AIBU to think that many people over count their daily steps?

This is an eye opener for me. Why would you wear a pedometer on your wrist?
i have an old pedometer, fits on waistband or trouser pocket, seems to be fairly accurate, and differentiates between steps and ‘active steps’

I honestly believe step counters are the biggest swizz going. Everyone I know seems to have one, but it hasn't made a jot of difference to anyone's health or size that I can see. Disclaimer: not scientific, based entirely on biased observations. I'll change my mind if I ever see any evidence that they have a beneficial impact, but I really believe for the vast majority of people it's just something companies sell to us which gives us the false comfort that we're doing something about our health.

I had a watch device also years ago. I sat down one morning to mark exam papers, it turned out that each movement I took to give a tick to someone’s work gave me a step, looked good but gained nothing health wise for me.
Walking with a friend, on the same distance she had a third more steps because she took smaller ones or was it because she had it hanging round her neck so the counting device was bouncing on her ample front.
I keep my phone still, in the tight pocket of my jeans every day so that I can compare to my satisfaction if I have walked a lot or not, oh and I don’t have it on me when I do gym.

This is going back a few years, I'm sure newer models would be better, but my Fitbit used to count steps when I was sat on the floor at work patting babies backs or tummies to soothe them to sleep. So definitely not accurate!

I used to regularily do 30,000.

I worked packing books 1000;s a day into boxes so lots of little side to side movements

I reckon they accounted for 80% of my 'steps'

I have an Apple Watch , I knit for a living , I often clock up well over 15,000 steps a day while sitting on my sofa making hats and watching Netflix .
To add, I go to the gym several times a week and record that exercise separately and use my watch mainly for sleep tracking and answering calls etc

Focusing solely on "steps" is a waste of time.

A 30-45 minute workout offers more comprehensive benefits, such as increased strength, higher calorie burn, and improved cardiovascular fitness, all in less time than it would take to achieve the same impact through walking alone

go for a walk most days and I only count steps when I'm actively walking, not those I do when I'm hanging the washing out etc

I bought a Garmin from someone and hadn't changed the settings to suit me.

I was surprised and amused to see that it automatically logged me hanging out the washing as 'an activity'. The GPS was quite funny. I guess my heart rate must have gone over a certain threshold (either I found it very exciting or I was speed pegging!). Needless to say I turned the auto activity off. I'm quite highly strung and would probably end up with lots of tiny activities a day from bounding up the stairs, putting the washing up away or scraping the dinner plates into the food bin.

I go for a walk most days and I only count steps when I'm actively walking, not those I do when I'm hanging the washing out etc. Actually I'm not particularly interested in step count but I measure distance and the phone app I use estimates steps as well so I do look at it. It's reasonably accurate - I've manually counted my steps as a comparison - and I need to walk about 4 miles to get to 10 000 steps. And I'm only 5ft so have a fairly short stride length. I do find it hard to believe that most people who claim they are doing 10k steps per day are are walking the equivalent of 4 miles unless they have a very physical job or are going for a walk/run as part of their day.
There's no doubt that moving more in general is good for us but I think people can be lulled into a false sense of security in thinking that they are active enough if they're getting high step counts from devices, at least some of which are of dubious accuracy, when they're not actually raising their heart rate.

To be clear, I don't do 10,000 steps and then think that's a good workout. I use my tracker to see how generally active I've been. I also go to the gym three times a week and run outdoors once a week, plus do a yoga class, walking is not my only activity. I also look at resting heart rate, calories burned and my weight. None of it is completely accurate but it is a guide.

But 3 x 20 minute walks = 10,000 steps makes sense to me with average stride length (0.67 metres). 6.7km or 4 miles, about an hour a day, so my FitBit is measuring it with reasonable accuracy.

It's a baseline for me, when I do cardio in the gym or go for a run or a longer dog walk I get more steps, obviously.

I used to rack up a lot of steps while working in a library - back and forth, back and forth, shelving the books, etc.

I agree as well. Like 5 portions of fruit and veg these are made up numbers designed to motivate us but 10000 is high. I only hit this on the days I walk for an hour. 15 to 20 mins is a realistic target for most people.

I really wish this was spoken about more because it is so true. 10k is completely unrealistic for a lot of people (and made up!) and 15-30 mins a day doing something purposefully active raising your heart rate is very good for you

I have a garmin that I wear on my wrist and have an office job. It’s rare for me to have less than 10k steps, often more like 15k. I don’t accumulate them during the day when I’m sitting. It’s mornings and evenings. I also don’t ‘exercise’ as in go to the gym or go for a run. I’m just never sitting down except at work. On days I do actually exercise, it’s easy to get 22k steps or more. I think she’s simply more active than you, sorry!

I’d say if your steps are raising your heart rate

not just a slow dog walk

The only times I do over 30,000 steps are at festivals, where you spend all day/night either walking or dancing.

Its possible its the weight shift being counted even though you aren't actually picking your feet up.

My Garmin doesn't register arm movements, i cant cheat it unfortunately 😂

I do find it helpful. It tracks sleep, heart rate and all the things an apple watch might do but is more discrete. The only downside is a monthly charge to stay connected to the app but I’ve invested now so will continue paying.

I suspect they're both inaccurate. I have a fitbit and it's useless when I go to my dance class - only records about 50 steps in 2hrs! My friend's Oura ring on her finger isn't accurate for jogging. I know someone else who's gadget doesn't work for rowing.

Basically I have a poor opinion of most of these gadgets.

Talking of steps, in a recent Michael Mosley TV prog. (screened after he died) he said that if everybody would walk for just 15 minutes a day it’d make a significant difference.

I was surprised, but it occurred to me that the very idea of 10,000 steps may well be putting people off. If they don’t have the time or the inclination to do 10,000, maybe they think it’s not worth bothering at all.

You didn't need to click on the thread, it was quite clear what it was about.
It has garnered a conversation. That's what MN does.

It's nothing new OP - if you just read any thread on here about step count to know some people are full on deluded about how active they are.

I've never forgotten the thread which someone started about how to manage to get time to increase her step count (She rarely went over 5,000)

The thread obviously attracted the usual condescending "it's so easy, i get 10,000,000 steps a day without trying" crowd without actually giving the OP some ideas. But my favourite was the poor deluded poster who was convinced she was an natural Olympian, because she got over 3,000 steps "just making breakfast" (and it was definitely not measuring any movement.)

My Apple Watch seems pretty accurate. I am usually between 10-15k steps a day but I have a standing desk and walking pad that I usually do 5k+ of those on a day, plus I do the school run there and back which is about 5k and then walk the dog etc. It's always consistent with what I've done. On days where I do basically nothing, it reflects that!

My Garmin won’t sync to my phone so they count my steps separately. The Garmin gets put on first thing when I get up and counts 1000 or so a day more than the phone so I reckon both are accurate.