My personal rule of thumb has always been to mix-n-match using the best numbers. One gives more elevation, the other more miles, use them both and toss out the lower numbers.

I would guess that for the vast majority the numbers really don’t matter. If it helps to make you feel better about yourself, who cares.

I remember when our boss wanted everyone in our dept to participate in recording daily steps. We all got clip on pedometers. I’d clip it on and drive to work. I was breezing through each day until I noticed my drive registered around 4000 steps each way. Oh well, I guess I deserve some credit for fighting traffic for almost an hour to work and an hour back. There were no prizes, but 10,000 steps were never so easy.

John