing older😉). Being in nature doesn't hurt but if it's not possible for ANY reason not to be outdoors I can't imagine why a treadmill would not be considered a good or great choice.
Whatever moves You😉
Happy trails-indoors or out:dim_button:

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Absolutely!! Besides, if you wear fitbit all day, it WILL record many other "fake" steps as you move about. Just the act of washing my hands with soap added 20 or so steps! Given that, I dont think treadmill steps are all that bad. The step count at the end of the day will tell you whether you were more active than usual or the same or that you were a lazy bum that day 🙂

[Corney]

A treadmill still adds to the pounding the lower extremity joints have to take along with the spinal facet joints.  To the 80K stepper that claims to walk 12.5 hous a day inorder to log 80K steps and get his "Endorphin high" I can't imagine anyone averaging 107 steps per hour on a treadmill without going insane.  If some or all his walking is outside then the pounding his joints are taking is increased unless he is walking on a padded track, but where ever he is walking for his 12.5 hours at 107 steps per minute it's INSANE and mind numbing.  I use an ellipital and average 124 steps per minute for 45 minutes, granted it's on an incline and the resistance is at 6, but I doubt he could walk on it for 12.5 hours, averaging 107 steps per minute at no incline and no resistance, but at least his joints wouldn't receive the pounding he gets walking.  This is definitely my last word on this, It's all B.S. and I don't mean a college degree.

[Leau]

I have reached 50K steps once, and it was done without walking all day. Also, understand it is steps, not necessarily walking. If you use a recumbent elliptical machine for a half hour, then stand up and walk a route for the other half, giving yourself a half hour after each hour of exercise for rest/eating/bathroom, you can get in a very large number. I have back issues, so standing for long periods of time is very painful for me, so I have to exercise in a manner that is healthy for me.

[MihaiMVP]

@Leau

Looks like good steps to me :).

Also, if you plan just to make a large / huge number of steps, speed is a very small factor and you only get more tired by pushing hard. For instance - I make 160 steps / minute when I run (pretty much the same at 10 mph or 5 mph) and 100-120 steps / minute when I walk, meaning that you can keep for hours at a jog speed unlike targeted tempo training for instance. Also, 3 hours of walking equals to about 2 hours of running in number of steps, so it is likely that at least half of the steps in a day will come from walking - especially if you plan on keeping a high average for a longer period of time.

[mydonspace]

I recently ran a marathon in 4 hrs that was 48,000 steps. It just gives you a perspective of how much effort that needs to put in to achieve a lot of steps. 

[Corney]

I congratulate you on your accomplishment, that's something to be proud of.  Those 48K steps are nothing compared to the many steps you took to train for a marathon.  Just think of all those 50-80K loggers that are doing it for some inane competition.  What does a winner of one of those competitions get?  I know how I great I felt when I finished my first marathon. I know the pure exhilaration I felt when I finished.  To set a goal for yourself, train and train and finally cross the finish line.  Once again congratulations, you have really accomplished something to be proud of, well done!

[Corney]

You say you get a higher cadence when you walk backwards?  I've only heard of 1 coach that recommends running or walking backwards, that is only if you have and injury to your hamstrings, but walking backwards inorder to log steps is the most inane thing I've heard yet.  When is this idiocy ever going to stop!  What are you 80K steppers trying to accomplish?  Is it who can outdo the next person in stupidity?  Or is it just obsessive-compulsiveness gone off the rails?  Your accomplishment is nothing to the man who just completed a marathon and only logged 48K steps

[GershonSurge]

Some people like to walk backwards.

Anthony Thornton spent December 31, 1988 and January 01, 1989 walking backwards around Minneapolis, Minnesota and when he was done walking backwards Anthony Thornton had covered a record setting 95.4 miles or 153.5 kilometers with an average speed of 3.9 MPH or 6.4 km/h.

http://thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com/long440.html

[PinkRayneDrop]

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@Corney wrote:

You say you get a higher cadence when you walk backwards?  I've only heard of 1 coach that recommends running or walking backwards, that is only if you have and injury to your hamstrings, but walking backwards inorder to log steps is the most inane thing I've heard yet.  When is this idiocy ever going to stop!  What are you 80K steppers trying to accomplish?  Is it who can outdo the next person in stupidity?  Or is it just obsessive-compulsiveness gone off the rails?  Your accomplishment is nothing to the man who just completed a marathon and only logged 48K steps

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And yet it's people like you OBSESSNG over what other people do with their lives while calling them obsessive & stupid? 

How about just let people do what they want to do & stop trying to bring them down to your own level?

I've never seen a bigger bunch of sooks.

[Corney]

PinkRayneDrop

I'm not obsessing, I'm using my 38 years of experience as a Physical Therapist working mainly in Orthopedics, commenting on my experience with degenerative diseases of the feet, ankles, knees, hip and backs.  My job entailed treating the diseased joints pre and post surgery but also educating my clients as to how the damage occured and how to avoid further damage and their complications.  But what the hell, you 50-80K steppers obviously know more that I do, so go for it, I'm 69 years old and probably won't be available to impart all my unheaded knowledge when the excrement hits the fan.  So GO FOR IT!

[Corney]

Here's my lecture for the day.  Every synovial joint is covered by hyaline cartilage, which is a smooth glassy substance that allows the joint surfaces to glide over each other with minimal friction.  Hyaline is avascular, that is, it has no blood supply.  It receives it's vital nutrients from the synovial fluid which is secreted from the synovial membrane which has a blood supply.  The alternating compression, which forces out the old synovial fluid filled witth waste products, then the release of compression allows fresh synovial fluid which contains all the vital nutrients to be absorbed into the hyaline cartliage, keeping it healthy.  When human activity outpaces the synovial fluid's ability to supply the hyaline cartliage with the vital nutrients needed to maintain optimum health, the cartilage begins to degenerate.  Microfractures form in the hyaline cartliage, pieces break off forming osteochrondrophytes, ultimately leading to roughening or loss of surface of the hyaline cartilage, pitting, proceeding to gross ulceration and ultimately leading to diffuse loss of cartilage surface.  By this time, virtually all cases have active synovial proliferation and synovitis.  At this time the damage is beyond the bodies ability to repair itself.

What follows is pain stiffness and a visit to the Orthopedic surgeon and Physical Therapist.  If you feel that logging 50-80K steps per day is not overwhelming the synovial membrane's ability to provide fresh nutrient rich synovial fluid to the hyaline cartilage then by all means continue on your present course.  Good luck and have a good day!

[GershonSurge]

@Corney,

I'm not sure who you are lecturing. Only one person here is claiming to log that many steps, and her profile doesn't support her claim.

In my opinion, the probability of getting a knee or hip replacement has a positive correlation with how comprehensive a person's insurance is. 

The next causitive factor is likely how obese they are and how little exercise they get. 

You said you used to run seven miles a day and had various ailments. The cause was not running. It was failing to take time off at the first sign of an overuse injury. Sometimes, it takes months.

[Kati50]

I appreciate this information---my Dr. said that my running approx. 3 miles, 3-4 days per week was optimal for good helath and avoiding injury.  What is your experience/advice about how much running is too much? Sorry f you already covered this----I haven't read the entire thread O_O

[Corney]

Katl50  3 miles a day 3-4 days is perfect.  when I was young and stupid I ran 7 miles a day for over 20 years, but quit when symptoms arose.  My advice is always listen to your body, it knows best.

[Corney]

GershonSurge.  No I stopped running when the first signs of injury appeared, first Plantar fasciitis, then Patellar Femoral syndrome.  I listened to my body, still exercise 5 days a week but not running and am symptom free. I count myself as lucky.