Despite the absence of any scientific foundation fitness experts and sports companies have told us for decades we need to walk 10,000 steps daily.  Where did the target of 10,000 steps per day come from and was it all about fitness?

Most people follow the idea that in order to maintain your overall health ‘getting in your steps’ each day is a good idea. But do you need to walk 10,000 steps or will 7,000 do the trick?

Why walk 10,000 steps?

It may surprise you to know that there wasn’t actually any science behind the number 10,000 when it was first presented to the world as a specific target.

Around the time of the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics, there was a push to encourage interest in fitness and sport. A marketing campaign to sell a pedometer called Manpo-Kei, which means “10 thousand step meter” in Japanese, launched the beginning of a global trend. 

Gradually – social media wasn’t a thing yet – the idea spread around the world and 10,000 steps became the accepted target for everyone working toward improving their fitness. The number 10,000 appears to have been a completely arbitrary choice, but as it turns out there are demonstrated health benefits to meeting the target.

Reinforcement of the trend in the form of a TikTok influencer who refers to herself as the Creator of Hot Girl Walk uses the 10,000 step target as part of her daily routine. 

Spring has sprung in the northern hemisphere and most of us are eager to get outside and maybe lose a bit of the winter bulge. So we aim for the accepted target of 10,000 steps every day. But what if that isn’t really the magic number for older adults looking for fitness or weight loss?

Meeting the right target

Tracking your daily step count is easier than ever with smartwatches and fitness apps and most of them have 10,000 steps, approximately 5 miles or 8 kilometres, set as the default goal.

Very few people, particularly older adults, are reaching that magical target of 10,000 steps per day. The average healthy older adult walks 2,000 -9,000 steps per day. In Canada and the US, the average is less than 5,000 steps per day.

Since the fitness world latched onto and continued to promote the goal of 10,000 steps a day several studies have tried to substantiate the target number. Studies looked into the health benefits associated with the volume of walking (number of steps), the intensity (pace/effort) and whether age is a factor in reducing the risk of premature death.

Beyond the number of steps, intensity is another factor to keep in mind. Logic tells us that if you are walking up a steep hill at 100 steps/minute, your exercise effort will be greater than walking along a flat surface at the same speed. A faster pace even on a flat surface will increase the effort required. 

Government and public health agencies have begun to use time as the marker for physical activity rather than steps. The recommended 150 minutes per week or 30 minutes of physical activity beyond daily activities like housework and shopping would equate to an additional 2500 steps.

Consequently, to meet a target of 7,000 steps per day your baseline would need to be 4,500 steps, to begin with. Since many of us are starting at a much lower baseline we will need to add more than the suggested 30 minutes of moderate activity to our day to achieve the recognized health benefits.

Older Adults

Studies show there is an incremental benefit with every 2,000 steps taken, but a maximal benefit is reached at 10,000 steps. However, for older adults that maximum benefit plateaus between 6,000 and 8,000 steps.

A 2019 study involving over 18.000 adult women in the US showed that older women could substantially reduce their risk of premature death by walking 5,000 steps per day. In this study the intensity level was not linked to lower premature death rates.

Getting daily steps in or at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise is generally accepted as the guideline for a healthy lifestyle. But we need to remember other factors like sleep, stress, and nutrition will play a part in our probability of living longer.

The Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology has released 24-hour Movement Guidelines that focus on the entire day rather than just the amount of physical activity in your day. Three main components: physical activity, sleep, and sedentary behaviour are integrated according to age groups.

For adults older than 65 years the guidelines recommend we increase daily movement with a variety of activities, reduce sedentary time and consistently sleep between 7-8 hours. A significant change for many older adults is the reduced sedentary time.

Other daily exercises such as swimming, yoga, Pilates, cycling, running and strength training won’t all show up on your step counter, but they will benefit your overall heath and help you meet your optimal physical activity requirements. 

In addition, walking helps to improve muscle strength, balance, and flexibility. This article lists 15 benefits of walking

Start where you are

If you don’t have a way to measure your steps or a good pair of walking shoes then do any kind of physical activity that will get you moving each day. Gardening, babysitting, house cleaning or even dogsitting will all get you mobile and reduce sedentary time.

If you want to increase your steps, start by setting realistic and achievable goals. With the warmer weather, this might be the right time to start a new routine of a 15-minute brisk walk after lunch and work your way up to 30 minutes a day. 

Maybe you are already walking but want to make improvements without counting steps. Try setting a distance goal. I love to walk in park settings and can add distance by incorporating another arm of the trail network.

Tracking movement can surprise you and inspire you to move more. Golf season begins next week for me and walking the course will be my goal rather than a prescribed number of steps. 

On the days when I am not golfing, I will remind myself to be grateful for the ability to walk, cycle or engage in other physical activities.

And So….

Whether you count your steps each day or monitor the amount of active time in your day doesn’t matter. What does matter is being less sedentary and incorporating some form of regular physical activity into your daily routine.

Start where you are and then go ahead and set a goal for your daily activity (walking, cycling, yoga etc.) based on your current health status. Review your progress regularly and make changes as you continue to see improvements in your fitness.

You might want to change the target step count on your smartwatch to 7,000 though – I did.