To think my Fitbit step count must be wrong

[FurElise]

I've been using my Fitbit Versa for just under a year now and I've been feeling quite smug since getting it as I consistently exceed the 10k steps per day count.

But here's the thing, I consider myself pretty lazy and sedentary. I work a desk job (2 days in office, 3 WFH). I don't do any intentional exercise. I take my two elderly and arthritic dogs for a short and gentle stroll most days. My energetic 3yo dog also comes with us but she runs ahead, runs back, repeats for the whole 10/15 mins to get her exercise in (we walk on our own private land before the "off-lead dogs are the bane of society" people come for me).

The only days I don't hit the 10k step count are my in office days (usually around 8-9k on those days) and my odd hangover days where I stay in bed and watch Netflix.

Our house has quite a large footprint/odd and quite long single storey layout so when I'm at home walking from the utility to the bedroom for example is a bit farther than an average house might be. This is the only reason I can think of why I hit/exceed the 10k count most days.

Right now, I'm trying to lose a few pounds and get fitter/healthier but I'm concerned that my step count can't possibly be right when everything I read online tells me I'm active and doing enough moving (if not enough real exercise).

YABU - of course the Fitbit is correct: you're doing a great job getting moving

YANBU - sounds sus, don't believe the Fitbit!

My Fitbit clocks up a lot of steps while I'm knitting! I try to remember to take it off.
Are you doing anything sedentary that could be confused with steps?

I don't think so - though I am a bit of a fidgeter so it's possible I suppose.

IMO it can be wrong but about 10% maybe.

That sounds about right to me. I walk 2 miles to work, but get the bus back partway, and I'm usually within 10-12k steps each day.

Hmm. Mine counts clapping but I don’t do that much.

The 10k was just a nice round number plucked out of the air I believe.

Have you set it up right to let it know whether you wear it on your dominant or non dominant wrist?

Fitbits aren’t entirely accurate, and sometimes random non walking activities can rack up your steps. 10k steps is generally around 7miles, so if you’re doing 2 wake a day plus moving round the house it’s probably not that far off.
Even if it’s not wholly accurate it’s useful as a baseline, so if you want to increase your activity give yourself a target of hitting say 20% about your current average each day, focus less on the number and more on the progress.

Oooh, I didn't know that was a thing? I wear it on my non-dominant hand though. I'll check that for sure.

To hit 10k on mine I usually have to walk the kids to school and back and take the dog for a decent walk. On days I don’t do those things I only hit about 5k.

When I had a Fitbit, I remember chuckling as I was half way through a 4 hour flight, and yes had done some airport walking, but had been sitting still reading my kindle for 2 hours when it told me I'd hit my 10k step goal!

You are supposed to wear it on your non-dominant hand.

10k steps is generally around 7miles

It's not - it's around 5 miles.

how far do you walk the dog? To hit 10k steps a day I need to walk at least 5km (just over 3 miles) which takes 50-60minutes and be fairly busy around the house or office.

Ooh I always thought it was more like 4 miles

I once hit 20k sitting eating cake in a coffee shop.
I'd been bouncing my baby on my knee the whole time. Poor kid must've felt travel sick.

Do you fidget? Drum your fingers etc?

I thought that 10,000 steps was about 5 miles.

I notice that if I had a restless night that I walk up with 100 or more steps registered and also while doing things like hanging laundry.

I find the sleep monitor quite unreliable. It often tells me I am in deep sleep when I am wide awake reading or watching tv.

Mine thinks I am cycling when I am pushing my little one in their wheelchair so doesn't count half the steps I am doing which is bloody frustrating!

It sounds wrong. I barely hit 3k steps with a desk based job and no commute.

It sounds right. I worked from home, desk based, in a big farmhouse and could clock up 6k steps without leaving the house, just going from room to room and doing a bit of laundry.

It's not counting steps, it's counting wrist movements. It's very easy to increase it's count without increasing your steps.

My fitbit luxe is eerily accurate. It counts things like knee repeaters and walking/ marching/kicking on the spot.

If I'm walking along I can check it any time and it's counting exactly as I step.

I can get about 2k steps on a weekend morning sorting out crap in my flat!

My partner and I can both go for a walk (the same walk at the same time) and we can each measure our steps at the beginning and the end of the walk, and his will register more steps than mine, on exactly the same walk? We decided he took little steps while I take bigger strides, thus registering fewer steps. Do you take tiny little steps all the time OP? Or maybe we're both talking rubbish, which wouldn't be the first time to be fair.

Test it on a walk of a known distance.
It counts steps for teeth cleaning and chopping food too.
I don’t think it takes much to get 10k steps in and your normal daily walking plus the dogs may be enough.

We have the same issue so we swapped for an hour and a different time each wore both. There wasn’t an issue with the fitbits, one of us really seems to either take more steps or swing the arms more

You can easily test it.
Go outside.

Look at the step count so far today.
Take a 100 steps.
check what Fitbit says, of course increment should be +100.
Repeat a few times.
Probably will come up with 6-15% over-estimates.

I wear mine on my ankle now for more accuracy and to ensure it only tracks steps & not arm movements. I also have a walking pad at home when I WFH so my arms are stationery on the desk typing etc and I hardly accumulated any steps that way.

now I wear it on my ankle I can watch the number rise with each step on my phone and it’s spot on.