The 10,000 steps debate – and how many you should really do

Tweaking your routine even a little can help to optimise each step, says personal trainer Matt Roberts.

For six decades, where step counts are concerned, 10,000 has been the magic number. But now a new paper says that, happily, even a quarter of that figure can suffice, with 2337 daily steps enough to cut the risk of premature death. The study, published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology (EJPC), is the largest of its kind to date, with the daily activity of 226,889 people across the UK, US, Norway and Australia recorded.

While more steps were associated with better health outcomes, just 3967 a day reduced the risk of dying from any cause, prompting researchers to conclude that “lifestyle changes, including diet and exercise, might be at least as, or even more, effective in reducing cardiovascular risk and prolonging lives” than medication.

The 10,000-a-day figure has been etched into the public consciousness since 1964, when, in the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympics, it formed part of a marketing campaign for a new pedometer. Since then, the psychology of the ease of building steps into your life, the memorability of the figure, and the fact that almost anyone can do it, no matter their age or fitness, has made it a goal that millions aim for on a regular basis.

“It’s a very good metric for people to hit, as it’s highly measurable and achievable,” says personal trainer Matt Roberts – as well as providing bragging rights on days where you’ve exceeded the 10,000 mark. “Everyone needs a target and the trick with step counting is that too much and it becomes unobtainable, too little and it elicits laziness.”

Fitness wearables are projected to become a $205 billion global industry in the next five years. Photo / 123RF

Yet the EJPC paper found that even a little is beneficial; every extra 1000 steps per day was linked to a 15 per cent reduction in death from any cause (with no upper limit beyond 20,000 steps daily defined), while 500 more each day cut the risk of heart disease by 7 per cent, regardless of gender, age and the climate participants lived in.

In previous studies, walking has been shown to lower cancer and dementia risk, and reduce chances of chronic conditions such as high blood pressure and obesity.

Part of the success of step counting is, of course, a result of the tech that is counting them. All iPhones have the “Health” app, which can chart daily steps, built in; most Android phones have Google Fit, which does the same. Fitness wearables such as Fitbits, which track steps and more, continue to surge in popularity, and are projected to become a £98 billion (NZ$205b) global industry in the next five years.

Professor Sir Muir Gray, director of the Optimal Ageing Programme at the University of Oxford and the author of Dr Gray’s Walking Cure, says that along with watching how many steps we’re doing, the speed with which we take them matters, too. “Walking where you can feel your breath coming a little bit quickly, but you can still carry on a conversation” for 30 minutes a day should be the aim; he recommends the NHS Active 10 app, which records briskness.

With a little extra speed, “4000 [steps] is good, 4001 is better, and 4002 is even better. But even if you’re only doing 2000 and you were only doing 1000 yesterday, then that’s good [too].”

Insufficient physical activity is the fourth leading risk factor for mortality globally, according to the World Health Organisation, and is linked to 3.2 million deaths each year. Roberts points out that in “a normal day, our regular movement is about 1000-2000 steps only” – thus, the more steps we work into our existing routine, the easier a higher count becomes to maintain.

The benefits of increased activity go beyond the physical. “There has been solid research evidence suggesting that physical activity helps maintain good general mental health, including [preventing] depression,” explains Professor Stella Chan, Charlie Waller chair in evidence-based psychological treatment at the University of Reading.

Roberts says that tweaking your routine even a little can help to optimise each step. Take dog-walking, which might typically necessitate 5000 steps before breakfast – activity at a time of day that will “maximise fat burn”. If you don’t have a pet to get you going first thing in the morning, there are other options, he suggests, such as building a walk into your commute, heading somewhere a little further for lunch, or having a “walking coffee” with a friend, rather than sitting in a café.

“Medically, 5000-7000 is the sweet spot that goes beyond the basics of heart health and moves into significant mitochondrial responses and adaptations that make you into a fat-sucker when you move,” Roberts says. Ideally, 70-80 per cent of this would occur in one continuous block early on, as this will make the body “significantly better at burning fat all day… Stopping and starting and accumulating [steps] through the whole day is good for the calorie burn, but not so good at eliciting a change in the cellular response to making fat-burn efficient.”

He adds that “this doesn’t need to be every day and you can also gain greatly from doing longer walks on some days. Use your phone to look at your average of 5000-7000, rather than just the daily total, and try to create a spread of steps that doesn’t pressurise every single day.”

One of the many benefits of walking, Professor Gray says, is that it can be done in every age group, and throughout injuries that may make other forms of exercise more of a challenge. “Every year, you should do a little bit more walking,” he explains, suggesting an extra 500 steps daily per year. “And if you develop a long-term condition, you can [also] increase your walking.” There will be “more adaptive changes in the cardio-respiratory system” the longer you walk for, Roberts adds.

While the study suggests that we may see the benefits of walking at a lower step count than expected, experts are clear that we shouldn’t let this become a disincentive to reaching higher goals. “Every step counts,” Gray says. “Almost everything we know tells us that more is better.”

By the numbers

• 2337 daily steps are enough to cut the risk of premature death
• 3967 steps a day reduce the risk of dying from any cause
• Every extra 1000 steps per day are linked to a 15 per cent reduction in death from any cause
• Just 500 more steps each day cut the risk of heart disease by 7 per cent, regardless of gender, age and climate
• 5000-7000 is the sweet spot that goes beyond the basics of heart health and helps you burn fat too