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Original poster

30,000 steps a day

141 replies

HowdoIgetbacktothe80s · 27/02/2023 19:35

My dh cousin has been on a weight loss journey for the last few years and has done so well and lost an extremely huge amount of weight and has kept it off. She documents everything on her SM pages to help encourage others on the diet she follows.
She has recently started to show how many steps she covers per day and on average it’s shows around 25000 - 30000 per day.
I was quite taken a back by this. I see myself as quite active. I have a dog a walk him 3 times a day with a very long walk in the afternoon and have a treadmill which I use every other day but I’ve never hit that kind of figure before (maybe I’m not walking as much as I think lol).
She doesn’t have a treadmill and wfh full time so god only knows when she is fitting these long walks in?
How many miles do you think you would cover with 30000 steps per day? How many do you do?

OP posts:
FourTeaFallOut · 27/02/2023 19:54

Does she have one of those stand up desks with a walking treadmill? I can't see how you could work from home and get that kind of step count otherwise?

ShinyHatStand · 27/02/2023 19:55

My Garmin is about as accurate as step counters come.
I average 14,000 steps per day which put me in the top 2% of Garmin users in my age group (Female 40-49).
This comes from running about 20 miles per week and walking the same again.

Mycatisalwaysangry · 27/02/2023 19:55

I did 30k every day for a week while on holiday. It took me at least 3 hours. Does she have all that free time every day?

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Squiffy01 · 27/02/2023 19:55

Not sure how with wfh.
I used to do 25-30k a day when at work then the weekend would do about 6k 🤣

lljkk · 27/02/2023 19:56

Just looking at fitbit, last time I did > 30k (31.5k) steps was Nov 28th. I remember what happened.

I volunteered dog-walked in morning (cycle-walk-cycle). The cycling probably added about 2000 steps, too.

Noon I did something for 45 minutes, could have been housework.

In evening DS failed to get lift to a 2.5 hour long activity, 45 minutes drive from home. Almost whole time he was in his activity, I was walking around the town to keep warm. So ... that was 4 hours of walking + 40 minutes cycling + some steps around the house. Also WFH, sedentary, for ~6 hours.

StressyMcStressFace · 27/02/2023 19:56

Well I'm here to tell you it's possible. I average at around 28-30k a day - often more. I get up at 6 and do a 8k walk (1.5 hour). Go to work mon-fri 9-5 sedentary job. Come home and do the same walk again. Veg on sofa all evening. Every day. (except weekend when i don't work but still do the walks)

Mycatisalwaysangry · 27/02/2023 19:57

PillBoxes · 27/02/2023 19:52

All this competitive step stuff wrecks my head, sorry folks.

I know one thing, everyone is different, and steps and a goal work for some, running, treadmill, gym etc. or a combo works for others.

30k steps a day is doable, but bloody boring every single day if you ask me, but then again most exercise is bloody boring over a long period. Short bursts fine, long three/four hour stints not. To me anyway.

Since I am OLD now well past 60 I am delighted to be able to do 5k walk every day except Sunday, my day of rest. Thats about 6k steps or so. I carry 5-6 kg in a backpack too when walking and lift cans of beans for my bingo wings for some minutes every evening.

I still get fkn leg cramps at night though and they are bloody awful, so painful. Had the veins checked and so on, can't find a cause so if anyone has any tips apart from toxic quinine I'd be delighted to hear. Probably my bloody age aaargh.

Walkers on the Camino de Santiago would not do that amount of walking per day, unless they are the competitive type who don't smell the roses much.

I had that when I wasn’t stretching daily. The cramps never came back after that

Goatinthegarden · 27/02/2023 19:58

If I had a desk job, I’d totally get a standing desk with a treadmill…maybe she has one of those?

I do 25-30k steps quite often at the weekend (on a hike or exploring a city…usually with a pub lunch involved), but it’s really time consuming. I couldn’t be doing with trudging about around my neighbourhood like that every day.

If you want to lose weight/burn calories, it’s much more efficient to run or cycle.

theblackradiator · 27/02/2023 19:59

clarepetal · 27/02/2023 19:51

I upped my steps by giving my partner a hand job.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

canyon2000 · 27/02/2023 20:00

I walk that many steps a day. I like to run and I have a very energetic dog that needs lots of walking. The most steps I have done in a day is 42,000. I sleep well!!

CottonSock · 27/02/2023 20:03

I had a day off today so went on a 11.5km hike. Steps at 22k.
I could never fit that in wfh.

PillBoxes · 27/02/2023 20:03

@Mycatisalwaysangry Thanks for the tip about the cramps. You are right I never stretch, I don't feel I need to as I am no athlete! I do the cramp exercises when I get them which is usually at night and means jumping out of the bed screaming - honestly they are awful!

Anyway if you don't mind me asking, what stretching should I do, and would that be when I am up and about before going out to walk? God I am an idiot, if this works I will love you forever!

PatientlyWaiting21 · 27/02/2023 20:07

They are just rough estimates, especially if it’s a watch sliding up and down your wrist, take it with a pinch of salt.

JaninaDuszejko · 27/02/2023 20:08

My brother is a farmer so is outside on his feet all day and he averages 20K plus a day.

Des she run every day or do another exercise that would boost her steps, I swim and my activity monitor reckons my 1km swim is equivalent to 7000 steps, I'm not very fast, a decent swimmer could easily hit double that in half an hour.

Or it could be counting wrong, mine loves me ironing and folding clothes. Although that is still movement so maybe that's fair enough and makes up for its dislike of yoga, I get more steps for my walk to and from yoga than it registers in the yoga class.

C4ou56 · 27/02/2023 20:09

I have ADHD, in a sedentary job I’d manage 10k before lunch. This was from nipping to the loo, the photocopier, back and forth to the to do list on my whiteboard, going to my bag in the corner of the office - I’m naturally on the move most of the time. If I did a 5k run in the evening I’d finish the day above 20k steps and I’d class that as a low movement day.

When my husband wanted to loose 3 stone he did a minimum of 20k a day and he had a desk job and isn’t naturally constantly on the move like I am.

Idimage it can be easily achieved by dictating your work and pacing up and down the home office, followed by a long walk in the evening

Edwardandtubbs · 27/02/2023 20:13

Haven't rtwt sorry but Martin Lewis does 20,000 a day and he achieves that by a 10k run, 2-3 hours of meetings on the phone where he walks constantly, and then literally pacing while watching telly in the evening to make it up to the total. According to his podcast. So 30,000 would be 1.5 times that.....

katienana · 27/02/2023 20:15

I average 15k steps a day, that's school run x2 plus a 45 min dog walk plus housework. If I go for a run, or go shopping, or have extra things to do on an evening then I can get to 20k. 30k is a lot and I don't think I could keep that up long term!

doadeer · 27/02/2023 20:17

That would be hours of walking for me.

On a normal day, I take my son for a walk about a mile, a mile to do nursery run, mile back, go to shops etc. I'm usually 10,000-13,000 a day and I feel I'm walking quite a bit. It take a few hours.

I think I'd only hit 30,000 if I was on a big hike or a city break and walking all day. Absolutely wouldn't be possible in my day to day life.

GrannieD · 27/02/2023 20:21

I did 31,326 yesterday but it was a training run of 14 miles. Not something I can do on a day to day basis. If she attaching to a dog ?

fellrunner85 · 27/02/2023 20:23

I did 30k+ steps on Sunday, but then I did a 20 mile run and also took the kids to the park.

She's either lying or she has one of those fitness trackers where you rack up 5k steps just doing the washing. Fitbits tend to do that, IME.

Rebel2 · 27/02/2023 20:23

PillBoxes · 27/02/2023 20:03

@Mycatisalwaysangry Thanks for the tip about the cramps. You are right I never stretch, I don't feel I need to as I am no athlete! I do the cramp exercises when I get them which is usually at night and means jumping out of the bed screaming - honestly they are awful!

Anyway if you don't mind me asking, what stretching should I do, and would that be when I am up and about before going out to walk? God I am an idiot, if this works I will love you forever!

Magnesium. Supplement or spray on
I use a spray and massage it into my calves before bed
Or soak in the bath in magnesium flakes

CrystalCoco · 27/02/2023 20:27

Nope, even on a very active city break, walking a lot, the most I got in one day was around 20,000, I'm fit and not overweight and I was knackered/ sore feet - and it was a one-off, the other days were 10-15,000

I had a school teacher friend once tell me that she walked 18,000 steps daily just walking around the classroom, again, I doubt it.

Love PP's suggestion that the Fitbit is on the dog 😅

mycatsanutter · 27/02/2023 20:28

I have done 26,500 today it says thats 12.4 miles

MatchaTea · 27/02/2023 20:29

Was the steps count from a phone or from a wearable? I can easily reach 10.000 on my Fitbit during a very heated phone call with my department head and this whilst sitting at my desk .

HelloChompy · 27/02/2023 20:29

I do that sort of mileage on a regular basis but then I do work as a dog walker so not that surprising! Unless she runs before or after work though or is walking around her house while on work calls etc it would be hard to imagine how she fits it in while working full time. It takes me several hours of walking to get to that level of steps but then I am not doing it that quickly, if a dog stops to sniff or say hello to one of their friends I stop with them.