Frequently asked questions

Between about 2,000 and 2,600, depending on your height and pace. At an average adult step length of 0.75 metres it is roughly 2,146. Taller walkers and brisk walkers take fewer; shorter walkers and slow walkers take more.

About 1,333 at an average adult step length of 0.75 metres, ranging from roughly 1,235 for a tall walker to about 1,563 for a short one.

For an ordinary city walk between two well-specified points, expect the estimate to land within roughly 10 to 20 per cent of the real walked distance. It is worse for vaguely named locations, and it does not know about water, mountains or closed paths. The methodology page explains why.

Because step length is roughly 0.414 times height, and that varies by more than 25 per cent across the adult range. Using an average would give a materially wrong answer for most people.

No. It calculates an adjusted straight-line distance, not a route. It cannot tell you whether a walkable path exists between two points. Use a mapping application to navigate.

Step counters are algorithms interpreting accelerometer data, and every manufacturer tunes theirs differently. Sensor position, detection thresholds and startup delay all cause disagreement. Ten per cent between two devices is normal.

The research suggests the mortality benefit curve flattens somewhere between 6,000 and 8,000 steps for adults over 60, and 8,000 to 10,000 for younger adults. The steepest gains are below 5,000, so if you are sedentary, adding 2,000 steps is the most valuable change available.

From the name of a pedometer, the manpo-kei, sold in Japan from 1965. It was a product name, not a research finding. Later studies examined the figure and generally found the benefit curve flattens below it.

Yes, one stair counts as one step on any tracker. Energetically a stair costs roughly three times a flat step, which is one of the clearer limitations of the step as a measure.

Fewer, for the same distance. Running lengthens your stride more than it raises your cadence, so a mile run takes roughly 1,070 to 1,530 steps against about 2,150 walked.

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Yes. Use the contact page. Routes work best here when they run between two well-known fixed points and there is something worth saying about the ground in between.