Is it true that you need to walk 10,000 steps a day to be healthy?

It is generally accepted that the level of mobility necessary to maintain health is 10,000 steps per day. We decided to check whether this indicator is confirmed by any scientific research.

About the fact that you need to walk 10,000 steps a day, write numerous sites And Media about a healthy lifestyle. To the number in 10,000 steps oriented sports applications almost everyone fitness bracelets and smartphones. The number is called scientifically based. For example, The Village asserts: “10,000 steps - “the number is not from your head, it is made up of simple calculations. According to physiologists, to maintain health, physical activity should take an hour or a little more a day. During this time, a person will walk on average about 8 km at a brisk pace, which is equivalent to 10,000 steps, depending on the width of the step.”

And the website of one of the central district hospitals of the Komi Republic tellsthat the cherished number of steps will fill the lungs with oxygen and increase their volume, provide effective prevention of diseases such as heart failure, heart attack, hypertension, relieve stress, reduce the risk of developing depression and varicose veins, help lose weight, increase the chances of getting pregnant in women and improve the quality of sperm in men.

Walking is one of the simplest sports exercises, and it also does not require almost any special equipment, except perhaps comfortable shoes. Unlike most other sports, walking has almost no contraindications. When walking are involved many leg muscles (quadriceps and biceps femoris, calf muscles), the gluteus maximus muscle works, the abs, deltoids, biceps and triceps of the arms receive a load, and the muscles bark act as a stabilizer. Even race walking included to the list of Olympic athletics disciplines. 

Universal mobility standard of 10,000 steps appeared in Japan ahead of the 1964 Olympic Games. Yamasa Toki Company developed and introduced the world's first pedometer called Manpo-kei, where man meant "10,000" and kei meant "step." It is assumed that this name was also chosen because the hieroglyph meaning this phrase resembled a walking man - 万. The developers also referred to study Yoshiro Hatano, professor at Kyushu University. Concerned about the problems of a sedentary lifestyle and overeating, Professor countedthat with the amount of food consumed by middle-aged Japanese men in 1964, they would need to walk 10,000 steps to avoid gaining excess weight. However, the beautiful number was taken out of context when pedometer manufacturers began to use it as a marketing promotion for their products, and the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare included it in the list of national goals for improving the nation's health. Thus, the norm, based on only one study and originally designed for middle-aged men with a typical diet in 1964, began to be used as a universal indicator of the required mobility.

Later studies showed that the number of 10,000 steps cannot be considered universal. Professor of Medicine Ai-Ming Lee of Harvard Medical School dialed 16,741 women aged 70 years and older, analyzed their level of mobility and life expectancy. She followed them for four years and noted that the mortality rate was lower in those who took more than 4,400 steps per day, compared to those who took an average of only 2,700 steps. At the same time, the risk of mortality decreased in proportion to the steps taken only until reaching 7,500 steps per day, and then remained unchanged.

In 2011, the Public Health Agency of Canada set out to withdraw a new, current norm for the number of steps per day for the average person. After selecting 837 publications on the relationship between the number of steps and various health indicators in English, published in peer-reviewed journals since 2000, the researchers concluded that the optimal number of steps per day is from 7,000 to 8,000. The report also focuses on not only the duration of walking, but also its intensity.

Scientists from the British Sheffield Hallam University tried to answer the question of what is more important: how long or how fast to walk. They compared two groups of volunteers. The former had to walk 10,000 steps at any pace, the latter went for 10-minute intense walks three times a day. And although the latter took on average only 3,000 steps, their exercise volume was 30% greater, therefore, they received more health benefits. The participants themselves admitted that they liked short intense walks more than long and monotonous walking.

When it comes to the psychological aspects of reaching the 10,000 step mark, the scientific evidence varies. Scientists from the University of Victoria (Melbourne, Australia) dialed 1963 volunteers (1458 men and 505 women) aged 16 to 74 years. They were told about the positive mental health benefits of meeting a daily mobility goal and asked to complete two commonly used depression and anxiety scales before and after following the 100-day 10,000-step rule. Statistically significant improvements in mental state after completion of the experiment were noted in the group that regularly met the mobility norm. However, those who did not reach the coveted target reported stabilization of their mental state. 

From this study, one could conclude that it is not the achievement of the goal itself, but only the desire for it that can improve our mental health. However, Jodan Etkin, a professor at Duke University, discoveredthat those who track the number of their own steps per day are indeed more physically active than those who do not use pedometers. However, the former enjoy walking less and show lower levels of happiness at the end of the day, as “focusing on the outcome makes enjoyable activities more like work, which reduces the pleasure they derive from them.”

Etkin’s conclusions are confirmed research motivation of British schoolchildren. Volunteers aged 13-14 were given sports bracelets that track daily activity, asked to maintain a goal of 10,000 steps per day, and were given a series of psychological texts and focus interviews after wearing them for eight weeks. During this period, adolescents experienced a significant decrease in motivation to adhere to this goal, satisfaction with activity, and self-confidence. In interviews, they reported that they “felt under pressure because they were trying to take a certain number of steps and appear better than they actually were,” and also said that “when they realized that it was already 7 o’clock in the evening and they had only walked a dozen steps, they felt very bad.” Regularly tracking their progress turned out to be an additional stressor for them.

Thus, no modern research confirms that 10,000 steps is the gold standard for maintaining physical fitness. The most optimal figure seems to be between 7000 and 8000 steps. And if you don’t like monotonous leisurely walking, you can easily replace it with short but intense walks. Moreover, experiments show that a clearly defined bar can both improve psychological health and reduce motivation and self-confidence due to the fact that not everyone has the opportunity to achieve the desired result every day. 

Misconception

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. Is it true that an adult needs to drink 2 liters, or eight glasses, of water a day?
2. Is it true that the body needs to detox to remove toxins?