I read this article last week on my twitter feeds. At first, I was amazed but then I started to do some back of the envelope calculations and I started to be skeptical. I have a lazy ass on physical stuff but not on mental calculations.
I started digging for information to support my calculations and prove if the claim is outrageous or not.
On average an active person walks 5,117 steps/day[1]. Let’s do some math here,
- 5117 x (30 days/month) x (4 months/year) = 614,040
- 5117 x (31 days/month) x (7 months/year)= 1,110,389
- 5117 x (29 days/month) x (1 month/year)= 148,393
Total steps in a year : 614,040 + 1,110,389 + 148,393 = 1,872,822
That is, you would have walked 2 million steps in your lifetime. We need information on the average stride of a person to determine its length per step. According to one source, the average step length is 2.6 feet or about 31 inches or 0.792 meters. This means that the average stride, or two steps, is 5.2 feet or 62 inches or 1.584 meters. [2]
1.584 meters x 1,872,822 steps over a lifetime = 2,966,550 meters covered over a lifetime
To determine how many times would this cover the earth, we need the circumference of Earth. According to our source,
the earth’s circumference is 40,075 km or 40,075,000 meters, which is equivalent to walking about 1/15 of the earth’s circumference, assuming on the path of the equator.
The average person walks the equivalent of five times around the world in a lifetime?
Conclusion: Bullshit.
I quick reminder to readers out there, we should be skeptical about all the facts we read and verify the source of our data.
References:
[1]. https://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Abstract/2010/10000/Pedometer_Measured_Physical_Activity_and_Health.4.aspx
[2]. https://www.livestrong.com/article/438170-the-average-walking-stride-length/
[3] https://www.universetoday.com/26461/circumference-of-the-earth/
