How can people average 65000 steps per day consistently?

[MihaiMVP]

Hello, there are some really fit people out there! But this amount of steps would imply tremendous effort and also time dedication. Are all these people mailmen? Maybe throwing in a marathon or two after-work?

It will be interesting to share whether you deem this possible or not, and how such a walking experience would affect / improve one's health and daily life.

[Incognito028]

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@Patrick wrote:

Your neighbor said what I said, which was 28K on the road.

He also knows he is not supposed to cut across lawns. ;~)

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That is 28k for the entire shift.

Allowed to or not, I have yet to ever see a carrier adhere to that rule.

[Patrick]

The remark about the lawn has nothing to do with it at all. It was just a joke. Probably the Carrier Union is more concerned about it than anyone, because Supervisors watch from time to time and take into account that a carrier saves paces by cutting.

So if in you neighborhood if the homes are close together your carrier will have more stops than a carrier in another area where they are far apart. Your 80 odd steps from door to door will mean that your neighbor will have twice as many stops as a carrier who works a neighborhood with larger lots. Anything else and the Union would raise hell with the Post Office.

So cutting lawns et cetera is factored in to a carrier's number of stops.

None of this is that important. What I find incorrect is that some think that because their top end is "x" number of steps per hour  that means anyone who claims more must be lying.

So I think I've bored the daylights out of people with respect to carriers and this is the last post on the subject (certainly to the relief of all).

[Dixiedrifter]

Stay the course........winning isn't everything, it's the only thing!

Lucky

[Patrick]

Arrgh, back again.

I missed the comment about "the entire shift". 28K for the entire shift would be correct, because he is on the road for 4 hours give or take. The rest of the time is in the office.

He doesn't just show up, punch a clock and have the Supervisor hand him the keys to the truck. He has to throw the mail, break it into trays, load the truck in order of delivery, load the packages in order of delivery, get the Certified Mail and Registers, fill out those forms you mentioned earlier...not a big deal. It takes about as much time as going to the lavatory. Surprised your neighbor thought that was a big deal.....

The carrier spends over three hours in the Office each day. So the Shift is still only 4 or so hours on the road.

If it took me 8 hours to walk 28K I would check to see if I was still breathing.

Now I am definitely done with this silly nonsense.

[girlgotagoal]

Another possible scenario -- having recently attended a concert I noted that applause upped my steps -- I definitely had not done any steps in a given hour yet the FitBit registered that I had done my 250 steps for the hour and more.

[MihaiMVP]

"The carrier spends over three hours in the Office each day. So the Shift is still only 4 or so hours on the road.

If it took me 8 hours to walk 28K I would check to see if I was still breathing."

Why would they spend so much time in an office when there are mails upon mails to deliver? Also, I think this figure could greatly be enhanced with one or two hours of treadmill or gym training that postmen probably usually do in the evening to keep in shape.

I figured that 28 K can be done with a desk job if you include the commute and take an extended lunch break, as well as the recommended short breaks every 2 hours (and use those for walking outside).

[Patrick]

In the U.S.,

Mail comes in fairly much 24 hours a day but most comes in overnight. Clerks arrive in the early morning to separate the pieces into those whitish USPS boxes by Route. a large part of the mail comes in pre-sorted. When you see a normal size piece of first class mail that has a bar code under the address it is likely that was sorted by machine. So the clerks place those in trays by route. Other mail includes magazines and 3rd class, which most people call "junk" mail. This is also sorted by the clerks by route.

In my office, we started at 7:30 AM. Any mail that was ready we started to "case" which means selecting each piece, deciding where it would be delivered, and putting it in a pigeonhole in a case that was set up in the order of delivery.

After about 8:30 the trucks would stop until mid-day and by 9 the last of the mail would be given to the carriers by the clerks. Then the carriers would "tear down" the cases, place the mail into trays and bring them out to the vehicles to bring to the route. Additionally they get the certified mail, registered mail and so on. Normally about 6 pieces or so, but some days more and other days none at all.

So anyway, by the time the carriers get to the street it is after 9:30 usually closer to 10, and then they drive to the route. So by the time they actually are on the street delivering mail over 2 and ½ hours are gone.

Upon return, they drop off outbound mail, return any paperwork for the certified mail and so on to the "cage" where such documents are kept, case some mail that is there for the next day, and a few other things. This is another 30 minutes to an hour.

So roughly four hours on the road.

The clerks cannot case for the carriers. That is another Union. Even if they could, the carriers "know" the route(s) and so would know before they cased a letter if the person had moved or a piece was mis-addressed.

In any event, it isn't just a matter of a carrier punching a time clock and walking out the door.

[emmaiammarino]

This is a really great insight. I generally ask this question all of the time. I go to school at the Ohio State University which is a very large campus. I walk all day, every day going to class, get food, to the gym, or out at night. In addition to this walking in every day life, I love to run. I go on long runs quite often. Also, I am a dance minor and take class everyday. With all of this activity, typically I average about 15,000 steps per day. Now, I work at Sixth City Marketing which is an 8 hour desk job. The difference in daily steps is quite interesting. I average MAYBE 10,000 steps per day. Anyway, my point is that I am just as baffled as you as to how some people do this. When I am at school, I am constantly on my feet and still get a max of 20,000 daily steps. 

[Patrick]

I sometimes wonder if it is a Fitbit glitch. I sit at a desk all day, get perhaps 3,000 steps all day. Go out walk up a few hills and hit 10 hills before I hit 5K. then within an hour or so I'm at 10K steps.

I don't get it. Happens almost every day. I don't feel like I made much of an effort to get 7K so quickly. But then I am also surprised I get 3K just sitting down at a desk all days as well.

[uhligeast]

One of the limitations of the Fitbit system is that it is calibrated to the movement of your arm, and not necessarily your feet. So that can throw off the counts. For example, when I used to work at a donut shop icing and topping thousands of donuts with a lot of arm movement, I would really rack up the steps even though my feet were relatively stationary. But, in another instant, I have noticed that when it comes to shopping where my feet are very active, but my arms are very stable pushing a cart, I hardly get any steps credited at all! I sometimes will push the cart with one arm and let my Fitbit arm swing so I can get some of those steps credited! (Looks totally weird, I know! Lol!) So maybe the people getting really high "step" counts are really just swinging their arms around a lot! 

[Zomby_Woof]

Makes since, I walk my dogs for an 1.5 hours everyday and I come no where near that amount of steps.

[Maltie]

My dad was a mail carrier.  There is a difference between city carrier and rural where vehicles are used a lot during the day. 

[Patrick]

Correct.

Rural Carriers deliver to curb side mailboxes. The LTV trucks have the seats on the right side so all they need to do is reach out and put the mail into the box.

City Carriers walk.

[Corney]

Patrick:  Get real!  I can average 6,000 steps per hour of continuous walking.  Mail men would have to stop at every house to deliver mail.  I would need to walk 8 hours and 20 minutes continuously to average 50,000 steps 7 days per week.  How many steps per hour would they log casing mail?  The answer to how anyone could average 50,000 steps per day is, TRUTH IS DEAD.  People like you who state that any individual  could easily log 50,000 steps in a day just enable all these liars.  Just stop!

[Corney]

Patrick:  City carriers in Beloit WI ride in trucks.  Once again, GET REAL!

[Corney]

Patrick:  In my city mail carriers ride in a mail truck.

[Patrick]

Read what I said. 28,000 steps roughly on the road. It is my opinion, I no longer carry so I cannot prove it or disprove it. It comes to about 12 or so miles I would think.

Beloitt has 40,000 people in the city; for all you know they are Rural carriers in such a small town.

I really don't care what you think. I think some people can and do walk larger numbers than we do. Having been a carrier, I know it's a heck of lot of walking regardless of what carriers in Beloitt do.

So many of you people say you can't walk more than 5 or 6 thousand steps an hour so therefore no one can.

I know a guy on Fitbit who runs 6 miles each way to work and puts up around 180K a week. I saw a writeup about it in the paper after he won an UltraMarathon. You would say it's a lie, because you can't do it.

Once again, I really don't care what you think. I believe they can do 28K while walking a route.

[130guy]

I've done the same in asking for proof when it's public bragging and outrageous. Fawned at their "amazing" accomplishment along with their usual gang of worshipping defenders (one middle aged woman claims 900,000 plus steps weekly, constantly) then I ask to admire their active minutes graph.

Crickets...

[Patrick]

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@130guy wrote:

 (one middle aged woman claims 900,000 plus steps weekly, constantly) then I ask to admire their active minutes graph.

Crickets...

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I don't know how this got to 900K, the only person I pointed out was written up in a newspaper. He doesn't post here, nor is he in any groups so he isn't trying to prove anything to anyone.

I see why he doesn't post though. It's like a Facebook war if you express an opinion that others do not like.

[130guy]

I'm not sure why you're using words like war. I was simply mentioning someone else who is clearly posting ridiculous stats. And I don't think there's anything wrong with calling people out who are very public with their stats and are thus clearly looking for blind adulation. 99% of the rest of the community understands the point of friendly  competition and working honestly for yourself and your own health.