Hunter Bennett, Adelaide University
You’ve probably heard that hitting 10,000 steps a day is the key to health and longevity.
This magic number feels like a medical rule, handed down by doctors across the globe.
But where did it come from? And is it even true?
Let’s step back to Japan in 1964
Believe it or not, but the infamous 10,000 steps a day recommendation didn’t come from a research laboratory.
In fact, it is not scientific at all.
It came from a Japanese pedometer called the manpo-kei which translates to “10,000-step meter”.
This pedometer went on sale just after the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, at a time when there was a growing worry people in Japan weren’t moving enough.
The number was mainly chosen was because it was catchy and easy to remember. The Japanese kanji character for 10,000 – 万 – even looks a little like a walking person, which may have played a role in deciding on the number.
So 10,000 was a slogan to sell a step-counter, not an evidence-based recommendation.
So many ideas about what makes us sick, or keeps us well, sound plausible. Early studies might sound promising. But then something gets twisted. In this series, we investigate how a grain of truth ends up as a common health myth. And we untangle what went wrong along the way.
So what does the research say?
Getting 10,000 steps a day can be a useful goal, and it will have a positive impact on your health. But you can reap health benefits from even less.
A recently published systematic review combined the results of 57 studies and more than 160,000 adults to examine the relationship between daily steps and health. Interestingly, they found 7,000 steps a day was where health benefits were maximised.
Reaching 7,000 steps a day was linked to a 47% lower risk of dying early, a 25% lower risk of cardiovascular disease (heart disease and stroke), a 14% lower risk of type 2 diabetes, a 38% lower risk of dementia, a 22% lower some of depression and a 28% lower risk of falls.
Some health benefits started well before 7,000 steps.
The researchers found going from about 2,000 to 4,000 steps a day makes a real difference. These health benefits then increase again slightly from 4,000 to 7,000 steps a day, after which the benefits start to plateau.
These results align closely with other research looking at all types of physical activity, where going from being inactive to moderately active yields the largest health improvements. Moving from a moderate to high level of activity does provide additional benefits, but these are much smaller in magnitude.
Why walking is good for you
Walking is a form of “aerobic” exercise. It raises your heart rate and places stress on your respiratory, muscular and cardiovascular systems.
If you do it regularly, it can improve your heart and metabolic health, and reduce your bodyweight.
Walking can also reduce stress and improve mental health, possibly due improvements in feelings of self-esteem and self-efficacy that comes with regular movement.
Steps versus minutes
There is some additional nuance that needs to be considered when discussing how far you walk each day: how hard you walk.
Most people choose a walking pace that pushes them into the realm of “moderate intensity” exercise. However, the health benefits of exercise scale up with exercise intensity: you get more bang for your buck from more intense exercise.
So, if you pick up the pace and move towards a vigorous exercise intensity (where it’s hard to maintain a conversation), you will get larger health benefits in less time. This is why official exercise guidelines treat 75 minutes of vigorous activity as roughly equal to 150 minutes of moderate activity.
With this in mind, rather than focusing on steps, you might be better off focusing on the number of minutes you accumulate each week.
Recent research even suggests short bursts of high-intensity exercise spread across the day can have surprising health benefits.
So, if you’re short on time, walking faster is one of the simplest ways to get more out of that same walk.
But walking alone isn’t enough
Walking covers the “aerobic” side of fitness well. However, it doesn’t really address the “anaerobic” side.
Anaerobic fitness refers to your muscle mass, muscle strength, and power. Having higher anaerobic fitness is linked to having a better quality of life and lower risk of mortality as you get older.
This is why most health authorities recommend muscle-strengthening activities (such as lifting weights) at least two days a week.
This will also help reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes, while also helping you avoid falls and stay independent for longer as you get older.
If you can aim to hit 7,000 steps each day, and add in weight training twice per week, you’re going to have most of your bases covered from a health perspective.
Hunter Bennett, Lecturer in Exercise Science, Adelaide University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.