The Curious Step Miscount Due to Walking Sticks
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The Curious Step Miscount Due to Walking Sticks

Byrichard

Yesterday I walked with hiking sticks and whereas one watch told me that I had 13,000 steps, or so, the other said I had 9000. It is the second time that I notice such a difference in step count. 


Walking stick step count. The count is lower than without walking sticks
Walking stick step count. The count is lower than without walking sticks


The first time I noticed this issue was a few days ago, after a similar walk. I knew that the walk was over 10,000 steps so when I saw the low count I thought something was wrong, but didn’t worry about it. It happened again yesterday. I went for an 11 kilometre walk that should be at least 12,000 or more steps but it was undercounted by at least three thousand steps. The Apple watch had over 13,000 and the Garmin Instinct Solar had 9000. 


The normal walking step count
The normal walking step count


I have a theory about what is causing this issue. When you’re walking normally your arms swing for every single step. When I walk with hiking steps I usually take two to three steps in between stick strikes on the ground. This results in one step being counted for every three or so steps. It seems to happen when I am in the walking, rather than hiking mode. By resting my hand on the sticks for a few steps at a time the watch counts that as a single step. 


It doesn’t stop there. I also noticed that the step per minute count was a fifth of what it usually is. Usually my step count is around 100-120 steps per minute. In this case, just twenty steps per minute. 


The simplest solution is to shorten the walking sticks to match your walking pace. With long sticks you will take four or five steps between lifts of the sticks. With shorter it might be half as frequent.


I can run two more experiments. With the first I can measure whether walking stick length has an effect, and then I can test whether walking in hiking, rather than walking mode changes the result. 


If you’re not a habitual walker like me, and if your step count is important, then walking with sticks may give the illusion that you are lazier than you are. This isn’t an issue, since distance is measured. If you’re trying to beat a walking record then the Apple watch might be a better option, as it seems to count steps more accurately, even with hiking sticks. 

One Hundred Day of 10,000 Steps

One Hundred Day of 10,000 Steps

Byrichard

Today marks 100 days in a row of walking 10,000 steps a day. It helps that we’re in winter than in summer because my step streaks are broken when I go for bike rides. Step counters don’t count pedalling as steps, so it’s easy to lose a streak.


I could pretend that I have learned ten things by walking ten thousand steps a day but the truth is that I haven’t. I simply have a habit of walking that is not affected by snow, rain, wind or other. I walk every day, and sometimes the streak is consistent enough to reach 100 days according to an app by Pedometer.


I make no effort to reach this streak. I reach it by accident because my routine is good for such habits to thrive. When summer comes back I will probably get back to cycling once again, and the streak will be lost. Last year my step count was low, due to cycling. It went from 5.5 million down to about four and a half million due to cycling.


I doubt that I will reach another 100 days. Summer will be back and I will do more than walk or run around. If I get to a point where I find running comfortable rather than strenuous then I might run more than cycle but this will be decided within the next few months, in time for summer.


And Finally


It’s funny that I completely fell out of love with Zwift. Years ago I loved it, and every two or three days I would do a strenuous workout. Now I don’t care. It did change because of two key reasons. The first is that they got millions invested in them so it felt stupid to pay for them when investors were their cash cow. The second reason is that despite getting millions in funds from investors when I had a technical issue they made no effort to help. When you’re paying 20 per month, and they have millions invested, and they make no effort to keep you, there is no reason to stay. My logic was “If I buy a new indoor trainer I will spend hundreds, to spend hundreds more on a service, with a bike that cost hundreds more.


Zwift was a good option when it worked with the devices I had, and when the barrier to entry was low. As soon as the barrier rose, so the interest collapsed.