What is the most amount of steps anyone has ever walked in a single day?

[Mmiller2827]

I am just curious about the most steps walked in a single day. I have 45,000, and it was tough getting that badge.

[t.parker]

@Vidd I actually run with metronome ticking to keep my base cadence fixed. Last Saturday, during warmup before my local Parkrun race I increased cadence to 200spm but then raced with 196spm+10 (on downhills). This is doable but the level of effort increases, too. I find cadence to work similar to gears in the car. With cadence of 180spm it would be very hard to walk (to be honest, I am not sure whether brisk walk with such a high cadence is possible). In some sense, cadence dictates minimum and maximum pace (grade adjusted as uphills and downhills will modify that). When we go too slow for a specific cadence the legs feel like they're about to tangle and when we go too fast then the stride length increases and fatigue appears quicker. Checking my logs, on Friday I managed to go 230spm during interval sprints and kept it for about 30-40sec and that was murderous. There are however runners for whom 200+ is quitr natural. I know a guy who runs pushing baby buggy (of course, with a baby inside😁) and his cadence is 200-215 during whole 5k race but this guy almost breaks 19min barrier. It's very fast. So yeah, cadence of 480spm is a fairy tale 😁

I think 180spm for those who want to get steps quicker is kind of a sweet spot. Easy to learn (just skip with metronome until you train your brain and legs to follow that tempo) and find lowest effort pace that you can go with so then you can be active longer while pushing for more steps.

[SpeedyPotato]

um I banged my Fitbit and computer and phone with a burning hot lava hammer for views I’m crazier than you think… also I’m kinda basic. I like get 1.5X steps cause idk… I measured with phone va Fitbit. Fitbit 2.5k phone 1750 something I don’t remember. My Fitbit might be broken but ok I am fast 🙂

Plz don’t make running community into INTENSE ARGUMENTS AND MATH community.. 12/s is possible, downhill, sprint and a lil Fitbit hammering. I get average 5 while sprinting, so it’s 3 or 2.5 for you 

[Vidd]

@SpeedyPotato, 12 steps per second isn't possible.  (A good pianist could get maybe 20 notes per second, but that's an entirely different technique.) I'm not a sprinter, but 5 running steps per second strikes me as possible.  But not 12!

[MickPenners]

Does the guy with the buggy have a big moustache and tattoos? That’ll be Lee Fox if so

[t.parker]

@MickPenners no 🙂 I know the guy's name but because of privacy, I won't reveal it. He's just a local runner from my town. Last Saturday, pushing a buggy he finished Parkrun in 2nd place with a time of 19:10 and an average cadence 208spm. His stride is very short and for an observer, it may look like the guy runs at a very leisurely pace (looks very effortless). I tried to adopt a higher cadence (my usual is 180-188(+2)spm) so did my last Parkrun with 196spm and it was ok(-ish, when fatigue kicked in it got harder to keep the right form) but it would take some time to train to run constantly with 200+spm.

[Vidd]

All very interesting, @t.parker!. I guess from these figures we can say (roughly) that runners will do 50% more steps per minutes than brisk walkers.  My regular walking goes at 115-120 spa, but if I'm pushing for a quick time then it's somewhere between 133 and 140, though I can't easily keep that up beyond about an hour.

[t.parker]

@Vidd yes and no. Runners may clock in 10-15k steps quickly but it requires endurance to go further than that. Steps take time and time requires good endurance (muscle and cardio endurance).

I have data from my two different runs:

1) Run distance: 30.05km, Steps: 29610, Time: 2:44:31, Avg HR: 153bpm, 180spm (highest: 184spm), avg. stride length: 1.02m, elevation gain: 19m (totally flat riverside), Total Day Steps: 39170

2) Run distance: 21.14km, Steps: 18928, Time: 1:44:17, Avg HR: 173bpm, 182spm (highest: 252spm), avg. stride length: 1.10m, elevation gain: 440m (very hilly and technical, half-marathon race), Total Day Steps: 31349

There is a huge difference in the effort of both runs. In both cases, there were lots of extra steps done by walking after runs (and some periods I didn't wear the watch so probably there were more steps) but in the first case I could do a lot more and the only obstacle was a time (I rarely have a whole day I can use for activity). Case 2. however wasn't that great, I added extra steps (a similar number) but over a longer time (several hours) due to exhaustion after the race.

So ideally, moving like 1) is the way to go as:

- it's a steady-state effort

- it's low-aerobic

- provides decent cadence (which is also a way to avoid injury during a long run)

- clocks in 10k steps per hour.

It still consumes time but considering doing 30km under 3hrs I could probably split it into 1hr segments with 30min rest in between and get 50-60k steps that way (maybe I will try one day but I'm not really into steps, it's not a meaningful metric for me).

Now, from my experience, increasing cadence by adding just a few steps per minute affects overall effort exponentially (this I can see looking at the running power output). If I increase cadence to 186spm it gives me 11k steps per hour. 1k more per hour isn't worth an increase in the effort if one aims for 50k+. I can do 186, 190 or even 200spm but then the fatigue would kick in quicker (which isn't what I want if I plan for a long steady-state effort).

Here's a better example showing how cadence affects running power, pace and HR:

Cadence 180spm

Cadence 200spm

Look at the change in HR and power. For 180spm my power stays in the easy effort zone (base, recovery). The second screen shows an increase in power to 218W (and HR). 218W is in the range of my endurance power for marathon distance (this course is hilly). 200spm will give me extra 2k steps per hour, after 4 hours it will be 8k more but the price is an effort and question whether one has enough stamina to last this long. My HR went up by 21bpm and went from warmup/recovery into tempo zone. That's a significant change. Moreover, see the change in pace. it's pretty much a 1:00/km difference. The significant difference is caused by a change in cadence. Of course, it is possible to train and make 200spm the recovery cadence but this is already the level of an athlete.

My advice is to find the highest cadence for the lowest level of steady effort so one can conserve time, energy, and maximize number of steps. There is no hack to it (unless one attaches a watch to the reciprocating saw :P).

[Ultra-Man]

I just hit 65000 steps for the first time yesterday. It was really hard. The terrain was elevated and it's winter in Northern Canada where I live. My goal is 100000 steps in a day or the double marathon 50ish miles. I will need to train better. 

[Heather-S]

On February 25, 2023, I attempted to reach 100K steps for the badge. Unfortunately, I came up short due to knee pain. I started at 3am and finished at 3pm with just over 67,000 steps. 

It was a lot of work, but if my knee had been feeling good, I would’ve finished. Mentally I was prepared to go all the way. I also had a lot of my Fitbit friends supporting me and cheering me on which really helped!

I will definitely try again!

 

 

[1Punkin]

I did it once (100k) and I also started around 3am. I was in a challenge so I stepped until I believe it was midnight, when the challenge ended. I hit a little over 100k and I still came in 2nd. Ever since, I've had no desire to put myself through that again😂

Enjoy Life.
Arnetta Kinds

[Aaritvk]

I got 48000 steps in a day once , i think world record is some 104000 steps

[ceraffen]

Hi Aaritvk. 48,00 steps in a day is awesome - congrats!

However, if there is a world record I can tell you that's more
than 104,000. I myself have 152,000 as my personal best and have another
day with 145,000.

Keep it up!

[MrBubbles150]

Ok ok I get it, I'm a whopping 9 YEARS late to this discussion post, but there's something I wanna point out. I'm not sure if you know but the 24-hour run world record was recently broken by Aleksandr Sorokin (ultramarathon legend) and he ran 198.6 miles. Just absolute insanity, superhuman, alien, I'm utterly speechless. Anyways, I'm too lazy to estimate how many steps Sorokin took because there's a ton of variables like pace, stride length, etc. and blah blah blah but my point is I think Sorokin probably got really close or even broke 300,000 steps in a day during this 24-hour event. I did some simple math, and say somebody is taking 2,000 steps per mile (completely unrealistic) then Sorokin must've taken 396,000 steps. Again, this is just pure speculation so if anyone wants to add onto this reply with their own answers based on research, feel free because I really wanna know how many steps it takes to run 198.6 miles!

[vee]

Runners take considerably less steps than walkers per mile. My estimate is slightly less than 300,000. Of course super human. 

[ceraffen]

I have to say Sorokin's achievment was simply astounding and almost unimaginable! I'm an Ultrarunner and have done more than 80 races so I can truly appreciate how extraordinary his accomplishment was. With that effort he broke a record that was set by Yiannis Kouros back in 1997 (188.68 miles in 24 hours). Just amazing!First thing to take into account is that FitBit's 24 hour day is midnight to midnight...Sorokin's run wasn't during that same time period - I don't know exactly when it started but almost assuredly was an early morning start, so his 24 hours would have taken him through the night and to early that next morning. A bit of nitpicking but it does make a difference - I did my own FitBit 24 hour step attempt a couple of years ago and started at midnight and ran/walked all day and until approx 11:30 the next night - ended up with 145,000+ steps. My best in a calendar day is 152,000+ steps. I've found that I tend to get about 2200 steps per mile walking and 1700 or 1800 steps while running, due to the longer stride length. Just by those rough numbers, without considering other factors, would give him 357,480 steps for his run. I haven't seen him run however and don't know what his stride looks like so it's hard to say how many actual steps he could achieve in a 24 hour period. And that only accounts for forward steps on the race route.So, I think 300,000 may be possible but until someone with a FitBit attempts it and during a calendar day (not a random 24 hour period) it's hard to say.Until then kudos to anyone who uses their FitBit to stay active!

[Vidd]

Indeed, it's an astonishing achievement, and he seems to waste no energy when he runs.  I don't think he covers 300,000 steps in that time, because to do that he would need to do just over 208 steps per minute, and in the clips of him, he's not doing as many as that.  I read an article on his world record run that suggested the number was around 240,000 - that comes in at just under 167 steps per minute, which strikes me as more realistic.  Each running step would be just under 52 inches.   The runners on here (I'm a walker, not a runner) would know whether that's likely.

[TommyUltra]

 I thought you all would enjoy this walk I did a couple years ago. Timberline Trail Oregon. 

[ceraffen]

@TommyUltra - never been on that trail but I have visited the Timberline
Lodge. Such a beautiful place and Mt Hood is just majestic!! Good for you!!

[Luis_V]

My Personal best is 123,449 on January 18, 2023.  I also done 100k 10 different times. Where did all the Challenges GO ! ? Fitbit please bring back the Challenges.

[Luis_V]

My Personal Best Jan. 18, 2023.

Personal Best on Jan. 18, 2023