AIBU to think that many people over count their daily steps?

[SteppingMum]

I have a very sedentary job. I’m at my desk pretty much 9-5 with an hour lunch break, then 45 minute drive there and back each morning.

I struggle to naturally get in 3,000 steps a day without purposely trying to. I can get up to maybe 8-9K if i go on a walk after dinner for an hour.

My colleague has a very similar lifestyle to me and often expresses her shock at how little I move and she easily accumulates 10-15k a day. She doesn’t go to the gym or have small children or a dog that needs walking (neither do I).

So yesterday i did an experiment. Let’s compare steps from the moment we clock in at 8.45 until we go for lunch at 12.30.

My step count was 484 and hers was something like just under 3K.

The difference? She wears her counter on her wrist whereas I wear mine on my bra strap (I have an old fashioned clip on pedometer that only starts counting after three consecutive steps).

She drinks countless cups of tea in the morning (not getting up and making it herself - delivered by colleagues to the desk), has more phone calls to answer and typing to do than I do, and in general talks with her hands a lot.

I think a lot of people who wear their step counters on their wrist are having their daily steps over counted.

I want to challenge people today to try and move their smart watch to their trouser pocket or fasten to their waistband somehow to see if my theory is correct!

So AIBU to think that people are being lied to by their step counters when worn on their wrists? I know that I tend to use my hands more than my feet and will be wearing a wrist strap with my counter today as an experiment. Can’t wait to clock in and get 3K steps without even moving from my desk!

Also this isn’t a request for advice about how to get more steps in. I know I can get a desk stepper exercise thing or walk at lunch etc. I know what I should be doing. I’m a healthy weight and otherwise seemingly in good health etc so not too motivated just now to increase fitness but I know what I can do to increase steps when I want to.

My slight irritation is with my colleague thinking she’s so much more active than I am just because she moves her hands more than I do. 😁

@EyeOop if I am having a day where I am getting 30k steps I agree it’s a form of exercise, more like endurance 😂 but if I am walking around and my HR is 88bmp I know I am not getting much in the way of cardiovascular benefits. 88bmp is my average walking heart rate which means most of my steps aren’t in an exertional exercise zone. If I walk with purpose to exercise my HR should be in the 120’s

It depends on how good the device is mine was £300ish and doesn't count hand movements only steps but people buy and wear like £20 one which will count every movement

I've disproved this theory before

Wore a pedometer, carried my phone and had my smart watch on for the day, whilst not completely scientific all three were within 800 steps of one another. Maybe her watch is faulty or she has a cheap one that doesn't disregard wrist movement.

Clapping also racks up the steps with a Garmin watch!

This.

I'd argue that making beds and cleaning keeps you fitter than just clocking up steps from walking (unless it's proper striding out).
Running a B&B is pretty physical work. She'd be better off telling people that running a B&B keeps her fit because she's up and down stairs a lot, doing cleaning 4 hours a day, rather than bragging about the number of steps.

I sit down all day in the office, walk to the station, walk home again and have a walk at lunch time and that's 10,000 steps. It's about on hour of walking, 3 x 20 minutes.

What I would say is that some people's stride is tiny so they get more steps but not necessarily the distance.

I used to wear mine on my ankle at work on a ward (bare below the elbows) but now have a more sedentary job with less patient contact and can wear it on my wrist and I do a lot less steps. It usually vibrates to tell me to stand up.

Yeah I have colleagues declare they have done their 10,000 with a half hour walk.

It's about 4.5 miles. So unless they ran (which they don't in office wear) you've really not.

We have a three mile loop outside my front door and that's about 6500 steps. To get to 10,000 I need a second walk.

I never get to more than a few hundred in the house which seems about right. Maybe 1,000 if been running around. Certainly never all 10,000.

I am a fast walker. If I am not doing proper exercise (run, swim, bike) and then only go for a walk with a friend, I don't feel I've done enough for the day (in terms of how I feel even if the 10k has been reached).
10K steps pottering around isn't going to keep me fit. I think a lot of people are kidding themselves.

Weirdly whenever I iron (rarely tbh) my watch says I have done at least 2000 steps for about an hour of ironing. If I wore my watch on my right hand I would understand as that's the hand I iron with - but I don't, I wear it on my left. So I dont move it much when ironing and obviously I am mainly standing still!

Never understand it 😆

It depends on your step counter.

My Samsung was brilliant and SO accurate. Very difficult to cheat it.

I then replaced it with a fitbit which clocks steps when it shouldn't e.g. changing gear in the car, piano practice etc...

They're designed to be worn on the non dominant hand.

I've also never been over 30k steps and I hike.

At 40,000 you've done the best part of 20 miles. And anyone who walks knows how that feels.

I use my phone, so it only is in my pocket outside the house when I’m actually walking.
My step count averages 6-7. When it’s over 10k I’ve had a busy day.
I have a friend who is always 10-12, but like you say wears it on her wrist. She walks 5 min to the tube, 5-6 to the office each day and potters inside. Very very rarely does anything else. I notice when we walk around she struggles to keep going alongside me. I walk everyday and a fair bit in comparison, to work, with kids or dog etc

Stopped counting steps ages ago.
Get some ranger beads, go through the exercise of getting your distances down.
Far more accurate than a little digital thing and cheaper. 🤪

When I get 40,000 it's around 15 miles - and that is a reliable mileage because I walk with people who have fancy hiking apps with gps and all that

I'm still pissed off that I didn't have my fitbit on when I did the yorkshire three peaks challenge in the summer. That would have been a number to treasure!!

The problem isn't with it being on her wrist, it just sounds completely wrong.
If she thinks she's walked 12K steps from about 20 mins walking and a bit of pottering, then she's a fool.

I agree with you. I’m taking two 15 minute brisk walks a day, and I’m on my feet a lot, also doing tennis more flights of stairs. I’m averaging 6000. I only get over 10,000 on the weekends. I’d prefer to think that’s my smartphone undercounting. But you’re making me think twice about a smartwatch

My Apple Watch used to count music practice as steps, but it has gradually got more accurate over time. I think if you occasionally set it to a workout so that it knows for sure that you are walking at that point, while having the setting for motion calibration on, it will gradually get more accurate.

I use my phone. It obviously only registers my steps when I’m carrying it around but even if I spent a few hours in my local city up and down the high street and shops I’d only ring up about 16,000 steps. A walk to my local shops, small supermarket trip and walk back home only give me about 3.5k steps. How she’s getting that much just mooching around her desk is a bit of a mystery but maybe those type of counters registers all movement.

I was running a circle time for small children. I was sitting on the floor and leaning forward to let them choose things. My heart rate was up from running round before and singing/being energetic. My Fitbit congratulated me on my swim!

Mine does count arm movements sometimes e.g. in the car, but is usually fairly accurate I feel, but then I walk quite a bit - around the house/office, school run, commute.

My 5yo wore my Fitbit once for a whole day when we were camping. He did 37000 steps! No wonder he was tired at the end of the day. I very rarely get above 20000.

I’m intrigued by this now. I check my steps on my phone. I have a similar job to yours, OP, but have a multi-leg public transport commute so that invokes a little walking. My average is 4.5k steps a day, but I only have my phone on me on my commute and not throughout the day. I’ll keep it in my pocket all day and see what happens.

My wrist step counting watch doesn't count steps when I'm pushing the pushchair 😭

I've just got a pedometer on my phone
It's actually quite accurate when I've checked it with me counting my steps
I so a fair bit of walking and it reflects that

I genuinely cannot imagine dedicating 60 seconds in my day to thinking about another person’s step count, much less discussing it or typing out a whole post.

Just stop discussing steps with your coworker, OP. What is the allure in that topic?