To think that 10,000 steps is a lot?

[Bluebelliphant]

I have been feeling quite pleased with myself as I've been easily smashing the recommended step amount of 2,000.

However I've just found out it's in fact 10,000. That seems a lot?

Do others manage that every day?

It all depends on the pedometers/ fitness trackers you're all using. My very generous fitbit counts as a step just waving my arm. I can easily do 500-1000 steps without moving my feet, just cooking for example. Other more serious pedometers only count proper steps and will reset if for example you do 100 steps and then stop. So walking around the house getting ready would be 0 steps!

I know I can do 20000 without leaving the house and I haven't had the benefits of a proper walk.

Well, I have sat on my arse most of the day watching telly, apart from a trip to the garden centre and have done just over 2000 steps. Watch has already told me that I am a lazy arse and my rings are usually further on than this and a brisk walk will close my rings. On my usual days I generally do about 8000- 11000 on average.

Last time I cracked 10k was walking around a shopping centre looking for a fucking Easter bonnet for the child’s nursery parade. I didn’t find one, but I did find a whole lot of Easter chocolate to make up for the stress and loss of calories.

Just keep to your personal targets op. If you find yourself hitting those easily, then slowly build it up. Not everyone is doing walking marathons before they’ve even had their morning coffee .

I do at least 10k during the week when I have the school run. Usually 5-6k at weekends unless we are on a day out.
10k is a lot if you are starting from scratch and if you have a sit down job for instance. But if you are generally busy milling about then it soon adds up!

@Jenala pushing a buggy or shopping trolley effects your step count as your arm is stationary.

I hit 10-15k a day. Work from home, school runs etc

It is a lot. I only hit mine because I run a lot. I have two active dc and a desk job and would only average about 8000 on a rest day.

I'm wondering where all these people live. I checked my eight mile walk, it logged as 15k steps and took 3 hours 40 minutes (well it was uphill).

That's about right, for all those measurements.

Not everyone has the same stride length, so eg one person's 10K could be another's 9K.

I work from home and 8,000 steps a day is good for me. It includes one long dog walk and walking to collect DD from school, plus a few other smaller activities. I did 15,000 on Wednesday but was trekking about London most of the day. 2,000 is really not much at all.

I know the target is 10000 but I don't like setting myself up to fail. It's pointless setting a target that you never or rarely meet, whatever the recommended is.

I set myself a target of 5,000. Sometimes I do less, sometimes more and I generally average close to 5000 daily over the week.

I do have a mental goal to do 10000 at least one day a week in order to incrementally increase my steps.

Whatever the recommended target, increasing the average number of steps you do over time has to be a good thing.

My advice is to gradually improve your own average rather than worrying to much about statutory targets

Still don't believe that people sitting in their house and never going further than bathroom and kitchen are doing thousands of steps though

And yet, apparently an eight mile walk is practically sedentary... a bare minimum...?

How long am I expected to spend just walking in a day if 3-4 hours is not enough?

I’m really confused now, Just looked at my phone history as I went on a hike a few weeks ago. My phone has tracked it as 25000 steps, I walked 15 miles. How do people do this on average?!

I'm wondering where all these people live. I checked my eight mile walk, it logged as 15k steps

My 7.5 mile walk logged just over 19K steps.

Line of Duty is about to start so priorities.. I’ve just checked, today I’ve only done 5035. I’ve taken the dog out for a quick 20 minutes before agility classes. Drove back home, went to B&Q walked around there for nearly 2 hours, lots of decisions to be made .. came home, bit of washing to sort out etc and still only that figure. Either my Fitbit is faulty, I don’t think it is or people have HUGE houses or are not efficient when getting ready for work.

I have MS on an average day I do between 2 - 3,000 on an absolutely brilliant day I can do 5,000 but best of all when I am using my wheelchair on my worst days my Fitbit calculates in excess of 10,000 I'll never see that using my legs

It depends on your circumstances. I work part time, don't drive. My son has aspergers & is quite dependent on me but if my mum's around or he's at college on a long day, I will walk to work (4 miles, takes about 1 hr 20 mins). That is about 15,000 miles. When I get to work I'm mainly at a desk, up & down the stairs a few times. If I walk home that's 30k steps a day. 10 minutes walking is about 1000 steps, so it is very do-able to get to 10k steps. When I was younger & fitter I'd average probably 30-40k steps a day, walking everywhere. It's not so easy to do when you have to factor in kids and other responsibiities.

@fraxion if you're shorter than I am, that's probably "about right" too.

@Tehstean I did actually test it when I first got my Fitbit, walks were the same but day to day I lost a lot of steps as I'd leave my phone on the worktop when I was busy in the house

4 miles is not 15k steps. It's somewhere in the region of 6-8k.

I use a Fitbit so just checked mine, yesterday I did 7329 steps without leaving the house - and that was with a two hour bath in the afternoon! On work days this week my lowest was 16106, highest 18,772. I’m a lecturer, pace quite a bit while I teach, plus walk to and from work.

Where did you get 2000 from?

Does anyone else end up thinking they have to beat the Fitbit and end up doing laps around the bedroom at 10pm if they're on 9980?

I have a very sedentary job and can spend whole days in meetings, and have to drive door to door. I always try to get out for a lunchtime walk even just 20 mins, and if I need the loo I have a rule that I always use one at least one floor above or below where I am, to make me walk further and climb stairs. But on a working day I will only hit 10,000 steps is if I go to the gym or go for a run or an extra walk later.

I never end up under 6,000 though. I seem to be either about 6,000 or about 15,000. Today I’m at 21,000 but I did a 6 mile run and then went shopping.

@Iwouldlikesomecake I'm in my house, just not sitting down! Just keep moving and keep busy and the steps mount up