Do we need 10 000 steps to be healthy?

Last week a client and I started chatting about the magical number of 10 000 steps associated with most fitness trackers on the market, and whether or not that was a realistic number for everyone to achieve. Achieving 10 000 steps a day isn’t easy; especially if you have a desk job. Assuming an average stride length, it roughly equates to 8km. If you have a job that expects you to be at a desk for 8 hours, finding the time and maybe energy to walk 8km, may not be all that easy. This conversation though, sparked my interest in finding out where the 10 000 number came from.

Turns out, like many things, it started as a marketing strategy. In the mid 1960’s a Japanese company developed a pedometer and called it “Manpo-kei”; translated this means 10 000 steps. Very quickly, many Japanese walking clubs started using the pedometer and encouraging more people to start walking, tracking their steps & reaping the benefits of increased exercise. The rest is history….

So do you actually need to achieve 10 000 steps to improve your health or see & feel benefits? I don’t think so. Human health is much more individual and complicated to be reduced to a single number. Consistency in any type of exercise program is key to be most beneficial. If you consistently walk 4000 steps a day every day, it will be more beneficial than not walking at all. If your goal is to be less sedentary, than an increase of any number of steps on a daily basis, should be considered a success! For many people new to exercise or returning to exercise after an extended break, 10 000 steps is a pretty lofty goal initially. Yet, marketers would have us believe that if you don’t hit that target, you are not working hard enough. This can be very damaging to our thought process, if we feel like a failure, just because we didn’t achieve the “buzzing, rainbow “ notification that we hit the 10 000 step target. It doesn’t seem very realistic to suggest that everyone should be able to lift the same amount of weight. So, why do we think that a fitness tracking company should suddenly be the expert on how many steps everyone should achieve daily? For some, walking may not be the best exercise for them. Perhaps they prefer biking or swimming. Most fitness trackers are worn on your wrist, so those activities will not actively reflect your chosen activity. I learned that an active day of housework & cleaning can allow me to achieve 10 000 steps (simply because I am moving my arms) but I know I have not taken anywhere near 10 000 steps.

I am a firm believer in setting goals to help you focus your efforts and challenge yourself. Just make sure you consider where you are starting & what end goal you desire. If you wish to be more active than you are now, then track the number of steps or minutes you are active each day, and looks for ways to increase. Remember, even though your fitness tracker may not acknowledge it, all movement contributes to improving your overall health. Even increasing the amount of time your are active each day with yard work, household chores etc., is movment in the right direction. Canada’s physical acitivity guidelines focus on the number of minutes per week, we should aim to achieve- 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week is recommended for adults. That’s about 20-25 minutes/day. Maybe that is a better target for some to achieve. If you can regularly achieve 10 000 steps a day- good for you. If you fall short of that target, don’t sweat it; movement is medicine in whatever dose you can achieve!