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

Can you convince your friend to wear yours for a day or move hers? I'd love to see the results.

You would need two of the same step counter then wear one on your wrist, the other one on your bra strap so you can compare the same days step count.

I agree, I've wondered how accurate they are too.

I used to have a cheap Fitbit and could easily clock up 10k not moving when I worked in veg prep - a 100kg of fine diced onion :)

Now I have a Garmin, non Dom wrist, and its close to the mark - I compare to my phone which is in my arse pocket usually

Both Garmin and phone have been calibrated for my stride

I have very short legs so I do clock up more steps then most doing the same distance. My walking buddy always clocks up less steps on the same milage

I do think some people do over estimate what they are doing, I know there was a thread few months ago and someone posted that were doing 30 to 40k a day spending 30 mins on a walking pad whilst working from home. In a marathon I only clocked 63k. But if they want to kid themselves, fair play to them. I know Im out there pounding the pavement

Just off out now for a 5k with the dog :)

Yep, it's two decent walks a day. Almost 2 hours of walking for me to get 10k steps.

Old fashioned clip on pedometers are notoriously shit at collecting accurate data though! It sounds like yours is under reporting as well as hers over-reporting.

Newer fitbits, Garmain etc will vary. My fitbit doesn't record most arm movements, but it does think that clapping is step count. I'm not alone, on a special 24 hour theatre day last year so many of us got our step count achievement alerts and then some by sitting in a theatre and clapping quite a lot 😅

the 10,000 number is ENTIRELY MADE UP - just to be very clear. it has no scientific basis other than "walking is good for you"

https://www.nuffieldhealth.com/article/walking-10k-steps-a-day-fact-fiction

"The idea of walking 10,000 steps a day comes from a hugely successful marketing campaign launched ahead of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. The number was chosen because the Japanese character for 10,000 resembles a person walking, and the idea caught on."

I've got a Garmin and I've just tried drinking coffee, putting my hand up and down, waving my arm back and forth, clapping, and it's not registered anything!

Not all step counters are equal. My Garmin one is pretty accurate.

My old Fitbit used to sometimes count driving as steps (!) and when I went horse riding it went mental and 1 hour horse riding was like 20,000 steps (just an easy plod so I was doing basically nothing!)

I switched from a Samsung watch to a Garmin and wore both for a few days to compare the readings - the Garmin was recording about 2000 less steps per day, and feels more accurate.

Mine is an app on this phone. Unfortunately most of my clothes don't have pockets, because I do a lot more steps which aren't counted. I do 300 just walking down to my greenhouse,veg plots, have 2 border collies,one is only a puppy.

I genuinely cannot imagine dedicating 60 seconds in my day to thinking about another person’s step count, much less discussing it or typing out a whole post.

Just stop discussing steps with your coworker, OP. What is the allure in that topic?

I've just got a pedometer on my phone
It's actually quite accurate when I've checked it with me counting my steps
I so a fair bit of walking and it reflects that

My wrist step counting watch doesn't count steps when I'm pushing the pushchair 😭

I’m intrigued by this now. I check my steps on my phone. I have a similar job to yours, OP, but have a multi-leg public transport commute so that invokes a little walking. My average is 4.5k steps a day, but I only have my phone on me on my commute and not throughout the day. I’ll keep it in my pocket all day and see what happens.

I was running a circle time for small children. I was sitting on the floor and leaning forward to let them choose things. My heart rate was up from running round before and singing/being energetic. My Fitbit congratulated me on my swim!

Mine does count arm movements sometimes e.g. in the car, but is usually fairly accurate I feel, but then I walk quite a bit - around the house/office, school run, commute.

My 5yo wore my Fitbit once for a whole day when we were camping. He did 37000 steps! No wonder he was tired at the end of the day. I very rarely get above 20000.

I use my phone. It obviously only registers my steps when I’m carrying it around but even if I spent a few hours in my local city up and down the high street and shops I’d only ring up about 16,000 steps. A walk to my local shops, small supermarket trip and walk back home only give me about 3.5k steps. How she’s getting that much just mooching around her desk is a bit of a mystery but maybe those type of counters registers all movement.

My Apple Watch used to count music practice as steps, but it has gradually got more accurate over time. I think if you occasionally set it to a workout so that it knows for sure that you are walking at that point, while having the setting for motion calibration on, it will gradually get more accurate.

I agree with you. I’m taking two 15 minute brisk walks a day, and I’m on my feet a lot, also doing tennis more flights of stairs. I’m averaging 6000. I only get over 10,000 on the weekends. I’d prefer to think that’s my smartphone undercounting. But you’re making me think twice about a smartwatch

The problem isn't with it being on her wrist, it just sounds completely wrong.
If she thinks she's walked 12K steps from about 20 mins walking and a bit of pottering, then she's a fool.

When I get 40,000 it's around 15 miles - and that is a reliable mileage because I walk with people who have fancy hiking apps with gps and all that

I'm still pissed off that I didn't have my fitbit on when I did the yorkshire three peaks challenge in the summer. That would have been a number to treasure!!

Stopped counting steps ages ago.
Get some ranger beads, go through the exercise of getting your distances down.
Far more accurate than a little digital thing and cheaper. 🤪

I use my phone, so it only is in my pocket outside the house when I’m actually walking.
My step count averages 6-7. When it’s over 10k I’ve had a busy day.
I have a friend who is always 10-12, but like you say wears it on her wrist. She walks 5 min to the tube, 5-6 to the office each day and potters inside. Very very rarely does anything else. I notice when we walk around she struggles to keep going alongside me. I walk everyday and a fair bit in comparison, to work, with kids or dog etc

I've also never been over 30k steps and I hike.

At 40,000 you've done the best part of 20 miles. And anyone who walks knows how that feels.

It depends on your step counter.

My Samsung was brilliant and SO accurate. Very difficult to cheat it.

I then replaced it with a fitbit which clocks steps when it shouldn't e.g. changing gear in the car, piano practice etc...

They're designed to be worn on the non dominant hand.

Weirdly whenever I iron (rarely tbh) my watch says I have done at least 2000 steps for about an hour of ironing. If I wore my watch on my right hand I would understand as that's the hand I iron with - but I don't, I wear it on my left. So I dont move it much when ironing and obviously I am mainly standing still!

Never understand it 😆