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

Bit like my juddering wheelbarrow! All the bumps 😎

If anyone relies on a step counter to tell them whether they are fit, then they most likely aren’t.

Compeltely agree with you OP, there is no way some people are doing the steps they claim

I do have a wrist counter, fit3 thing. I completely disregard the counter on there, which then links with my phone. It counts steps when Im sweeping up or something for example, Ive worked this out

So I just know that my target per day is 6k steps, and that is 3 miles and if I have done more than that, then Im winning.

I dont know about steps, but mine is pretty accurate on the distance as I have a number if set walks I do with the dog
I know how far they are and my fit bit is always about right on them.

My step count always seems quite low. To get to 10,000 I'd have to have done a long walk plus a fairly active day.

But I find it useful to track me. As long as it's consistently out, I know that 3,000 is a day doing feck all, 6,000 includes a 30 minute walk etc, so it reminds me to move about a bit more.

My Apple Watch doesn’t pick up steps from sitting at my desk. I get up from my desk a lot and walk around to make drinks and stretch and keep mobile so I rack up steps that way. I always have more steps than my DP even if we do the same things as his stride is bigger than mine. I don’t shake anything very vigorously. However I don’t count any of these steps as exercise, if I am doing exercise I will always start the fitness counter specifically. Just did an intentional 2 mile walk this morning fast paced took 26 mins. I’ve done 3.7k steps but obviously some of those are going to the toilet and getting dressed.

10k steps a day was an advertising gimmick. Adults are meant to get 150 mins of vigorous exercise a week this means getting out of breath and slightly sweaty raising your heart rate.

Steps through normal life are activity, not exercise. NEAT (non exercise activity) accounts for a good portion of your daily calories burned, whereas exercise is only about 10%. So it is good to keep moving around and good to get in steps if you are trying to lose weight or keep active but sedentary steps don’t benefit your cardiovascular system or improve muscle strength or bone density like exercise does so they both have different purposes. This is the trope ‘you can’t outrun your diet’ being true but both NEAT and specific exercise is good for you in different ways. Just that 10k steps are kind of misleading, you could just do 30 mins exercise a few days a week and fidget a lot day to day and you would meet the basic requirements for activity/exercise (depending on your height and other factors)

Making a risotto gets you about 2000 with the constant stirring.

Mine is on my wrist and like yours OP. I will only get 2-3k if I’m in the office or if I’m working at home 1-2k.

Sounds like hers is set up wrong rather than it’s a wrist issue

I had a Fitbit and would regularly clock about 3000 steps just sitting on the bus in the morning 😂

You are SO right OP. The step counters massively over estimate. I used to have a wrist one but it was ridiculous. I once clocked up 320 steps sitting on the loo! I now use an app on my phone which I'm guessing works with satnav technology like the trackers on kids' phones. It still doesn't make me get off the sofa and move my arse though.

I find ankle most accurate.

I think my MILs records her breathing. We even swapped one day... she must have lots of little movements. Whereas I can walk around and it didnt pick up any unless I go at some pace.

This thread shows there are devices which are less accurate than others.
I'm more concerned that some people have so little awareness of how far 10K steps is and are happily kidding themselves.
I WFH at a desk job. I am fully aware that unless I consciously go for a walk there is no way I'll get 10K steps in.
In reality I don't worry about it, as I swim and bike a lot (as well as running) so know I am getting enough exercise even if the garmin tells me I've done only 3000 steps.

Who is the more normal bmi out of you both out of interest?

Wrist watches can be quite inaccurate. Mine has the opposite problem of, I can walk a 3 mile round trip with the pram and it'll count near to no steps because my wrists are static on the handles. At the end of the day its annoying but doesn't really matter I suppose

I spend a lot of my summer holiday on a boat. I clock up thousands of steps just sitting there! It's really annoying, as I really try to do a lot of walking on holiday too and I have no idea how many steps I have really done!

Neither your wrist (unless you have a tracker that can differentiate between you walking and brushing your hair) nor your bra are good places to wear a step counter. If have though the most sensible place to wear it would be attached to a belt at the side of your hip.

I’m fairly certain my Fitbit over counts

My Apple Watch makes my aquafit class (45 minutes) around 4500/5000 steps which gets logged on nutracheck automatically, saves me inputting the class manually - I did change the setting once to ‘swimming’ but the reading didn’t make sense to me.

I have a very short friend who doesn’t live in a huge house but manages to clock up 8000 steps every day, she rarely sits down always pottering !

Mine definitely overestimates if I'm doing things like washing the dishes or sorting laundry. Though it doesn't register much movement at all if I'm sat working at my computer (I haven't checked if it registers anything but it certainly regularly buzzes and tells me i need to move when I've been sat working for a while).

But I'm not too worried if it's not accurate for steps on a generally day at home I just regard it as a relative measure of activity - it's better for me to have clocked up a few thousand steps e.g. maneuvering a hoover around -even if it's not actually steps than to have spent that time sat on the sofa. If I'm actually walking it's quite reliable - and obviously I know if I've actually walked any real distance or not at the end of the day.

The calorie count on my Fitbit is definitely way off though, I personally find that far more irritating.

Ha! This used to happen with my previous fitness tracker when I knitted. My current one - a Fitbit - doesn't do this. But sometimes it reminds me to move when I'm already walking about the house doing stuff and I shout at it 'I'm moving, I'm moving FFS!'🤣🤣

I think you’re just looking for excuses because you’re not active OP 😂 get moving more than you will be less interested in everyone else’s step count.

Yes all step counters are not equal.

I get about 10000 steps a day (dog to walk) and just use my iPhone in my pocket to gauge this. DH had one of those rings.

We have done the experiment of checking how many steps we have done while on the same walk. His was usually at least a third higher than mine. It's bollocks.

I'm pretty sure that my Fitbit overstates my mileage, though.

I think it must calculate my stride length based on GPS connected walks, when I am striding out in full hiking mode, and then it assumes that when I shuffle about the kitchen etc each step has the same value as a hiking step.

So I clock up absurd mileages round and about the house. Gratifying but daft.

According to her watch a friend of mine did over 3000 steps while sitting on the sofa knitting.

I always thought an old style pedometer was supposed to be worn on the hip. Maybe yours is under-reporting?

My fitbit does pick up non steps sometimes, but it's usually when I'm being pretty physical in other ways so as a general monitor of how active I am I think it all counts.

Your colleague going on about it sounds really annoying though

Of course they are