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

[Meli3]

Well that was a really rude response.  She was just wondering .  I often wonder the same thing because I don’t understand how it’s possible, especially for people who work desk jobs  Geesh  .

[londonrunner88]

Yes. 

You have a very agreeable response.  I can appreciate that. 

However, I disagree with what the previous person before is saying. Therefore I have a disagreeable opinion.  

This is a discussion post where you can discuss. 

I believe there are some inconsistencies with her story.  Because of this, my responses are frank direct and to the point.  If that's offended you, I apologize and hope you can enjoy the rest of your day 🙂 

[GSaldiveri]

Last year I was in a running Work Week hustle with 9 other friends. 4 to 5 of us hit 200,000 steps more than a few times in the 5 day period. I work a 40 hour week, have a 40 minute commute to/from work and usually got on my Gazelle and/or walked at night with my wife afterwards. We had plenty of time for everything else and she and I got to spend a few hours a night walking and talking to each other.

We still do so every night and will continue in the future. I've been using my Fitbit for almost 4 years and have not only gotten into better shape I've lost over 60 pounds so far.

[LonerLovergood]

Your comment is just plain rude. She’s just asking how it could be possible. I hate when people reply with comments like this ‘DoN’t cOncErn YoUrSelf wiTh OtHeRs’ ok Karen. 

[Picardh]

Aight **ahem** chill

[Ms.Renewed]

I dont even have a fitbit anymore. Who cares. I dont. Anyway, was just a
random question. Hav a nice day

[c0urtn3wh4m]

Mine is also showing an average of 54627 steps per day.

Yesterday, I was at ~8k .. something is funky. There is absolutely zero chance I'm doing almost 7 times that..

Is there a bug?

[Conker]

Yes I agree, I work in a port and on busy days I do a 13 hour working day constantly on my feet walking up and down the quay with a t break in the morning a 30 minute  lunch break and an afternoon t break, on days like this my watch often tells me I’m 4000 plus calories burnt...completely worn out when I’m home, however I can’t ever get more than 28000 steps

[AmySterling]

Over the nearly 2 years I've had Fitbit I've increased the number of steps I take per day and my longest day is 28,000 similar to you. I also now run, which I can easily do 10,000 steps (about 4 mi for me) but adding that to your day or my longest regular walking day would take that to 38,000 steps. I now see 50K steps a day is possible if I were running longer distances and doing my normal walking/activity (about 8K steps). 23 miles = about 50K steps. That is absolutely doable and a lot of people do it by running. But every day? I doubt even the most fitness enthusiasts and long distance runners would. I didn't 'get' any of this until I had been using my Fitbit for a long time. 

[Conker]

Absolutely Amy,im not saying people are lying but maybe they just need to calibrate their watches?

and of course there are plenty of people out there that are fitness fanatics and are lucky enough to have extra time for it, I’m an off and on runner depending on how busy I get at work and now normally do big walks with my wife and four year old so I spend time with them.

[AmySterling]

I think if they don't know or are "surprised" or think it's natural and easy then that's what I now wonder about. I'm thinking with a lot of effort I can get up to 20K steps per day average and I'm sure there's actual runners who run daily who will easily top that and get in the 50K range - but I didn't understand it when I started and after 2 years now I figure, I get just a little bit more. I hate when I have to put my actual lower weight in because at my age even being active it doesn't give me the calories I'd like. There's a reason little old ladies eat like birds I guess. Ya don't have a lot of choice even with healthy prepped meals!

[Conker]

wow well done, I’ve been meaning to test my limits too... one day?

out of curiosity can you remember how many calories were burnt?

[AmySterling]

For me? I'm not very big and I'm old so my biggest calorie day was 4200 calories. If I am not active (i.e. ill - I had a few illness days and some down time due to dental surgery) then I barely crack 1800 calories and it can go down to 1600 calories. Easy to see from that how sedentary people will gain weight and find it difficult to take it off without really making changes in both directions in terms of diet and activity. If I'm very active (i.e. major cardio/workout it burns on average 5 to 7 calories per minute. I think that is pretty accurate. My RHR has gone up recently but I was 56-58 all the way thru September and October, except for the dental days (it goes up if I'm sick, have pain, etc). It also goes up if I drink any alcohol (even a small glass of wine) and I can see this interfering with my sleep. If I eat the wrong things it messes me up. I love Fitbit but not sure everyone would!

[Patrick]

I think Fitbit is just plain inaccurate; mostly because of the "swinging arm" way of measuring steps. Sure, 50K may or may not be attainable by most unless they are very active.

But I'm not active; no longer anyway. Just far too busy, as I work at a desk 7 days a week. What I have noticed, is that when I do walk a regular route I will get as much as a 20% difference in steps depending on outside temperature. If it's cold, my hands are in my sweatshirt pouch. When it is warm, the same route will count roughly 25% more steps.

Another thing that I noticed is when I've stuck the instrument in a sock to crosscheck the results I get over 30% more steps! So for sake of argument, the same route may be 5,000 steps under one condition, over 6,000 for another, and over 7,500 for a third.

I used to walk up and down a nearby hill often. One day the wind is calm and it's 15 flights; the next day it's windy and it's over 20 flights.

I don't expect it to be perfect but there are so many variables involved. If someone is doing 50K it's fine by me. As I said, I spend 7 days a week at a desk, rarely go out more than once a week anymore and somehow average over 10K. I have no idea why my average is so high, unless the device is just not even close to being precise..

[geobeck]

I've just started wearing my fitbit (actually my wife's from several years ago, but she doesn't use it), and I'm already questioning some of the measurements. Swinging arm method? No wonder it's wonky. I had assumed the accelerometer registered step impact. The daily distance reading isn't very useful because it doesn't record exercises that you sync with your phone's GPS. Mind you, I'm using a Blaze that's a few years old. Maybe newer models have changed that.

As for the original question, I did a bit of calculating (probably already done here, but 46 pages of responses are a little much to read). If an average person is 68" tall, their stride length is 68*0.412 = 28", so 50k steps is about 1.4 million inches, which works out to a little over 22 miles/30 km. At an average waslking speed of 3.5 mph, that's 6:22 on your feet every day. I know people who do that. On the other hand, when you do that all week, you tend to relax on weekends. I'd expect that pace to be pretty rare, but extant.

So I use mine for a relative activity measurement, rather than assuming any degree of accuracy. I don't care too much about minor daily variations, but longer trends should tell me something useful.

[Patrick]

Haven't looked into the way Fitbit tracks in a few years because I've lost interest.

But there are more variables than just presuming that the average person is 68" and therefore the stride length may be 28 inches, et cetera. For example, if a woman is 68" and a male is 68" then Fitbit registers the man's stride as slightly longer than the woman's. As I recall, there are roughly three or four ways the algorithm computes the stride.

As for the "swinging arms"...I was shocked by that when I first bought the device. I was on a treadmill, holding on to the sidebars. The treadmill would indicate that I had walked a mile, the Fitbit would indicate that I walked a third of a mile.

All because the wrist wearing the device was stationary. Just too many variables; Questioning whether someone can walk 50K steps implies that we have a reliable measurement. We do not.

[TracyFF]

Good for you!

I just got my Fitbit - this Thursday will be 3 weeks.

I started walking in the morning the very next day.

I walk in my community (up n down elevation).

I'm only at 1.7 miles right now, however, it's definitely more than I was doing - I try to push to the next Street before I turn, little changes make a big difference.

I do not believe I'll ever do 50k on a designated walk however, just doing my walk in the morning, kicking up the music while I clean my home I must say I was shocked to make the 10k steps! 😂

I see some of the negative comments however,

I can definitely see challenging yourself :exclamation_mark:

It's good for the Body and Soul:exclamation_mark:👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[terrenceroth]

I work on a treadmill desk and walk all day at a pace of just under 3 miles per hour.   I work some seven days a week and average almost 10 hours on the treadmill desk.  In 2020, I averaged just under 47,000 steps per day with a peak week of 425,000 steps in a week (or 61,000 steps per day) with the peak day (acknowledging that I pushed it this day), I did get 80,000 steps in a single day.  I'm 67 and am a full time stock trader.  It isn't that hard to get 50,000 steps in every weekday (I typically get in 55,000 on weekdays) and 40,000 on weekends and holidays.  

With Covid, can't do much more so I walk and trade every day.  And I am having fun.

[Ms.Renewed]

Good if you do any steps! Be proud of you!!!
Take care 🙂

----------------------

That’s amazing!

-Ms.Renewed

Sent from my iPhone6Plus

[AveryW.]

I have gotten up 30 K in a day.  I know that I could have gotten 50K.  And I am retired and a Senior Citizen.  That morning I walked a 3 plus miles and then that afternoon I jogged 10 K.  Plus all the stuff around house and in the yard.