Many fitness trackers have a default setting of 10,000 steps per day, which has spawned numerous exercise challenges. Setting a step target of 10,000 steps per day, or
a little over five miles, might be an essential element of your overall health regimen.
However, can walking 10,000 steps a day impact our overall health? Perhaps it’s just the latest fitness fad.
The ‘10,000 Steps a Day’ Myth
The origins of this standard are somewhat unclear. Manpo-kei, or “10,000 steps metre,” was created in 1965 by a Japanese firm, and scholars think the number may be traced back to that year. Some sports experts believe that marketing, rather than scientific considerations, mostly drove the 10,000-step goal.
Taking 10,000 Steps a Day Is Scientifically Proven to Improve Your Health
A study published in the JAMA Internal Medicine journal examined the advantages of walking 10,000 steps daily. In this study, more than 16,500 women in the U.S. Women’s Health Study, ranging in age from 62 to 101 (with an average age of 72), wore a step counter for four days straight.
When it came to tracking their daily activity, the devices used various methods, including time spent walking at a pace of at least 40 steps per minute, to determine how active individuals were. Four years later, researchers checked in with the ladies to see how they were doing regarding their health.
Researchers discovered that the death rate for active women was 41% lower than that of inactive women, whose daily steps were 2,700. Mortality rates decreased as the number of steps taken increased, peaking at 7,500 per day, which is 25% less than the typical 10,000-step objective.
Even after considering the overall number of steps taken each day, researchers were unable to establish a relationship between stepping intensity and decreased death rates.
In other research, taking 10,000 steps a day has been shown to improve body composition and cardiovascular health. According to the research, people who walked 9,500 steps a day for 36 weeks lost 5.3 pounds and 2 percent of their body fat and increased HDL (the “good” cholesterol) by 3 milligrammes per deciliter.
The 10,000-Step Goal, Despite These Benefits, Has Several Limits
Steps aren’t the only factor contributing to overall wellness. Lifestyle factors such as sleep, stress management, and food all impact it. However, your daily step count may not represent these habits and activities. When it comes to health and wellness, 10,000 steps may not be enough if your food is terrible, your stress management is shoddy, or your sleep is lacking.
Yoga, weight training, rowing, and cycling are all excellent forms of exercise that will not significantly increase your daily step count. As a result, your pedometer’s step count is most likely an underestimation of your daily activity.
