You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Question on House Of Games.
What say ye?
Not far enough.
I'm saying 4 miles a week, so 200 miles.
700 miles. Surely they at least average about 2 miles a day?
I'd say less, there are a lot of lazy slobs in the UK....
50 miles.
Surely they at least average about 2 miles a day?
I've some neighbours and family who walk from house to car, around the supermarket, back from car to house.
The answer is one hundred and ninety eight.
That is quite frankly shocking.
The answer is one hundred and ninety eight.
Higher than I thought!
That is shocking, how can you only walk 1/2 mile a day. My cats walk further than that and they do sod all.
Considering how many long hours, crap pay not physical jobs there are I’m not at all surprised. A lot of folk get up, commute to work, do mind numbing job for 10 or 12 hours, then commute home. Weekends spent sleeping, drinking etc. I used to be one of them and had naff all energy or money to spare.
**** me.
My cats walk further than that and they do sod all.
I’m intrigued how you know?
I’m intrigued how you know?
We had a tiny GPS logger for their collars which recorded where they went and where they slept etc...
What do I win?
It's shocking.
I remember one of my dissertations was on access in the lakes. At the time it was researched that the average visitor to the lakes walked 400metres. That includes the hillwalkers. I think it was 20% basically stood up from car, took a photo and climbed back in... That was in the 1990's, I suspect it's worsened now.
I remember a race briefing before the Nottingham Outlaw. Race director said we were going to do more exercise in the next 24 hrs than the average Briton does in a year!
Pretty scary.
At them moment with the lockdown and work from home that sounds about right. I've become very sedentary.
Doesn't surprise me. I don't really walk much but have been doing so due to injury. It takes a lot of time to walk any distance and, well, I don't consider myself lazy. I do consider most of the population lazy (to swipe my tarred brush)
Active people might be moving less due to lockdown, but I bet the sedentary ones are moving more.
Back in the first lockdown when it was sunny, I'm sure some people thought the hour exercise was compulsory
Average person in the uk walks how far each year?
500 miles......and then 500 more......
Does it include the once a year pilgrimage to the Lake District retail villages to buy a 300 quid (reduced from 500 bargain take meh monhey) sleeping bag coat from Sean M Cummings Outfitters and go to the pub, I mean hike.
As someone has mentioned....12 hours shifts 5 days a week doing a sole destroying job....you don't feel much like walking I'd imagine.
Although that is frighteningly low I cant say I’m surprised. My neighbours have about 7 cars between them and a Motorhome and my bike will do more miles than most of them each year. Walking isn’t in their lifestyle but neither is actually going anywhere.
WFH during lockdown part 1 (and long before) I saw a number of people I had never seen before ambling around the estate who I had never seen before or since.
According to my phone I've walked 5.5 miles today.
Excellent, now I can sit on my arse for the next 8 weeks and still be above average.
Christ, I'm in a GP practice all day, and sit on my arse for a lot of my time. My Garmin says I walk more than 80% of people, I used to think it was bollocks but I walk about 32 miles a week, and now I think that seems about right!
This year I've done 10.2miles per day on average the majority with the dog and he still looks at me pissed off that we aren't doing more!
12 hours shifts 5 days a week doing a sole destroying job….you don’t feel much like walking I’d imagine.
If your soles are destroyed then you have a good reason to not walk. However walking is pretty good for the soul.
I remember one of my dissertations was on access in the lakes. At the time it was researched that the average visitor to the lakes walked 400metres. That includes the hillwalkers. I think it was 20% basically stood up from car, took a photo and climbed back in… That was in the 1990’s, I suspect it’s worsened now.
However, fantastic if you like the fells, you can turn up on a ram packed BH WE and know that once you've walked the first 400 yards from the car you've lost 99.9% of the plebs...
According to my phone I’ve walked 5.5 miles today.
Excellent, now I can sit on my arse for the next 8 weeks and still be above average.
I doubt your maths!
But nevertheless, I’m surprised saddened how low it is.
Our neighbour doesn't have that big a big a lawn but he reckons that he walks a mile when mowing it.
Personally it can vary a lot for me - some days It'll be at half a mile, others it might be ten.
189 is shockingly low, my delivery was quite low for Covid times at ~7 miles today, on Saturday it was highest I've recorded at just over ~11.5 miles.
For that to be the average*, there has to be a lot of people on significantly less that that.
7.8km/day so far this year according to Apple health, up from 6.9km/day last year
Edit: *it’ll only be 50% if you assume a normal distribution..
There's a lot of lockdown dogs not being walked properly
doris across the road from me, drives 450m to drop little timmy off at school
Car and back x 2. Bathroom x 8. Tv to fridge x 6. Sounds about right.
How on earth did they figure it out though?
I did 1.1 miles on Sunday, according to my phone, which surprised me, ‘cos I spent the day pottering around in the garden. However yesterday I did 5.4 miles, today it was 5.8 miles, and I seem to average 4 miles/day, actually 4.3 mi/day over the last 7 days.
Average for 2019 was 3.4 mi/day, this year 3.3mi/day, which isn’t surprising because during furlough I wasn’t walking as much as I do at work, and I don’t walk as far at the weekends, basically I’ve reached an age where my knees tell me they need some rest and relaxation!
Over 12 hours at work today and I’ve walked 2.5 miles which given I was on a lot of meetings and conference calls plus driving about that isn’t too bad.
I doubt your maths!
😳
I had my days and weeks mixed up.
Dammit. That means I can only sit around for days and still be above average. I knew it was too good to be true.
We had a tiny GPS logger for their collars which recorded where they went and where they slept etc…
This sounds more exciting than it should.
When back in the UK I was surprised/saddened to see that when I walked the half mile to the school to pick up my nephew that neighbours (and a shit load of other locals) were driving to the school and having to park up >300m from the school to pick up their sprogs.
I'm sure that today I walked over a mile whilst laying a parquet floor. Most days in the workshop would be more than a mile just walking between the work bench and the table saw.
Well Google says
According to the NHS the average British person walks between 3,000 and 4,000 steps a day. Indeed, 10,000 steps - depending on the length of your stride - is about the equivalent of walking about 5 miles.
So that's 1.5 - 2 miles a day.
Why would people walk when they have a car or a bike. Walking is the slowest way to get anywhere and going any distance takes a lot of time.
I walk everyday because I have dogs but they are tiny dogs and only walk about a mile and outside of that I don't really walk anywhere.
Sounds like my "half a mile from a carpark" rule.
Whenever I'm out for a walk or an off road ride, I always know when I'm near a car park because I start meeting people. Get half a mile away and the countryside is empty.
The answer is one hundred and ninety eight.
198 what????
If it's miles then that explains our local council's reluctance to cater for cycling into town and encouragement of bike theft.
Too many lazy bastards like me would ride instead of walk ... whereas with the councils current areas to lock bikes (lock bike to a 8mm soft steel loop that doesn't even need big bolt cutters and they just weld back after use) you're practically guaranteed a walk home after the bike is stolen.
Back when I still used campsites, it wasn't uncommon to see people driving across a field to visit the washroom block - so why does this surprise anyone?
Trouble with averages is that they have to include the whole of the UK population. Checking some stats shows 4 million are under 4 years old and 3.2 million are over 80. Both groups are unlikely to do much distance walking even if they wanted to. So that is over 10% of the population right there. Take them out and maybe the figures look a bit less bad. Maybe remove those who can't physically walk from the stats too. Who knows. Maybe the headline figure isn't quite as shocking as it first seems. And how does it compare to similar countries around the world?
This gives more information. The average is being dragged to below 200miles/yr by older women (age 60+).
https://www.statista.com/statistics/376531/walking-distance-in-england-uk-by-age-and-gender/
Looking at some of my neighbours I am suprised it's as high as it is. Maybe it includes steps from the couch to the fridge.
That is shockingly low.
According to my Garmin steps (which does include running to be fair - although not exactly much in my case) I do that a month & I don't feel like i'm overly active. I guess being out with the dog twice a day adds up.
I can see that.
I work from home and it's quite easy for me to have barely left my desk all day and my walking to have been the 30 or so steps between kitchen, bedroom, office and bathroom.
I run every day so get my distance there, but I know how easy it'd be to not leave the house and so barely get over 2000 steps.
Before lockdown I was managing over 10,000 steps a day purely traveling to and from work with a lunchtime stroll thrown in. I've been WFH since March and my steps per day have diminished massively. I try and get out for either a walk or run most days.
To be honest the average distance per person doesn't surprise me. We have a garage about 500 meters from the front door. On the rare occasion that I need something from there I walk. Next door drive there and once offered me a lift back when we were there at the same time. Likewise the high street is less than a kilometer away and many people from my road drive.
I have just driven down to the Post Office. It is 2 miles away, so a 4 mile walk. Took me 15 minutes for round trip using car and would have taken well over an hour walking. The fact we don't have pavements and walking along the edge of a wet road with cars driving past at 40mph also doesn't help in my situation but that is a good example of a distance I could have in theory walked but don't really have an 1 and a half to spare.
As someone has mentioned….12 hours shifts 5 days a week doing a sole destroying job….you don’t feel much like walking I’d imagine.
Depends on your outlook/mentality. I was working from 8am till 11:30pm yesterday. Knew it was going to be a gash day so I was out for a 7k run at 6:30am. Likewise i'm doing everything i can to find 40 mins for a walk or run today.
But the real question is how far does the average person 'hop' a year...
We had a tiny GPS logger for their collars which recorded where they went and where they slept etc…
We should do this to the population at large, maybe at the same time as vaccine? Speaking of shocking - could it also deliver a shock to make people move?
However walking is pretty good for the soul.
Depends where you're walking. Live on the edge of a national park or some other nice place and walking can be lovely. Live in a run down area in a city and walking can be depressing/frustrating (waiting to cross roads, pavements non-existent or blocked)/dangerous.
I never walk anywhere. I have a bike, why would I walk?
matt_outandabout
Full MemberWhat do I win?It’s shocking.
I remember one of my dissertations was on access in the lakes. At the time it was researched that the average visitor to the lakes walked 400metres. That includes the hillwalkers. I think it was 20% basically stood up from car, took a photo and climbed back in… That was in the 1990’s, I suspect it’s worsened now.
did some stuff for BMC back in the 80's and recall we queried think it was called Sports Council England ? data on number of people that engaged in actively leisure walking as didn't match anything we or The Ramblers had and turned out the definition of active walking was over 250m from car once per month....and a lot of this is self declared so isn't true anyway
My Apple watch tracks this so I can tell you almost exactly. I averaged 7.5km per day in the past 12 months. That is 1700 miles during the year. Easily explained, I own a spaniel.
My son wears through his school shoes in about 12 weeks, literally wears them out from legging it around.
Having said that, we live less than 1km away from school. A nice walk, along an old railway line totally separate from traffic. You can walk to school without crossing a single road. It is quite idyllic. My son cycles to school every day, all year round. Every single other kid in our street is driven. This include kids belonging to parents who work part time or don't work at all. The 11 year old kid next door has never, ever walked, scooted or cycled to school. Active travel just isn't in their thinking.
21.3 km today following a dustcart around. I guess for the week it would be around 80 - 90 km.
This gives more information. The average is being dragged to below 200miles/yr by older women (age 60+).
My mum (80) did that every month before lockdown
Munrobiker
I never walk anywhere. I have a bike, why would I walk?
Doesn't count mate.... OH had to stop cycling as it doesn't count towards her steps.
Walk the dogs every other day, that's a couple of miles x about 150 walks for 300 miles, straight off the bat. Sometimes run with them instead so probably put on another 100 miles. But that's about it, I'm parked on my backside all day most every dat for work. OTOH I'm not inactive and do other exercise.
That doesn't surprise me at all. If I didn't have a dog to walk, or play golf, I'd not walk 200 miles a year either I reckon.
Any exercise i get is on my bike, which wouldn't count.
Just did a quick calculation based on my Google Fit data and think I'm at 1300 miles a year of walking. My wife does the dog walking and I'd rather stick needles in my eye than play golf. I commute by bike, so it's not getting to/from work either.
I'm on my feet at work most of the day, so that will tally up a little bit. Then little things like we needed a couple of things from the shop the other day so we walked there and back, which is a 2.5 mile round trip or it's a 3 mile round trip into town and back, all soon adds up.
It doesn't sound that unlikely - it was shocking just how few steps I did daily during lockdown here when we weren't even allowed out to do exercise. Assuming someone was doing the same as me, but driving to/from work I can see them doing easily less than 2000 steps/day.
That is shocking.
I’ve just looked at my garmin connect records and between November 2014 & Nov 2019 I have averaged 4349km or 2730 miles per year including runs. That 11.91km or 6.9 miles per day.
I don’t actually feel like I do that much.
Deleted
I never walk anywhere. I have a bike, why would I walk?
How do you get to your bike? *
* Kudos if it's always within reach! 🙂
I do about 10 miles a day.
However modern life has rejected me so I have nothing else to do
It’s a bit funny, with lockdown 1.0 and 2.0 I think my average total walking daily steps count might actually be less than the National average...
But that is balanced by going running for 10k+ almost everyday and lining up my first marathon before Christmas. 😅
I don’t have kids and my job can be done remotely, I could well believe shift work, two hour each way commutes and caring responsibilities would really impact some people.
I do very, very little walking. I struggle to walk a mile unaided and trying to do so is a very frustrating experiencev which leaves my legs weak for a day or two. I have a disability, I know I'm in the minority there but it's not *that* uncommon to be unable to walk far. People like me must drag that figure right down.
Just over half a mile a day, I can do that going back and fore to the kettle from my desk (not really - I'd need to loop in the fridge and biscuit cupboard).
Reminds me I'm supposed to be getting out for a walk with the dog.
Indeed, and active people don’t bring the average up THAT much. Eg I apparently walk ~4km/day mostly wandering around at work.
I commute by bike (~29km total) so I don’t feel too lazy but most people will just drive that distance.
We're about 1.5 mile out of our town centre. We will always walk there unless there's a good reason not to. And we've made the kids walk there since they've been about 3 years old. They're now 9, 11 and 16 and will happily walk miles. People are amazed that we made them walk to town and back, from such a young age.
My wife goes to the gym with a friend. That's a 20 minute walk away for my wife. Her friend who lives around the corner from us, drives as she has to walk up a hill on the way back home. It's not even a hill, more of a gently incline. It just beggars belief.
We had friends visit who wanted to drive round to the shops. Bear in mind the shops take literally 3 minutes to walk to from our front door.
An awful lot of people do seem to be wedded to their cars.
I'm not surprised it's that low. My life had become very sedantry this year but thankfully I reckon I'm still managing at least 5 times the average.... Still feel very very unfit with that though. We need to break the addiction to cars.
Just getting back to fitness of any sort. Walking is my staple exercise. I've managed walks of 5 and 10 miles each Sat/Sun for the past month. Now walking during the evening too - not exciting - 10 up and down loops of the playing field at 6 km/hr for a walk of 4 miles a time.
For longevity, walking is singularly the best exercise you can do. And you don't need to lycra up either. but you do have to walk briskly. My goal is a sub six-hr marathon, and some longer walks. Sadly another dog is now required 🙁
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedestrianism is worth a read - one mile per hour. For 1000 hours!
Since lockdown I've been trying to get out for an hour long walk on any day when the weather's OK. Before lockdown I was cycling to and from work, but actual walking may mostly have been a no more than 20 minute walk at lunch times, plus stuff like walking to and from the local supermarket, and occasionally walking into the city centre if I didn't feel like cycling.
Depends on your outlook/mentality. I was working from 8am till 11:30pm yesterday. Knew it was going to be a gash day so I was out for a 7k run at 6:30am. Likewise i’m doing everything i can to find 40 mins for a walk or run today.
I respectfully disagree. Do you do those hours every day? Do you get pleasure from your work and does it pay relatively well? I did a few years in my twenties in a long hours, low paid, menial job whilst living on a rough estate. Not much fun to be had on a night time walk. I was utterly knackered every day. Up at 04:30 and home at around 20:00 each day. Mind numbed, energy sapped and will to do exercise pretty much non-existent. Don’t underestimate what a shitty job can do to you. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
Don’t underestimate what a shitty job can do to you. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
Reminded me of this excellent article...
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/sep/21/linda-tirado-poverty-hand-to-mouth-extract
If you ever wondered why the poor still smoke (ok it's just one person, but it made a lasting impression on me).
I smoke. It’s expensive. It’s also the best option. You see, I am always, always exhausted. It’s a stimulant. When I am too tired to walk one more step, I can smoke and go for another hour. When I am enraged and beaten down and incapable of accomplishing one more thing, I can smoke and I feel a little better, just for a minute. It is the only relaxation I am allowed. It is not a good decision, but it is the only one that I have access to. It is the only thing I have found that keeps me from collapsing or exploding.
A good friend of mine lost his job at the onset of Covid, to make ends meet he works in a factory/warehouse, picking items of one conveyor belt and onto another, standing in almost the same position for 12 hours a day.
He was extremely fit before he had this job, ex league 1 footballer (from the 1980's and 1990's before they were paid as well as they are now). We used to ride together a couple of times a week.
Anyway, he has absolutely zero energy to do anything apart from sleep and work. Even making himself decent food is an issue. He does shifts, this includes night as well as day shifts.
Not only is he mentally exhausted, but he says his hips and back are so tired, there is no chance can he ride his bike, let alone walk anywhere.
I'm lucky in that I have a sedentary job, generally working from home. Each morning I get to do a dog walk, varying from 4 to 6 miles a day. Lunch time after the dog has had a snooze we go for another shorter walk of about 20 mins, then repeat it before bed.
@footflaps – thanks for the read.
There's an excellent book I read, which explains why / how stress kills you...
TL;DR Stress causes Cortisol to rise in the blood, Cortisol hardens arteries (amongst other things), hardened arteries cause heart attacks.
Glad that others recognise what some jobs can do to people. I look back on that time and shudder thinking about it to be honest. A lot of folk live how I described and I’d wager that they aren’t walking much. Shocking, yes. Lazy, no and nothing to do with a mindset.
Why would people walk when they have a car or a bike. Walking is the slowest way to get anywhere and going any distance takes a lot of time
For me (have car, bikes, scooter) I because I like walking*. To explore. To relax/think. To dawdle and stroll. To take photos. Follow my nose. To take time and smell the roses. To see wildlife/nature in the quietest way possible. To feel free and unencumbered, independent.
And because we evolved to walk!
Confession (if I sound weirdly enthusiastic) :
At 30yrs old I abruptly went from walking 30-60 miles a week on average to zero/bedbound/wheelchair. Lost the ability to walk at all due to injury and almost instant onset aggressive bilateral RA. For 5 years. Then remission. Then the last 18 years rehab has gotten me from wheelchair, to crutches, to painkillers hobbling across room, to half a mile unaided. Last week I did 21 miles. One walk of 7 miles. Averaging 4 miles every other night. Just a few years ago a 5 mile walk would put me off my feet and back on painkillers for at least a few days. Scar-tissue, joint-deformity, neuromas and atrophy dictate that progress is slow, but I’m never giving up it’s part of who I was (along with cycling). This autumn for the first time since 1997 I can walk about every day without painkillers. It’s amazing!
Walking is the very simplest pleasure and it became a luxury that I can’t afford to lose again now I’ve gotten it back!