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

[BruceBu]

@GershonSurge Looks good - if you are able to keep your HR in that range, you should be able to go all day - if you want, LOL.

I can't keep mine that low, but I'm doing a lot of hills (5% grade typ) at an elevation of 7400 (+/-) ft (25% less O2 than sea level). Also, my overall pace tends to be in the 3.4 - 3.7 mph range.

[GershonSurge]

---

@BruceBu wrote:

@GershonSurge Looks good - if you are able to keep your HR in that range, you should be able to go all day - if you want, LOL.

I can't keep mine that low, but I'm doing a lot of hills (5% grade typ) at an elevation of 7400 (+/-) ft (25% less O2 than sea level). Also, my overall pace tends to be in the 3.4 - 3.7 mph range.

---

The longest I've gone was 120 minutes. Jeff Galloway said I can try four hours if I like. He wants me to use R15 W30. I'll do that sometime soon when it's cool and I have time. 

I control my heart rate by adjusting my cadence during the run portion. Normally, I use about 136. If my heart rate is low, I increase to about 138. If it's high, I decrease to about 134. If my heart rate gets too high, I slow my walking cadence a bit. Normally I only have to adjust my walking pace during the warm up.

I also adjust my cadence based on my average cadence during the run. To maintain a 125 cadence, I set a HIIT timer to four minutes. Every four minutes, I check to see if I've gone some multiple of 500 steps. Heart rate permitting, if I'm behind, I increase my cadence. If I'm ahead, I decrease my cadence. I always start out a little behind after the first mile because of a slow warm up and a scheduled pit stop.

It's 4,800 feet here.

I'm trying to avoid discussions of pace because the focus is on steps/day. It was 3.4 mph today. There is no point in going faster as it's easier to go longer to get the steps.

[GershonSurge]

@BruceBu,

In one of his posts, Bruce mentioned "endurance walking." From what I've seen, the focus is on steps over a given period. He averages about 34,000 steps/day on an annual basis. He has months where he averages well over 50,000 steps/day. And he has some very long days. He has been at it for 40 years, so I expect high numbers.

I've decided to set up my own Endurance Running/Walking Challenge. I added Running as some of what I do would be considered running in strict walking circles.

I set what should be an easily attainable goal of 6,102,500 steps for the next 365 days. It's only an average of 16,719 steps per day. This includes taking one day off a week. The core of my goal is a 12,500 step run/walk six days a week plus 6,000 incidental steps a day. 

Here is a chart showing my goals for the first 28 days:

The black-filled numbers are my goals for each week. The blue data points are my optional weekly rest days. The green data points are total steps since the start. If I'm not meeting my goal, they will be red.

My first priority is learning to avoid fatigue and injury. I'm using Jeff Galloway's Run-Walk-Run method to do this. When I get well ahead of my goals, I'll start adding in some occasional long days, long weeks, or long 28 day periods. 

During the year, I may increase my goals.

[BruceBu]

I don't really pay much attention to steps/day - I'm highly variable and a strong believer in hard days/light days in a fairly 'do what you feel like' random fashion. Week time scales are the same: hard and light. My main focus (if I even have one for steps) is monthly where I target 1 million as a minimum (~33k/day) and range up to about 1.6 million (a bit over 50).

RE pace - yes, more important to not go fast. Only that if you are holding HR and cadence fixed, pace should be a good indicator of improvement over time (without pushing it directly).

[Corney]

BruceBu: I see that you spent about 14 hours being active in order to log
50K steps. In my 38 years as a Physical Therapist I always told my
patients 2 hard and fast rules: Listen to your body and Quality vs.
Quantity. These rules I still follow today and by the way my Total
Cholesterol is 119. I'm glad you enjoy what you do, but I have found doing
1 hour of Quality Exercise 5 days a week keeps me fit and in good health.
I don't have to prove to anyone that I have a life, but hope you don't
dislocate your shoulder patting yourself on the back. Have a good life.
Good bye!

[MihaiMVP]

You don't have to make 50,000 steps every day to maintain this average. If you spend a full day running / walking (say 100.000 steps), then you can "relax" two days with 25.000 steps.

[GershonSurge]

deleted. changed my mind

[BruceBu]

. . . . . >:

[GershonSurge]

@BruceBu,

---

@BruceBu wrote:

I don't really pay much attention to steps/day - I'm highly variable and a strong believer in hard days/light days in a fairly 'do what you feel like' random fashion. Week time scales are the same: hard and light. My main focus (if I even have one for steps) is monthly where I target 1 million as a minimum (~33k/day) and range up to about 1.6 million (a bit over 50).

RE pace - yes, more important to not go fast. Only that if you are holding HR and cadence fixed, pace should be a good indicator of improvement over time (without pushing it directly).

---

I discussed hard days and easy days with Jeff Galloway. I'd be better off alternating 80 minute days and 120 minute days to increase my endurance and pace. Unfortunately, this doesn't fit into my time constraints right now.

Another alternative would be to do maintenance run/walks each day except for one long run/walk a week. Say four hours. I may try this when I get far enough ahead of my goal line.

In his books, Jeff Galloway often stated the real training takes place on the long runs. It doesn't matter how slow they are. The effect is the same.

[GershonSurge]

Today's Goal: 100 minutes, 12,506 steps, C about 125, AVG HR < 106. R30 W30. Time for 500 steps: 4:00

Actual: 100 minutes, 12,625 steps, C126.25, Avg Heart Rate 106, R30W30. Time includes pit stops.

I decided not to monitor my heart rate today except during the warm up to see what happened. I also decided to take @BruceBu's advice to work on my pace a bit. I think stressing my body slightly each day has a better chance of leading to improvement.

 

[BruceBu]

@GershonSurge Well done. I can't say for sure, but your HR trace looks to me like what happens when the HR function occasionally picks up/locks onto foot strike cadence (Yes, optical systems are susceptible to false signals from shock waves). My guess is that adding 800 (?)  steps over your last effort would not raise your average HR by 12 points, unless other factors are different. On those occasions that I feel I need accurate HR during more intense exercise, I'll use the Polar chest-strap EKG system.

[GershonSurge]

@BruceBu,

You may be on to something with the HRM picking up the impacts. I did improve my pace by 23 sec/mile and ran farther.

Tomorrow, I'll only monitor heart rate and see if I can average around 106 bpm and have the maximum be at 110. 

Meanwhile, I'm adjusting my daily goal based on steps on my 100 minute runs.

[Corney]

MihaiMVP: Yes, and if you spent 24 hours running and walking logging 200K
steps you could take 3 days off!

[GershonSurge]

@Corney,

---

@Corney wrote:
MihaiMVP: Yes, and if you spent 24 hours running and walking logging 200K
steps you could take 3 days off!

---

Seems like anytime you think something is impossible, I find people are doing it. 259 runners completed the Western States 100 last year. That would certainly be over 200,000 steps given the terrain. It's only one of the many 100 mile races around the country.

Link

[kens33]

Yes but they train for ultras. Very different from us regular folk who work 12 hrs a day.

[GershonSurge]

---

@kens33 wrote:
Yes but they train for ultras. Very different from us regular folk who work 12 hrs a day.

---

Most of these runners work for a living.

[MihaiMVP]

Theoretically, you can do more steps on a flat surface than in a trail running with challenging terrain. If the slope is very steep, the watch may not even record steps as the speed is very low. I think I did once 200 K in a day:

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/daily-summary/MihaiPantis/2016-09-24/steps

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/daily-summary/MihaiPantis/2016-09-25/steps

[GershonSurge]

Yesterday, I got 26,317 steps, which is high for me. I decided on a shorter, slower maintenance run/walk today to avoid injuries and accumulating fatigue.

Today's Goal: 80 minutes, 9,600 steps, C120, AVG HR < 100, R10 W30. 

Actual: 80:07 minutes, 9919 steps, C123.8, Avg Heart Rate 90, R10W30. Time includes pit stops.

I've stopped focusing on staying on track with steps during runs. It always seems to work out close enough. My only inputs are elapsed time and checking my heart rate at the start of each walking phase. I also listen to my body to avoid fatigue.

[russsss]

Corner... I seem to recall you saying "goodbye" which seemed to imply that you might be leaving this thread on a permanent basis .  Of course that may have been wishful thinking on my part .  

Have a nice day and don't exceed your "step quota" .  

[GershonSurge]

I found this training equation in one of Dr. Phil Maffetone's books:

Training = Work + Rest

I've modified the equation to suit my needs for endurance jogging/walking:

Total steps/year = Jog/walks + Incidental steps - Recuperation - Laziness + Rest

Recuperation is time off due to fatigue, overuse injuries and burnout.

In my opinion, it's better to have a margin of safety in the daily steps to avoid the negative components. So, I created daily step goal totals for the next year that are a little less than my current ability. The chart below shows the first two weeks.

The goal is to progress along the gray center line. I adjust the length of my morning jog/walk to correct to the center line. A long day will force a short day and a short day will force a long day. The step goal increases a few steps each day.

I plan for one rest day a week. It is possible to earn a second rest day.