10,000 Steps May Be More Than You Need

10,000 steps

You often hear that you should get 10,000 steps per day. That may be a tall order for people who work long hours at sedentary jobs. People who are older (though I know many who could run laps around me!) may not always have the stamina. Sometimes it is more important to be aware of your steps than to count them.

How Much You Should Walk Every Day

Benefits may come from as few as 2,500 steps a day.

A meta-analysis in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology (https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjpc/zwad229) included 17 studies and nearly 227,000 study participants who were followed over 7 years. In that time, people who walked the most had the most benefit. However, walking as few as 2,337 steps decreased the risk for death from cardiovascular disease. That risk decreased by 7% for every extra 500 steps walked per day. Walking 3867 steps per day decreased deaths from ANY cause. That risk decreased by 15% for every extra 1,000 steps walked per day.

Counting steps decreases your risk of heart disease.

People who count steps are less likely to have certain medical problems. A study in PLoS Medicine (https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002836) looked at nearly 1,300 adults and followed their counts in a 12-week walking intervention. Researchers then tracked their development of certain medical conditions over 4 years. They focused specifically on heart disease, diabetes, depression, fractures, and falls. The results were impressive. Regardless of preexisting medical conditions, “approximately 60 people needed to receive the walking intervention to prevent one cardiovascular event and approximately 28 people to prevent one fracture.” It only goes to show that short-term walking interventions can make a real impact on your long-term health.

Walking 2 miles a day may help senior women live longer.

Diagnosis Life summary:
A study in JAMA Internal Medicine (https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.0899) looked to see how far you need to walk or run to get a health benefit. Researchers looked at the daily counts of more than 17,000 women (average age 72) over one week and then followed-up in 4 years. Women who walked 4,400 steps or more tended to live longer. Specifically, women walking 4,400 steps daily had a 46% reduction in their mortality risk, those walking 5,900 had a 53% reduction, and those walking 8,400 had a 66% reduction when compared to those walking 2,700 steps or less per day. The benefit seems to level off starting at 7,500 steps per day. Stay as active as you can. It may not take as much effort as you think to reap the benefits.

Walking 8,000 steps or more per day may help you live longer.

Diagnosis Life summary:
Previous studies have shown how many steps may help seniors to live longer but what about middle-aged adults? A study in JAMA (https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.1382) measured the counts of nearly 5,000 adults 40 years and older (average age 57 years old) and tracked them over 10 years. The magic number seems to be 8,000 per day. People who walk 8,000 steps per day were 51% less likely to die within ten years than those who only walked 4,000. Those who walk 12,000 steps per day decreased that risk by 65%. For perspective, a mile averages 2,000 steps depending on the your stride. If you can do it, take a walk today.

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