So you may have heard 10k steps thrown around as the gold standard for how much you should walk every day. To be healthy and to be considered fit and active. This number has been ingrained in our heads now in recent years thanks to the popularity of activity tracker watches such as Fitbits and Mi bands. But you may have wondered where 10,000 steps came from and if there’s any evidence for the claims. Let’s find out if there’s any truth to it.
Why 10,000 steps?
The 10k steps per day are thought to come from a marketing campaign in Japan in the 60’s. Before the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. A company was selling a new pedometer called Manpo-Kei. This translates to “10,000 steps meter”. It seems the 10,000 steps have stuck ever since. As all wearable fitness trackers, phone apps, and pedometers are set to 10k steps by default. So there you go, there appears to be little science behind this specific number. It was all just for marketing purposes.
There could be some problems with the 10k steps goal. So what if you’re only getting 2,000 steps per day and you think you need to reach that target? In your mind, it could be too big of a jump for your current daily movement. So what could happen? You may go into the perfection or all or nothing mindset. Whereby if you cannot achieve that, then there it is no point. But doing something even if it is not the ideal situation is always better than nothing.
How many steps?
The answer is no one knows exactly how many steps you need to walk each day. But you might assume the more steps you will get a greater return in terms of benefits to your health. However, age may be a factor but it appears you get the most health benefits up about 7,500 – 8,000 steps per day. Then it starts to level off and the health benefits appear to start to slow down. There is an interesting article looking at studies on step counts on all-cause mortality comparing number of steps and age range.
But you could look at what how many steps roughly is inactive because if you know this. Then it can help us have an idea of how much walking we should do. That is higher but is more realistic for us to achieve. So under 5,000 steps per day is inactive. Then you know it’s a good idea to aim higher.
Putting it into the real world
Monitor your steps for a typical week to see how active you are. Which will give you a baseline to help give you an idea of where you can make improvements. Then you could set a step goal that is realistic for you based on how much you are currently moving. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a specific number, so you could set a range for yourself for example 7,000 – 9,000, so for days you’re not as “motivated” you could aim for fewer steps. If you find yourself behind on your target, you could make them up for the rest of the week by adding them on.
Even if suggested amount of walking does not seem possible for you right now. We should remember to reduce the amount of time we spend seated and moving often where possible. Is beneficial to our physical health and our overall mood. Spending 3 – 7 days per week walking for 15 minutes is still better than doing a 3-hour walk once or twice a month. So always aim for better than perfect, as you will gain health benefits.
- Decreasing risk of type 2 diabetes
- Reduced risk of coronary heart disease
- Enhanced thinking
- Improve mood
- Reduce stroke and blood pressure
- Appears to reduce anxiety, insomnia and depression
- Weight loss
Although there is nothing special about the 10,000 step target. It doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with having that as something you want to aim for. But we need to be aware that walking and generally getting more active is individual. It depends in what your current daily activity level is. Where you can fit it in within your day or week, around your other commitments such as work, family and socialising. How much you will realistically be able to stick to and how much walking you will actually enjoy.
