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In a world where most people sit down to work, travel and relax, daily step goals can be a simple and effective way to increase your activity levels. But you might not reap all the rewards of walking 10,000 steps a day<\/a> if you don\u2019t consider another key factor: cadence, AKA how many steps you take per minute.<\/p>\n If you want to enjoy maximum benefits, walking<\/a> at a pace of 100-plus steps per minute and maintaining a higher daily step count is the way to go, according to walking expert Dr Elroy Aguiar<\/a>. His team\u2019s research, which was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine<\/a>, found this particular cadence was a good indicator of \u201cmoderate-intensity\u201d exercise<\/a>.<\/p>\n This is key as \u201call of the research in this area suggests that most of the benefits [from walking] accumulate at a moderate or higher intensity,\u201d Dr Aguiar explains.<\/p>\n Why is walking cadence important?<\/p>\n A walking cadence of 100 steps per minute can unlock more physical health benefits than slower paces, and this comes down to how hard your body is working. Moving faster is going to take more effort, so your heart rate needs to speed up to increase the supply of oxygen to your body and the working muscles. As a result, the intensity of the activity increases, and it can be categorised as \u201cmoderate-intensity\u201d exercise.<\/p>\n This ties into the physical activity guidelines shared by the World Health Organisation<\/a> (and echoed by the NHS<\/a>) which prescribe a weekly total of at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity, 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity, or an equivalent combination of the two.<\/p>\n Luckily, Dr Aguiar says walking at a cadence of 100 steps per minute shouldn\u2019t be too much of a stretch for the majority of people.<\/p>\n \u201cTo put it into context, if most people went for a walk down the street, they would self-select a cadence of about 110 to 115 steps per minute, so 100 is a very achievable number,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you wanted to bump the walk up to a vigorous intensity, you could walk at around 130 steps per minute or walk up a steep incline. If you move within that range or slightly above, you can shift gears and get more benefit from the activity you\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n How many steps do you need to walk a day?<\/p>\n Dr Aguiar says the research is \u201ca little bit unclear\u201d on the importance of walking volume (the number of steps you take per day) when performed without a higher cadence and intensity.<\/p>\n While a number of studies highlight the benefits of walking a certain number of steps per day, \u201csimilar studies have shown that volume is not significant unless you also do it at a higher intensity,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n To cover all bases, Dr Aguiar recommends maintaining both a higher daily step count and a faster walking cadence. And he says you don\u2019t have to walk 10,000 steps a day <\/a>to experience most of the health benefits on offer.<\/p>\n