How Many Steps Do People Take Per Day On Average?

[DougyF7]

https://www.healthline.com/health/average-steps-per-day

I know we've talk about this recently and thought this was interesting.

[air2fakie]

I'm probably somewhere between 2,500 - 15,000, definitely significantly less than pre-pandemic. Honestly have no clue since I've never tracked them, but I also don't track calories at all so may be in the minority on the forum.

[desslok]

I average around 12,000 per day. I walk the dogs a couple times a day. If I go to Disneyland, i average 26,000-28,000

[DougyF7]

I'm probably somewhere between 2,500 - 15,000, definitely significantly less than pre-pandemic. Honestly have no clue since I've never tracked them, but I also don't track calories at all so may be in the minority on the forum.

I don't track either anymore in a daily fashion, but I do a sampling every now and again to see where I'm at. I'll look at the miles I generally walk (with my dog too Desslok) and figure out my steps based on that.

Similarly with food I'll check to see generally what my cals and macros are every now and again.

Maybe some day will go back to just completely intuitive eating and living.

I think it really helps to learn how to track cals and activity in order to live a life more intuitively without them, if that makes sense.

[air2fakie]

I don't track either anymore in a daily fashion, but I do a sampling every now and again to see where I'm at. I'll look at the miles I generally walk (with my dog too Desslok) and figure out my steps based on that.

Similarly with food I'll check to see generally what my cals and macros are every now and again.

Maybe some day will go back to just completely intuitive eating and living.

I think it really helps to learn how to track cals and activity in order to live a life more intuitively without them, if that makes sense.

I get it, I think everyone should do whatever works for them & their goals - including their own mental happiness over this type of stuff. I can pretty much eat at maintenance, or a small surplus or a small deficit intuitively enough - not exact on a daily basis but over time. Only macro I casually ballpark in my head is protein.

Tbh I have no idea how many cals I generally eat, just go by roughly similar amounts of food. I've never tracked cals, so this is kinda the only way I know how to do it.

[EliKoehn]

I don't track them but probably I average something between a mile and two miles' worth, accounting for some weeks where I don't move much and others with distance running and daily walks at lunch.

[MarkGarro95]

I take roughly 5000; trying to get to 10k though

[AdamWW]

https://www.healthline.com/health/average-steps-per-day

I know we've talk about this recently and thought this was interesting.

Curious what lead you to that 2018 article

[DougyF7]

Curious what lead you to that 2018 article

I was curious if 10,000 steps is really the optimal target or if it was something else.

[TolerantLactose]

I was curious if 10,000 steps is really the optimal target or if it was something else.

It was marketing in Japan. 10000 steps had some significance in a saying, akin to "walk a mile in a man's shoes." The 10000 steps thing got exported around the world from there.

Edit- I was close. The company that marketed used 10000 steps in their marketing because the Japanese character for ten thousand (万) looked like a man walking.

[paulinkansas]

[QUOTE=DougyF7;1668860743] I generally walk (with my dog too Desslok) [QUOTE]

Your dog was named Desslok?

I wonder how many steps a day an active dog takes. A person could put one of those step counters on a dogs leg and find out. I used to put one of those headlamps with an elastic band on my Labrador retrievers neck and tilt it so that the light would shine where he was looking. I'd ride my ATV around at night and the dog would go with me. I could tell whatever he was looking at depending on where the light would shine. He'd always look up in a tree whenever we went by one.

[DougyF7]

Your dog was named Desslok?

No, Alexa lol. Might have missed a comma there.

[Strawng]

I'm probably somewhere between 2,500 - 15,000

I assume you're taking the piss, but that's between 1 and 7+ miles per day. That's the difference between being far more sedentary than even the average sedentary person and well-above even what's considered "highly active".

If I go to Disneyland, i average 26,000-28,000

More steps = more reasons for churros

Idk how many steps I take per day exactly, but I usually walk a total of somewhere around 6 miles (according to my iPhone).

Also, interesting aside about the article, but it says children (boys in particular) take 12-16k steps per day. I wonder if this is because they're truly moe active than adult men are, or if it's because their legs are simply shorter (i.e. they cover less distance with that many steps). I'm sure it's a bit of both with youth sports and whatnot, but I can't imagine children nowadays are THAT MUCH more active than adults with all their fancy video games, Tik Tok, and the like. Do kids really play outside anymore? When was this assessment taken?

[air2fakie]

I assume you're taking the piss, but that's between 1 and 7+ miles per day. That's the difference between being far more sedentary than even the average sedentary person and well-above even what's considered "highly active".

Not taking a piss at all, just have no idea since I've never measured it - would vary significantly day to day anyway. I personally don't think of activity in terms of "steps" or food in terms of "total calories/day", so for me it's irrelevant.

I could make logical guesses for both, but it'd be a made up #.

[RapidFail]

Something people probably don't take into account is stride length. I used to be one of two PE teachers at a school. I'm 6'1" with proportionately long legs, the other teacher was a 5'4" ish woman with average length legs (from memory). I remember we compared step counts and found I averaged 11k per day, while she did 18k, despite us doing practically the same job. I found the same thing on a recent walk with a 5'11" mate - I did the walk in 10k steps, while he was over 15k for the same distance.

[Strawng]

Something people probably don't take into account is stride length. I used to be one of two PE teachers at a school. I'm 6'1" with proportionately long legs, the other teacher was a 5'4" ish woman with average length legs (from memory). I remember we compared step counts and found I averaged 11k per day, while she did 18k, despite us doing practically the same job. I found the same thing on a recent walk with a 5'11" mate - I did the walk in 10k steps, while he was over 15k for the same distance.

That's the thing. Stride length and of course speed make a huge difference in terms of how many steps you take over a given distance. You could briskly walk 5 miles in 10k steps or jog it in 5k. Isn't it a little bit ridiculous to be measuring "steps" instead of distance? Calories burned are primarily the result of distance traveled.

[air2fakie]

Something people probably don't take into account is stride length. I used to be one of two PE teachers at a school. I'm 6'1" with proportionately long legs, the other teacher was a 5'4" ish woman with average length legs (from memory). I remember we compared step counts and found I averaged 11k per day, while she did 18k, despite us doing practically the same job. I found the same thing on a recent walk with a 5'11" mate - I did the walk in 10k steps, while he was over 15k for the same distance.

But some short people take long gazelle like strides & some tall people take small steps like little birds, which sometimes is a result of general walking speed.

[air2fakie]

That's the thing. Stride length and of course speed make a huge difference in terms of how many steps you take over a given distance. You could briskly walk 5 miles in 10k steps or jog it in 5k. Isn't it a little bit ridiculous to be measuring "steps" instead of distance? Calories burned are primarily the result of distance traveled.

Don't you then have to factor in bodyweight as well if that's the purpose of counting steps?

[AdamWW]

That's the thing. Stride length and of course speed make a huge difference in terms of how many steps you take over a given distance. You could briskly walk 5 miles in 10k steps or jog it in 5k. Isn't it a little bit ridiculous to be measuring "steps" instead of distance? Calories burned are primarily the result of distance traveled.

I actually made that same comment a long time ago… distance seems to make way more sense, but I think most ****meters use an accelerometer to count the steps and not a GPS to accurately measure distance… but I could be wrong.

[DougyF7]

I actually made that same comment a long time ago… distance seems to make way more sense, but I think most ****meters use an accelerometer to count the steps and not a GPS to accurately measure distance… but I could be wrong.

I think Fitbit uses both accelerometer and GPS.

[Xpiro]

Looks like anywhere between 6k-13k, but the way my step meter tracks is weird for me because oftentimes I go on walks after midnight but the next day I might go before then. Maybe it evens out though. I make sure to get at least 2.5 miles in every day, but that’s not accounting for whatever extra errands I may take or steps taken at home or work. Either way, all of my days are consistent with very little deviation.

I’m more interested in knowing how # of steps line up with # of miles walked for each individual, since stuff like stride length come into play. I thought I walked a lot, but my average step count apparently isn’t that high.

[SuffolkPunch]

I don't know but I regularly take walks of around 20 mins maybe 4-5 times a week. I doubt it makes much difference to my body composition goals but I like walking in nature, that's the only reason. Getting sunlight may help sleep I guess.

[Heisman2]

I was curious if 10,000 steps is really the optimal target or if it was something else.

There's no hard cutoff: if you scroll down the page about 40% of the way you'll see a couple figures showing this in a red box: https://www.healthierwithscience.com...alth-benefits/

[air2fakie]

For people who track & try to hit daily step count #s, are you doing dedicated cardio as well?

I always thought tracking steps was more for fun or friendly competition among spouses/friends, or for people who weren't that active otherwise in terms of cardio, sports, etc.

[Omni]

Looks like I average 10k steps on a yearly basis with slightly more in the summer and less in the winter. I quit working a labor intensive job three years ago where I was averaging 30k/day and saw as high as 50k on some days. All data from my iPhone & Apple Watch so I'm not quite sure how accurate it is. I'll also admit I do zero cardio:

[Strawng]

I actually made that same comment a long time ago… distance seems to make way more sense, but I think most ****meters use an accelerometer to count the steps and not a GPS to accurately measure distance… but I could be wrong.

The iPhone Health app uses GPS. When I’ve jogged vs run vs slow walked, my steps vary but my distance has been spot on. It also stops tracking when you’re in a car outside of some rare circumstances. It must use steps in conjunction with GPS to make an assessment. It’s actually likely quite accurate.

Edit* According to the internet and some study done 4 years ago, it uses accelerometer.

[DougyF7]

Looks like I average 10k steps on a yearly basis with slightly more in the summer and less in the winter.

This makes sense especially if you live in an area that experiences a true winter. Maybe part of what made me look into this too - I'd like to get the health benefits from walking but if I could get by with a little less when it's cold, I wouldn't mind that.

[DougyF7]

There's no hard cutoff: if you scroll down the page about 40% of the way you'll see a couple figures showing this in a red box: https://www.healthierwithscience.com...alth-benefits/

Thanks. I keep seeing 7k as a good target.

[DougyF7]

For people who track & try to hit daily step count #s, are you doing dedicated cardio as well?

Like I mentioned I don't track daily or even monthly really, more like once or twice a year...but I do cardio (usually 5-30 mins/day) and my lifting workouts generally get me sweating so there is a cardio element there too.

[Strawng]

The iPhone Health app uses GPS. When I’ve jogged vs run vs slow walked, my steps vary but my distance has been spot on. It also stops tracking when you’re in a car outside of some rare circumstances. It must use steps in conjunction with GPS to make an assessment. It’s actually likely quite accurate.

Edit* According to the internet and some study done 4 years ago, it uses accelerometer.

So I compared my phone's built-in Health App data to Strava, which supposedly has the best GPS distance-tracking around. The iPhone actually underestimated my distance traveled by about 3% total.