Why is everyone's weekly goal 70,000 steps?

[Will_M]

Everyone I met has 70,000 as their goal. Just curious... I didn't get the hipster memo I guess. Mine has been set to 175,000 for awhile because that's 25,000 a day a week.  

[SteveH]

10,000 per day is the default setting but it can be changed to anything you want. I believe the default is based on generally accepted recommendations for a healthy lifestyle.

[biglarrr · Accepted solution]

You're funny.   I love how people back into patting themselves on the back.

OK - Yes - 25000 is pretty freakin impressive.

It takes me ninety minutes on a good day to walk six miles which is a little over 12000 steps

I would never think of setting a goal that would require 3 hours a day -  minimally to achieve.

My hipster memo is " It feels good to have a goal that I can meet or exceed"

I purposely leave the default at 70000 per week so that I can pat myself on the back when I meet and exceed it.

You're a better man than me, Mr. NonHipster.

[LewWagner]

I have my current weekly steps set at 105,000.  I figure I'm getting in around 20K+ steps a day, so I can meet that goal.

Lew

[fitchakra · Accepted solution]

10,000 is the pre-programmed goal when you start with fitbit.

It's probably the American Medical Association's suggestion or something. 

(PS. wouldn't "hipster" be going against the mainstream aka. 10,000 steps/day effectively making everyone with that goal not a hipster..?)

[SunsetRunner]

Below is a link to FitBit's official answer as to why everyone's default is set to 10,000 steps/day. It is because this is what the Surgeon General recommends. You can adjust that number, if you want. Some like to set it lower, at least until they build up to 10,000/day. This way they get the positive feedback of reaching a goal. (Hey! Whatever works!) Others change it for medical reasons.

http://blog.fitbit.com/the-magic-of-10000-steps/

[Will_M]

Aaaah, so 10,000  a day (70,000 a week) is the default. That completely clarifies it. 

Thanks everyone!

[GTO]

I keep mine at 10K, that's the "official" goal which is usually pretty easy to attain. It is my minimum but "unofficially" I aim for at least 15K, 5 Miles and 30 Active minutes which I have been hitting pretty regular lately but if I don't make the 15K i don't get too awful disappointed as long as I make the three minimums.

[Crownheights67]

I Love the Yoda quote!   Do or do not- there is no try!   Powerful, elegant and TRUTH!

[biglarrr]

Sure it sounds like a coach, or someone trying to intimidate a player into
performing, but it's not truth.

You may never be able to do, but that shouldn't stop you from trying.



The older I get, the more I realize that pushing yourself past your limits
isn't necessarily a good thing.

Do or Do Not needs to be tempered to include "Know when it's time to stop"



You tried and you didn't Do, but trying is necessary for progress.



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[biglarrr]

I responded earlier that I purposely left mine at 70K, because it was satisfying to know I could beat a preset goal. 

I'm retired now and the satisfaction diminished when I was hitting and doubling my daily goal on a regular basis. Retirement eliminates all of the excuses to not make time to work out. 

I initially set it to 105K, but on days when I wasn't close by the time afternoon rolled around, I would give up for the day. Even though I had been beating 15K daily most days, it became an overwhelming goal.

I've backed it down to 91K weekly/13K daily, and now I'm again getting 15K nearly every day. 

Go Figure. 

[betpchem]

I think you've hit upon an interesting psychological phenomenon that I have noticed too @biglarrr . If I set the goal too high, it gets me too discouraged. If I set it low, I will regularly exceed it. And yet, it's the same number of steps both times. 

[Dodojojo]

The 10K steps doesn't equal to 5 miles for me.  I guess it's due to the short legs.  So now I'm wondering if 10K or 5 miles should take precedence.  I've left it at 10K because 1/2 of the time I can't meet that total anyway.  I guess once I regularly hit 10K, I'll increase it to 11.5K.  That's 5 miles for me.

[Knowledge]

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@Dodojojo wrote:

The 10K steps doesn't equal to 5 miles for me.  I guess it's due to the short legs.  So now I'm wondering if 10K or 5 miles should take precedence.  I've left it at 10K because 1/2 of the time I can't meet that total anyway.  I guess once I regularly hit 10K, I'll increase it to 11.5K.  That's 5 miles for me.

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Steps matter more than distance. As you've figured out, height plays a huge role in this. At the end of the day 10,000 steps for you and someone 7 feet tall would be the same workout, but 5 miles would be a lot easier for the taller person. This is why I adjust my miles goal based on my steps/stride length. Usually I hit 10,000 steps at around 4.20 miles so this is what I set my daily mileage goal at 🙂

[Dodojojo]

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@Knowledge wrote:

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Usually I hit 10,000 steps at around 4.20 miles so this is what I set my daily mileage goal at 🙂

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Oh, good idea.  I hadn't thought to adjust the miles goal, duh.  Now I can see green across the board when I hit the 10K.  

[biglarrr]

I spent days, several walks, a couple of different GPS programs.
MapMyFitness, Runkeeper, etc.

My wife and I have a regular walk and to the best of my ability, and effort,
I came up with a stride for that walk that I entered in Fitbit as my stride
length.

The problem is that we are not robots.

An energetic day will increase stride. A cold or warm day will affect
stride.

Feeling run down or excited

You get the idea.

I can and do change stride on treadmill to keep rhythm with songs I'm
listening too.

The best you can hope for is an estimate that might be right one day out of
seven.

And your stride could be longer than someone who is taller but slower or
older or any number of things.

It's not rocket science,,, or maybe it is.



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[SunsetRunner]

@biglarrr

good point re making sure you exceed the goal

however, I prefer the opposite and guilt myself into thinking I did not hit/exceed it

then again, I have mine set at 15k so not really that much more lol

kind of like when I go for fish and chips, curry or fry ups, I make sure I do more steps to either allow for the extra calories or burn them off

before fitbit, I'd have fish and chips for example and then spend rest of the time sat in front of the tv, now I either earn those calories or burn it off even when watching tv, at least most of the time, I do have lazy days once in a while, but I then do more steps to make up for it later on in the week

[BeanieBergh]

10k isn't 5 miles for me either. I've been  using the 10k benchmark and once I hit that, I try for the 5 miles. At not quite 5'3" it seems to take a lot more steps to reach 5 miles. Good luck!

[betpchem]

At 5' barely, I so relate @BeanieBergh

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@BeanieBergh wrote:

10k isn't 5 miles for me either. I've been  using the 10k benchmark and once I hit that, I try for the 5 miles. At not quite 5'3" it seems to take a lot more steps to reach 5 miles. Good luck!

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[zozombie101]

how do i change the number of steps i have to do?

Spoiler

;0