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Original poster

how many steps do you do a day?

93 replies

hareclive · 28/05/2025 19:08

on average? Mac mum and minimum etc?

I am interested because I have a chronic illness which affects my mobility and causes fatigue but I try and walk, for all the usual reasons. I know that 10,000 is what everyone is supposed to aim for but I'm trying to gauge what is normal/average. I used to aim for 6000 a day but it has declined over the last year especially and my daily average is just over 2000 a day. this includes 2 or 3 days a week when I stay in bed mostly and do 200/300 steps....so some days I am still walking 6000

just interested in comparing, if anyone doesn't mind sharing?

OP posts:

Original poster

hareclive · 28/05/2025 22:30

MrsSunshine2b · 28/05/2025 22:18

I set myself a goal to do a minimum of 5000 every day in May. I work from home. My daughter goes to school about 1.5 miles away, and there's no way I could take an hour out of work twice a day to walk her there and back. Unless you're a SAHP I really don't see how people are walking on the school run, unless school is 5 minutes walk away, in which case, surely it's not that many steps.

I go for a walk on my lunchbreak and ~4000 steps takes me around 45 minutes

Then I finish work at 6ish and have to make dinner, then get DD to bed.

10,000 steps is 5 miles, or 2 hours of walking. I do not understand how anyone is working a full time job, looking after their children and managing to take 2 hours out of their day for a walk.

I think it's pretty much impossible unless you don't work or have kids, or you're in a very active job.

I'm currently on annual leave and both DH and I have hit 10k every day- for example, today, DH went for a run this morning and then took the kids to play at the outdoor pool in town, and I walked into town which is about 3 miles to meet them there, and then took the kids to walk around the town centre together. That's just not feasible on a normal work day.

I used to do it....school was on my way to work, so I would walk to the school with my bike, then cycle the rest of the way. my job was desk based but in a big org so I would walk a moderate amount for an office job. but I was also getting up at 530am to walk the dog and doing it again at the end of the day. at that time, I couldn't understand why it was difficult for people to achieve £10k. that bit me on the ass, hard

OP posts:

HorrorFan81 · 28/05/2025 22:32

I spent many years with a chronic illness which greatly restricted my ability to walk, got between 1500-5000 at that time. Entered remission last year and I'm feeling great now and obsessed with walking as much as possible as it really helps me physically and mentally.

Average 20k steps a day at the moment. I walk before work, at lunch, after work and maybe again in the evening. Sometimes go for a 5k run too. Managed to get up to 30k a few times.

I wouldn't worry too much about 10k - its not based on any evidence. If you have an illness with fatigue I know how difficult any level of activity can be so just take care of yourself and get some gentle movement when you can

MmeChoufleur · 28/05/2025 22:32

There’s no point in comparing with other people who are fit with no health or mobility problems. I’ve got ME/CFS and I’m not too bad right now and averaging 4,000 a day. I have periods where that will be in the hundreds. I sometimes have a day when I’ll do 10,000 but then I’m in bed for days afterwards.

Original poster

hareclive · 28/05/2025 22:33

HolidayBrochure · 28/05/2025 22:27

if I don’t actively decide to go for a walk or maybe a run I do less than 3000. At the moment I’m trying to hit 10k a day but I need to get out and do a 50 minute walk otherwise I won’t hit that target.

don’t be hard on yourself OP. It sounds like you’re going through a difficult time.

ah, thanks. unfortunately my difficult time seems to have become my permanent situation. so I probably am torturing myself a bit, by comparing!

OP posts:

IwantmyReptv · 28/05/2025 22:33

14k daily target, I reach it 99% of the time as I make sure I walk to work and the supermarket.
Have done 21k today.

doodleschnoodle · 28/05/2025 22:35

Well not everyone works 9-5 or has set hours for a start. I am not a SAHP, I work, but I work hours and with flexibility that allows me to walk the school runs every day, so I do that.

The pic is today’s steps: for example I didn’t do the morning school run as DH did it, but I did the pick-up walk and back (big spike) and then I decided to walk to my volunteer role in evening and back (two smaller spikes later on) instead of taking the car. I am a fast walker too! So that was 12,000 fairly easily. About 1hr 20 of purposeful walking and then some incidental walking, around the house, I popped to local shop at lunch time, etc.

If I had done the morning school run it would have been around 16/17k steps by end of today.
.

vinavine · 28/05/2025 22:35

On MNs people do 30,000 pottering around the house before breakfast.

doodleschnoodle · 28/05/2025 22:37

Conversely this was last Sunday as I did bog all except some chores, had an afternoon nap and went nowhere

TippledPink · 28/05/2025 22:45

On a work day WFH, around 7.5k which includes a dog walk. I spend 9-5pm doing very minimal steps it's after work the they kick in. Weekends at least 15k. My average across the week is around £12.5k, and that's with no exercise currently as I am recovering from an op.

Arquebuse · 28/05/2025 22:45

I can’t drive, so I walk or cycle everywhere. Tends to be 10 to 12 k.

Original poster

hareclive · 28/05/2025 22:45

doodleschnoodle · 28/05/2025 22:37

Conversely this was last Sunday as I did bog all except some chores, had an afternoon nap and went nowhere

Edited

yeah on a day I do 'bog all' I do less than 100 steps, just going to the toilet and back to bed. 2000 is a decent day for me

OP posts:

JockyWilsonsaid · 28/05/2025 22:48

On MN everyone does 200000 steps a day. I don't have a dog, don't go for a run, don't walk to work, don't do a school run and have a job that doesn't require me to walk all day. I aim for 5000 a day on a work day, which I mostly meet. On a weekend, if I'm just pottering around the house, I do a lot less.

Original poster

hareclive · 28/05/2025 22:55

JockyWilsonsaid · 28/05/2025 22:48

if I didn't have a dog, I would struggle to do more than a couple of hundred tbh. I find walking for exercise boring, a necessary evil

OP posts:

Ariela · 28/05/2025 23:03

Not many -0 my phone stays on the kitchen table/in the car/on my desk at work. Only done about 2k steps today.
If I carried my phone everywhere it's about 5 x that or more

Thequeenofwishfulthinking · 28/05/2025 23:11

I can't drive due to a medical issue. I walk everywhere unless the weather is horrendous. Primary school one way is 25 minutes.
I also have a dog.
I'm over 20k a day except on a Sunday.
I rarely sit down and relax. Maybe an hour in an evening to watch TV or read once the kids are in bed.
My steps are calculated by my phone. I don't carry it everywhere so I'm aware I'm doing more than 21 to 22k daily.

MummyInTheNecropolis · 28/05/2025 23:33

Up until this year I did around 6000 on average, just going to and from work and being on my feet at work a lot. In January I started taking mounjaro for weight loss and decided to increase my exercise. I went up to 10k a day and now do between 12-16k per day, except Saturdays which are my rest days! I also run 3 times a week. Losing a lot of weight helped, the mounjaro also relieves inflammation so my knees and feet don’t hurt like they used to.

Acc0untant · 29/05/2025 08:59

Around 5k on average. Used to be higher before my dog passed away as we'd have two walks a day.

Some days it's around a thousand steps. Those days are the ones where I get up, get ready, sit at my desk and have to work 10-12 hours to meet deadlines that week. By the time I'm done I make a quick dinner, shower and go to bed.

BlossomIsSoPretty · 29/05/2025 09:04

Zero. But then again, I am in a wheelchair and can't walk haha

DancingLions · 29/05/2025 10:25

It's actually really hard to hit 10,000 if you have a desk job, no dog to walk, you don't go running or to the gym etc. I was reading that 5000 is enough to make a significant difference, so that's what I aim for. I'm just not willing to dedicate any more time out of my day to force more steps in.

Icanttakethisanymore · 29/05/2025 10:33

About 15k a day unless i go for a run then it's more. I do make an effort to go for walks though (I wfh most days) because I have a desk job.

MilesOfMotivation · 29/05/2025 10:44

I have a goal of 7,000-10,000 on a working day (which is not easy on days I don't do the school run and I work from home - I have to make an effort to go out and walk in the evenings). At weekends I aim for 10,000-15,000 per day which is much easier achieved.

MilesOfMotivation · 29/05/2025 10:45

hareclive · 28/05/2025 22:45

yeah on a day I do 'bog all' I do less than 100 steps, just going to the toilet and back to bed. 2000 is a decent day for me

Show quote history

100 steps? ONE HUNDRED STEPS?

DancingDucks · 29/05/2025 10:45

10 - 14k when I'm at work. Much less when not.

Doggymummar · 29/05/2025 10:52

About 1000 most days (WFH) and 2500 on the days I have eBay parcels to post.

mondaytosunday · 29/05/2025 10:52

This is asked a lot and the answers are always pretty high (over 10k).
Two things you need to know: the 10k is a marketing myth. And the average adult step count, according to NHS is about 3000-4000 a day. A ‘healthy’ adult average is around 5000.
6000-8000 is a good count to aim for, but as you have a mobility limiting condition, then do what you can and don’t bother about what other people are doing.
To answer you, I get anywhere from 2000-8000, I’d say average of 5000.

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