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?

I have mine set for dominant arm etc. I just generally don't sit still, always have music on and dance around to it etc

The type of walking you're doing can feel rather different imo. 2000 steps uphill with a toddler while carrying groceries might feel pretty tough, while 4500 downhill with only a small handbag would probably seem easygoing. It's something that's hard to account for, I think.

Though I'm also surprised at the number of steps people are recording around the house. Do your devices log other activity, like the motion of getting the laundry loaded into the machine for example? I only use the step counter on my phone which I don't always carry from room to room, so I don't get much data when I'm at home.

It varies enormously depending on your house. At home I can do 2000 steps before leaving for work. Doing the same routine in the apartment instead I’m lucky to hit 500 before I go to work.

I do a minimum of 8000 steps a day on a walk, I never do less than 10,000, usually about 12-15,000 though reasonably regularly quite a bit more.

I can get to 10,000 on a busy work day with several clients, but I don’t feel it’s cardio enough, so that’s why I do the 8000 on a specific walk and anything else is a bonus.

Hope that makes sense.

@Dancingbea no steps are useless, if you're moving then it's helping

Do you work for the post office poodle?

Well, usually, due to a screwed hip/knee I’m not able to do much at all right now and it’s driving me nuts!

I'd have to try really hard to do as little as 2,000. Like pretty much not get out of bed.

You reach 2k just in bed? Your bed springs must be knackered, I’d hate to see your annual mattress replacement bill. I suggest investing in a trampoline.

On work days I hit 10.000 by 11am, and by bedtime I’ve reached 20,000. Other days are usually around 15.000. Sundays are usually less, but a long dog walk will make it up to 10.000 usually. Today I’ve been really lazy, and I’ve still reached 7.500 steps.

I think it's a lot.But not if you actually go out and walk somewhere. I've been home all day today and done just over 6000. But it's not unheard for me to only do 3500 if I am at home and mainly sat at my desk. I get to about 7000 on a working day if I walk to and from the shops. When I commuted I'd manage about 14,000 and that involved 1 hour 30 minutes of walking to and from railway stations at either end of my commute. AND I take short steps, and a lot of them!

The most I have ever done in a day was 30,000.

I did about 27,000 the day I ran a half marathon and I did a lot of walking during that day as well as the run itself. So I do think 10,000 is quite a lot. Usually I manage it averaged over the week but not every day.

I was exaggerating for effect. I don't actually have an annual mattress replacement bill.

I'm sure step counters vary massively in what they count. I wore one once when I was waitressing - walk to work, 6 hrs busy shift, non-stop as I was working the floor that day, not the counter, walk to park on my break, walk home. It came to something like 13,000. So yeah I'm sceptical of those who rack up thousands just pottering about the house.

Yeah. My motto is ‘Every step is a good step’.

...especially when I CBA to go upstairs again or back to the shop or whatever. It helps to make me move my bum!

In one go, yes it can be. Across a whole day? It’s really not

I used the FitBit app on my phone for a couple of dog walks out of curiosity. Each walk took an hour, walking at roughly the same pace and over the same route. The phone was in the same pocket in my jeans both times. The first walk clocked up 6,800 steps and the second one clocked up 4,800 steps. So I suspect the trackers are not accurate at all ....

I can do 2000 before I get in the shower, in the morning.

I took DS1 to a bus rally, this morning, and just strolling around, looking at the buses (they were in a coach park, so not a massive area) and nipping off for some lunch, I'm sat down for the evening with 8829 steps recorded. It's been a fairly relaxed day.

If you're the sort of person who will get in the car for a less than 500 metre journey (I know lots of people like this) then, yes, you will struggle to reach 10,000 steps.

It's not a lot. I easily clear that even on a desk based working day, I walk 2 miles to work.
We've become so sedentary that many people aren't used to it.

That's interesting evil

Some fitbits will definitely register a swinging arm. It's not hard to test.

@redbedheadd Is my Fitbit not working?

Many step trackers - including the more sensibly priced Fitbits - work on simple acceleration. They feel the jolt of your step and count that.

You're pushing a pram, hand on the handles and more level. You're probably undercounting pretty dramatically - a 90 minute walk would be over 10k steps for me. You could get an ankle strap for it, or put it in a trouser pocket?

Many phones make a much better job of it - they've got GPS as well as accelerometers so can work with more 'senses' - but you have to keep them on your body for even vague accuracy, eg in a handbag may not cut it.

Up in the fancy (ie fecking expensive) ranges you get gps, accelerometers, heart rate tracking and more - these devices can do a reasonable job of working out actual calories burned rather than just steps. The Apple Watch for example, measures calories burned, minutes doing exercise (by elevated heart rate), and how many hours in the day you've barely moved. And reminds you to move.

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

It's the bare minimum for you health. Absolute bare minimum.

I manage around 12,000 steps on most days, with about 3 or 4 days a week around 20,000. THat's just walking to walk, walking around my workplace to meetings, then the gym & running. A working day in London usually gets me to around 24,000 steps.

You really need to up your walking time & distance.

Surely nobody actually thinks it's 2000? I've done more than that the days I've been ill and barely left the sofa! 10000 is a good target because it makes you actually have to do something, you can't do it just pottering around the house.

I can do 2000 before I get in the shower, in the morning.

How? I shower pretty much first thing in the morning. From my bed to the shower, my shitbit registers less than 150 steps.

How can people do 2000 before leaving the house?!
I hit less than 3000 on a day at work. If I don't leave the house it can be 600 hangover
I'm tied to a desk at work so can't pace the office etc, I do go outside on every break and my lunch which involves stairs and a short walk to vape

For me 2,000 is a mile and a half. I know this is accurate as my fitness tracker has GPS. A lot of people on this thread aren’t being honest.

I have a desk job, some hours i don't move at all. Drive to and from work. I'm lucky to get 4000 steps. To get 10000, i have to do my normal routine and go out for a 45 minute walk.

I started increasing the steps by first reducing the target to 500 over what i was doing eg. 4500. And doing that every day. After two weeks i added another 500 - and kept going until i reached a level that i wasn't managing every day, which is 8000.

So i have to push myself to get that, and some days i just don't want to!

I do between 10,000 and 20,000 (5 to 10 miles) on about 4 days each week.
Try walking on short journeys instead of driving and try to get in an couple of decent walks each week it soon adds up.