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

I am a fast walker. If I am not doing proper exercise (run, swim, bike) and then only go for a walk with a friend, I don't feel I've done enough for the day (in terms of how I feel even if the 10k has been reached).
10K steps pottering around isn't going to keep me fit. I think a lot of people are kidding themselves.

Yeah I have colleagues declare they have done their 10,000 with a half hour walk.

It's about 4.5 miles. So unless they ran (which they don't in office wear) you've really not.

We have a three mile loop outside my front door and that's about 6500 steps. To get to 10,000 I need a second walk.

I never get to more than a few hundred in the house which seems about right. Maybe 1,000 if been running around. Certainly never all 10,000.

I used to wear mine on my ankle at work on a ward (bare below the elbows) but now have a more sedentary job with less patient contact and can wear it on my wrist and I do a lot less steps. It usually vibrates to tell me to stand up.

I sit down all day in the office, walk to the station, walk home again and have a walk at lunch time and that's 10,000 steps. It's about on hour of walking, 3 x 20 minutes.

What I would say is that some people's stride is tiny so they get more steps but not necessarily the distance.

I'd argue that making beds and cleaning keeps you fitter than just clocking up steps from walking (unless it's proper striding out).
Running a B&B is pretty physical work. She'd be better off telling people that running a B&B keeps her fit because she's up and down stairs a lot, doing cleaning 4 hours a day, rather than bragging about the number of steps.

This.

Clapping also racks up the steps with a Garmin watch!

I've disproved this theory before

Wore a pedometer, carried my phone and had my smart watch on for the day, whilst not completely scientific all three were within 800 steps of one another. Maybe her watch is faulty or she has a cheap one that doesn't disregard wrist movement.

It depends on how good the device is mine was £300ish and doesn't count hand movements only steps but people buy and wear like £20 one which will count every movement

@EyeOop if I am having a day where I am getting 30k steps I agree it’s a form of exercise, more like endurance 😂 but if I am walking around and my HR is 88bmp I know I am not getting much in the way of cardiovascular benefits. 88bmp is my average walking heart rate which means most of my steps aren’t in an exertional exercise zone. If I walk with purpose to exercise my HR should be in the 120’s

YANBU but why would you care?

My Samsung watch does not record any steps when I’m not actually walking around.

Does she lend it to teenage boys for their wrists?

Definitely depends on the quality of the device. My Fitbit doesn’t register anything that’s related to my desk job - so not typing or anything like that. In fact it buzzes hourly to remind me to move a bit more! And most people wear them on their non-dominant wrist so wouldn’t pick up things like drinking cups of tea or scrolling on iPads anyway?
Most annoying is my Fitbit not recording steps while I’m pushing a trolley or pushchair though!

I agree, it’s not something useful to focus on, your heart rate is. Moving around is still good for you though. Everyone has a different stride length.

I don’t think it really matters? As long as you are not “cheating” it by wiggling it around on purpose you are going to get a measure of the movement of your body compared to yesterday. It’s not religiously just steps, no, as other activities like swimming and trampolining set mine off. But then not all steps are of equal effort either. In terms of distances mine is accurate and I know roughly my steps per mile and it all lines up as it should, more or less. I also track my runs and walks on a mapping app and know how far they are.

I aim for 15k as an average, don’t always hit it but do regularly have days where I do 35-40k to even it out. It feels like exercise to me.

My fit bit used to clock my steps and miles while I was driving. How it thought I was walking 3 miles in 10 minuted with a low heart rate I'll never know!

Yes, I think you have articulated clearly something that I was groping towards in an earlier point without quite understanding. Each person's step count is relevant for them. It isn't a tool for comparing one person with another. It shows you the difference, for you, between being active and sedentary.

And it is a pretty rubbish tool, on its own. Heart rate is where it's at.

Mine would register over 300 steps just putting my makeup on and I don’t even wear a lot.
I know someone who was very boastful about how she’s super fit because she’s walking X amount of steps each day, but she has a B&B, so it’s actually clocking up thousands of steps when she’s changing the bed linen/cleaning etc.

I agree that they are not very accurate. Often after going for a hike with friends we compare step count and they vary immensely. But I think they are fairly consistent for an individual so I know that if my step count is higher than yesterday I've had a more active day, I do find having a target helpful.

I have a Garmin I wear on my non dominant wrist. It’s not too bad but does record the bumps when driving through Birmingham on the M5 as steps. We fell out when it told me, the day after completing an ultra marathon, that I needed to move further.

My step counter is always low even though I think I walk quite a bit as I don't have a car. I guess it's useful to think 2000 steps ish is a mile and that's about 18-20 mins for me to walk. So even though I do school drop offs, they might only be 10 min walks. It takes quite a lot of walking to get to 10,000 in my experience

DH and I have the same fitbit.

I have long legs, walk fast and have a long stride.
He has shorter legs and what I endearlingly call hobbit strides.

He gets many many more steps on the same walk.
Drives me bonkers.

I def don't get steps from stationary activities.

I recently got a fit bit for my wrist.
One day I had been helping my daughter clear out her wardrobe. And it logged 30 minutes of swimming!!!
It then did it again when I was sorting my drawers out too.
Clearly swimming and folding clothes have a lot in common.....
Otherwise I think it's pretty accurate.
Unless I am clapping. A standing ovation derives many many steps!!!!

I use both my phone and a smart watch to track steps. My watch is the lower number so Saturday watch said 14k phone 18k.