This pedometer went on sale just after the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, at a time when there was a growing worry people in Japan weren\u2019t moving enough.<\/p>\n
The number was mainly chosen was because it was catchy and easy to remember. The Japanese kanji character for 10,000 \u2013 \u4e07 \u2013 even looks a little like a walking person<\/a>, which may have played a role in deciding on the number.<\/p>\n So 10,000 was a slogan to sell a step-counter, not an evidence-based recommendation.<\/p>\n 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<\/a>, we investigate how a grain of truth ends up as a common health myth. And we untangle what went wrong along the way.<\/p>\n So what does the research say?<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n A recently published systematic review<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Some health benefits started well before 7,000 steps.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n These results align closely with other research<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n Why walking is good for you<\/p>\n Walking is a form of \u201caerobic<\/a>\u201d exercise. It raises your heart rate and places stress on your respiratory, muscular and cardiovascular systems. <\/p>\n If you do it regularly, it can improve your heart and metabolic health<\/a>, and reduce your bodyweight<\/a>.<\/p>\n Walking can also reduce stress and improve mental health<\/a>, possibly due improvements in feelings of self-esteem and self-efficacy<\/a> that comes with regular movement.<\/p>\n Steps versus minutes<\/p>\n There is some additional nuance that needs to be considered when discussing how far you walk each day: how hard you walk.<\/p>\n Most people choose a walking pace that pushes them into the realm of \u201cmoderate intensity<\/a>\u201d exercise. However, the health benefits of exercise scale up with exercise intensity: you get more bang for your buck from more intense exercise.<\/p>\n So, if you pick up the pace and move towards a vigorous exercise intensity (where it\u2019s hard to maintain a conversation), you will get larger health benefits in less time. This is why official exercise guidelines<\/a> treat 75 minutes of vigorous activity as roughly equal to 150 minutes of moderate activity.<\/p>\n With this in mind, rather than focusing on steps, you might be better off focusing on the number of minutes you accumulate each week.<\/p>\n Recent research even suggests short bursts of high-intensity exercise spread across the day can have surprising health benefits<\/a>. <\/p>\n So, if you\u2019re short on time, walking faster is one of the simplest ways to get more out of that same walk.<\/p>\n But walking alone isn\u2019t enough<\/p>\n Walking covers the \u201caerobic\u201d side of fitness well. However, it doesn\u2019t really address the \u201canaerobic<\/a>\u201d side. <\/p>\n Anaerobic fitness refers to your muscle mass, muscle strength, and power. Having higher anaerobic fitness is linked to having a better quality of life<\/a> and lower risk of mortality<\/a> as you get older.<\/p>\n Read more: This is why most health authorities<\/a> recommend muscle-strengthening activities (such as lifting weights) at least two days a week. <\/p>\n This will also help reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes<\/a>, while also helping you avoid falls<\/a> and stay independent<\/a> for longer as you get older.<\/p>\n If you can aim to hit 7,000 steps each day, and add in weight training twice per week, you\u2019re going to have most of your bases covered from a health perspective.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You\u2019ve probably heard that hitting 10,000 steps a day is the key to health and longevity. This magic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":802071,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[337,97],"class_list":["post-802070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-fitness","tag-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=802070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/802071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=802070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=802070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=802070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/file-20260324-71-ig7xzm.png\")
<\/p>\n
\n There are different types of fitness. An exercise expert explains<\/a><\/p>\n