How do people average 50000 steps per day?

[Emmeli]

Who has the time to average 50,000 steps a day!? How can this be possible?

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[wookietim]

I can also quite easily think of ways to artificially inflate a fitbit
count : attach it to anything that vibrates.

Again you are assuming more about the data than the data shows. All the
data in front of me shows us that a fitbit recorded this much movement. It
does not show the human moved.

[GershonSurge]

@wookietim,

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@wookietim wrote:
I can also quite easily think of ways to artificially inflate a fitbit
count : attach it to anything that vibrates.

Again you are assuming more about the data than the data shows. All the
data in front of me shows us that a fitbit recorded this much movement. It
does not show the human moved.

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Actually, you are acting quite stupid. The data is right in front of you. How does attaching the vibrator make the heart rate and calories right? If you compare @BruceBu's calories and mine on days we had a similar number of steps, our calories burned are quite close.

Seriously, get another hobby besides trying to call a good friend of mine a liar. 

[wookietim]

One of the first rules of logical thought is this : do not assume the data
in front of you indicates more than it says. You are making that mistake
here.

As I have said - all of the data indicates that his fitbit recorded that
movement. The data does not necessarily indicate he moved that much. I have
no data that links his movement to the fitbit - making that assumption is
just that : an assumption. And that assumption might be wrong for you to
make.

Therefore, do you want to stop the attacks that lead to people assuming you
want to just argue or would you like to take the obvious logical step and
ask him to explain how he achieved that step total. Once that explanation
is given it can then be subjected to analysis.

But who am I kidding? Obviously you will not want to proceed logically and
you will just want to continue the assumptions. As such, I am out of here.
We will not talk again on this discussion.

[BruceBu]

@wookietim your ignorance regarding endurance walking, logic, probability, and statistics cracks me up. Goodbye!

[GershonSurge]

@BruceBu,

I got my 15,000 steps in 1:59:47 this morning. I decided to use an average cadence of 125. It was easy. The only problem was keeping my heart rate at or below 116. I averaged 120 bpm. I never really settled into efficient fat burning.

It was easy to see if I was maintaining 125 bpm. Every 4 minutes, I'd get 500 steps. 

At the end, I had plenty of energy left. 

[JenniferinFL]

Getting 50,000 steps is not a problem at all with an active job. 

I have a friend who is a walking mail carrier. He gets 35,000 steps during his work day every single day. When he was running after work, he was hitting 50,000 steps. 

I'm fairly certain that I used to hit 50,000 steps when I worked as an overnight stocker. Unfortunately, at the time I just had a cheap pedometer and it would die pretty frequently. I remember seeing over 18 miles and over 22 miles in my 10 hour work day. 22 miles is something like 47,000 steps. Then I would go home and walk my dogs 3 miles or so. 

I hit 10,000 steps during my workday working in a library. In a library. I totally believe that people can do 50,000 steps. In fact, I know that I could do it regularly if I had an active job again. 

Human beings are made for endurance walking. It's what we are good at. We aren't fast like many of the other animals, but, we have endurance. In fact, I know for such a certainty that I can walk 50,000 steps, that I will go ahead and do it tomorrow, Sunday, June 18th. I'm obese, I can't even jog for more than 6 minutes, but I bet I can walk 50,000 steps with no issue. I may have to reschedule if I end up with my kid's cold bug, but, if I wake up healthy tomorrow I will go ahead and walk 50,000 steps. 

Updated to add: It's the 18th. I woke up feeling a bit odd, but decided to start walking anyways. It's 8:30 am where I am and I've got my first 5000 steps done. I decided to just start walking and do breakfast after. I'm eating breakfast now and drinking my coffee. First 5000 steps were pretty uneventful. I listened to an audiobook. I'm not much of a morning person and was pretty much on autopilot. Since I'm not fatigued at all, I'm only taking a ten minute break before starting my next 5000 steps. 

( √ ) 5,000 steps (8:26 AM)

( √ ) 10,000 steps (9:33 AM) Easy- no fatigue at all. Looking at my calorie burn, guess I get to eat a ton.

( √ ) 15,000 steps (10:48 AM) Still easy. Had a couple interruptions, so taking a shorter break this time.

( √ ) 20,000 steps (11:57 AM) Still easy. Running about 20 minutes behind schedule. Having a party for my daughter's kindergarten graduation today and had to pause a couple times to deal with details for that. Really hopeful to have only around 5,000 steps left to do after 4:30 pm or so when party starts, but will probably be more like 7000 steps to finish up later.

(  ) 25,000 steps

(  ) 30,000 steps

(  ) 35,000 steps

(  ) 40,000 steps

(  ) 45,000 steps

(  ) 50,000 steps

[russsss]

Jennifer ... please stop, you're stating the obvious, in a nice way without offending the easily offended . For myself, there is no doubt in my mind that what you say is true . I also suspect that if I believe you or not doesn't matter one iota to you which is as it should be .  Nice post 😀

,

[JenniferinFL]

@russsss I've been big for most of my life, so I've spent a good amount of my life being told I couldn't do things. I've never really cared or listened.. lol I remember when my cousin told me I couldn't swim 50 feet so I told him I could swim across the lake. It was 4 miles across, took me 4 hours, but I did it; all at a doggy paddle.. lol He didn't even make it a quarter of the way before he was back in the boat. He was fitter than me and knew how to swim much better than I did, but, mentally he was not tougher than me and that's what mattered more.

It's one thing to have to deal with having other people tell you that you can't, it's a whole different thing when you are the person holding yourself back. I feel bad for people who have that internal voice that tells them that they can't. They are the ones who project that onto others. 

There are things that require skill or a certain gift and then there are things that just require a degree of tenacity. Swimming 4 miles quickly requires practice and skill. Swimming it slowly just requires a mind that tells your body not to quit. 🙂

[russsss]

Wookietim   I sort of understand your point, or at least I understand it from a  theoretical point of view.. 

What you seem to be missing (please take no offense here as there is none intended) is that data requires analysis in order for a reasonable conclusion to be reached .  In many cases the conclusion becomes more subjective because either the data is not sufficient or it points to the possibility of more than one possible conclusion .  Your premise seems to be that anything you doubt must be proven to your satisfaction or it must be false which denies the very real possibility that it may just as well be true which makes your conclusion just as likely to be incorrect as correct, or as Mr. Spock might say, ...

you are most illogical .  In addition when your conclusions are applied to others they appear to be very negative  and border on being insulting even if that is not your intent . Having said that, have a good day . 

[GershonSurge]

@BruceBu,

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@BruceBu wrote:

 My most important parameter is probably heart rate, try to keep it 100 - 110 for max output that I can keep up ad nausium.

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50,000 steps a day seems impossible, but once someone shows it can be done, then it's simply a matter of finding out how. I'm not trying for 50,000 except for occasionally, but 30,000 is in reach given my time and physical condition.

Now, it's a matter of picking out what makes it possible for Bruce, imitating what he does, and modifying the method for my own style. I like alternating walking for 30 seconds and running for 30 seconds. This gives both muscle groups a chance to rest before they get tired so no waste products accumulate in the muscle cells. Maintaining a low heart rate is more important than worrying about pace. The pace will be slow. Don't worry about it. It's not running for speed.

My best runs occur when I focus on heart rate. The most important mile for me is the first one as my heart rate tends to run away. To keep my heart rate under control, I start with R10 W30 for the first mile and keep my stride length short. I find using a short running interval works better for me than walking the whole time.

If my heart rate starts to run away, I've found shortening my stride length and stride rate usually helps. Stopping usually makes the problem worse. 

After about a mile, I switch to R30 W30. Usually, I'll maintain this for the rest of the run. I maintain my heart rate by adjusting my stride length and stride rate.

[GershonSurge]

My goals today were to get 12,000 steps in 100 minutes while keeping my heart rate in the 90's. 

I got 12,011 steps in 1:39:46

To maintain a 120 cadence, I knew I had to get 500 steps in 4:10. I set a HIIT timer for this interval and each time the whistle blew, I checked to see if the steps were a multiple of 500. I started out about 170 steps behind in the first mile because of going slowly and a bio-break. I did need to increase my running interval to a minute for a while to catch up on my steps.

I used a Surge to monitor the steps and the Charge 2 to monitor my heart rate and the run. This made it so I didn't have to swipe screens. 

I used the Nike running app voice cues to give the distance very quarter mile.

The primary method for reducing my heart rate when needed was to slow my cadence and shorten my stride.

[GershonSurge]

@JenniferinFL,

I can see from your profile you have started your quest for 50,000 steps today. I'll be cheering you on and sending positive vibes.

[BruceBu]

@GershonSurge looking good! Will you start adding a shorter, more intense session later in the day - maybe a 1/2 hour around C135, HR120-130? A little medium aerobic to increase VO2max, & with incidentals should start getting you closer to your 30k goal.

Great to see this thread finally turning to "How to do it?" instead of a bunch of I-can't-do-it-and-don't-know-much-about-it folks asserting that a possible, indeed relatively easy, human physical endeavor isn't possible, and then accusing those who do it of cheating.

[GershonSurge]

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@BruceBu wrote:

@GershonSurge looking good! Will you start adding a shorter, more intense session later in the day - maybe a 1/2 hour around C135, HR120-130? A little medium aerobic to increase VO2max, & with incidentals should start getting you closer to your 30k goal.

Great to see this thread finally turning to "How to do it?" instead of a bunch of I-can't-do-it-and-don't-know-much-about-it folks asserting that a possible, indeed relatively easy, human physical endeavor isn't possible, and then accusing those who do it of cheating.

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@BruceBu,

There are many choices at this point. One thing I want to do is avoid falling into a speed trap where I'm focusing on speed instead of total steps. Quantitatively, I want to keep my heart rate at or below 116 bpm. According to Dr. Phil Maffetone, 180 - a person's age is the transition point to burning more carbs instead of more fats. When a person starts burning carbs, they will need to recover instead of rest. Let me try an example.

When I'm backpacking, and my pack is a little heavy, I might stop every 20 minutes for a pack break. The interval doesn't matter. What matters is the interval is short enough so my shoulders haven't started to ache. I can go all day like this without sore shoulders. Once I make the mistake of going too long, it's sore shoulders for the rest of the day.

If a person drifts into burning more than 30% carbs, waste products will build up inside the muscles. There will also be small tears. This can force a recovery day instead of a restful evening.

For now, I'm going add practicing two things. The first is eating within a half-hour of finishing the run. I'll eat something like bread or boiled potatoes with veges. This will be about 80% carbs and 200 calories. The important point is to get some glucose in my system so the muscle cells and liver can replenish their supplies. 

After I eat, I can do an hour or two of easy chores or if it's cool, go for an ambling walk in the prairie with my son.

Now it's time to make today's steps look like my words.

[BruceBu]

@GershonSurge Agreed, we all find our own style - just over the years, I've found that occasional short, hard sessions make the long, low intensity ones easier, longer and more efficient. I wasn't suggesting that you work towards doing 30k aerobically.

[JenniferinFL]

Realized that people probably weren't seeing that I was updating one of my posts with current progress.  So, I'll update down here instead. 

It's the 18th. I woke up feeling a bit odd, but decided to start walking anyways. It's 8:30 am where I am and I've got my first 5000 steps done. I decided to just start walking and do breakfast after. I'm eating breakfast now and drinking my coffee. First 5000 steps were pretty uneventful. I listened to an audiobook. I'm not much of a morning person and was pretty much on autopilot. Since I'm not fatigued at all, I'm only taking a ten minute break before starting my next 5000 steps. 

( √ ) 5,000 steps (8:26 AM)

( √ ) 10,000 steps (9:33 AM) Easy- no fatigue at all. Looking at my calorie burn, guess I get to eat a ton.

( √ ) 15,000 steps (10:48 AM) Still easy. Had a couple interruptions, so taking a shorter break this time.

( √ ) 20,000 steps (11:57 AM) Still easy. Running about 20 minutes behind schedule. Having a party for my daughter's kindergarten graduation today and had to pause a couple times to deal with details for that. Really hopeful to have only around 5,000 steps left to do after 4:30 pm or so when party starts, but will probably be more like 7000 steps to finish up later.

( √ ) 25,000 steps (1:21 PM) Still no noticeable discomfort here at the halfway mark. Kid wanted lunch and dogs wanted attention and spouse needed me to change out clipper blade for his beard trimmer along with a whole bunch of the typical distractions. Still losing a bit of ground from where I wanted to be, but, should have a big enough chunk done before kid's party to be able to finish the rest later. 

( √ ) 30,000 steps (2:39 PM) Feeling a little tired, but, that may be because of the 5 hours of sleep I got last night due to kid being up with a cough. Should be fun from here, good opportunity to pick up a few badges. 🙂 I've done 30,000 steps since having my fitbit. But, from here on out it's uncharted territory, at least, with a fitbit anyways. 

( √ ) 35,000 steps (3:58 PM) Still not bad. But, party stuff started at 4 PM, so steps get slower. 

( √ ) 40,000 steps (8:30-ish PM?) Didn't notice when I hit 40,000. Glanced down and noticed it was 41,000. 

( √ ) 45,000 steps (9:41 PM) Starting to feel it a bit in my calves. LOL Not bad though, just can tell I'm starting to get tired. 

( √ ) 50,000 steps (10:44 PM) Definitely tired now.. lol Finished up later than I wanted to. Could have gotten more steps during the party, but I was 'bothering' people by walking around. I'll type up a whole thing about the experience tomorrow. Too tired tonight.. lol

[Baltoscott]

Halfway there.  Keep at it @JenniferinFL.  I just checked your profile and it looks like you'll be badging up several times on your way to 50K today.  Cool!  Keep pacing during your daughter's party -- your step rate won't be high but it all adds up. Plenty of time to finish.

[Baltoscott]

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@BruceBu wrote:
...

Great to see this thread finally turning to "How to do it?" 

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Indeed.  Looking at my badge collection, I see I've been over 50K sixty times.  Most of those days were in 2015 over about 6-9 months or so when I was involved with a large group of fitbitters doing team challenges.  On days I wasn't over 50K, I was probably doing 30-35K.

Outside of that time period my normal daily step totals for my six years owning a fitbit have been the 20-25K range, with about 25% of those steps being recorded by my fitbit in my front pocket for my bike commute (around 15 miles total). The rest comes from a couple of three mile walks most days (before work and at lunch), pacing in the office, and five minute walk breaks most hours, and walking the dogs when I get home.  Moving from 25K to 50K was hard but I was motivated by the team competitions.  The "how" was really doing more of the same.  Dedicating more time to stepping each hour, experimenting with my stride get my pace up, going out after dinner to hit that day's goal.  

I don't think doing 50K/day, even from some extended period of time, is that hard.  It is more than trivial, but I think most people could do it if they wanted to or for some reason had to.  I wasn't doing it for the exercise (in fact it took time away from of my other exercise like weight lifting), but instead for the fun of the challenges I was in.  That kept me doing it for quite a while, but It was pretty time consuming and was competing with other things I like to do.  I've always been more active than average, but my purposeful walking/biking yields about 6,500 to 7,000 steps/hour -- maybe 8K if I'm really trying, but not all day long at that pace.  For me, then, getting to 50K in a day usually means around 6 hours or so of purposeful stepping or biking (I do better with really stepping, but I commute on a bike that takes up about 90-120 minute of my day). and getting 10-15K/day by making sure I'm moving every hour.

Overall, I'm probably happier at 20-25K/day than the 35-50K/day I was doing through much of 2015 ... still, it is fun to ramp it up every once and awhile.  

[JenniferinFL]

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@Baltoscott wrote:

Halfway there.  Keep at it @JenniferinFL.  I just checked your profile and it looks like you'll be badging up several times on your way to 50K today.  Cool!  Keep pacing during your daughter's party -- your step rate won't be high but it all adds up. Plenty of time to finish.

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I'm sure I'll pace a bit there, just would have been nice to have enough of it done to not have to think about it. Just 20,000 more to go and it's 2:43 PM. 🙂

[GershonSurge]

@BruceBu,

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@BruceBu wrote:

@GershonSurge Agreed, we all find our own style - just over the years, I've found that occasional short, hard sessions make the long, low intensity ones easier, longer and more efficient. I wasn't suggesting that you work towards doing 30k aerobically.

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I appreciate any and all suggestions. I'm supposed to do 1/2 mile intervals every two weeks with 4-7 reps. Maybe I should listen to my coach more. 🙂  My problem is when I try to increase my speed too much, I tend to over stride and injure the callous on my right heel. I'll take a day this week and do as you suggested. I'll keep my heart rate a little lower.