Do You Really Need 10,000 Steps A Day to Be Healthy?

Back in the 1960s, a Japanese pedometer company came up with a marketing scheme: Walk 10,000 steps a day, and you will achieve lifetime fitness and health. More than six decades later, many people diligently count their daily steps, sometimes doing extra laps around a driveway just to hit that supposedly magic number of 10,000.

Although walking 10,000 steps is now a mantra among so many striving for a healthy life, the scheme never had any scientific research to prove the benefits it claimed, according to Amanda Paluch, a fitness researcher who has specialized in steps research for the last five years.

"It makes sense that this nice, round number caught on, even though it has not been backed by scientific evidence," says Paluch, a physical activity epidemiologist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. "It's simple, memorable and easy to understand."

Especially in today's techy world of fitness trackers and smart watches, 10,000 steps became an easily programmable and trackable gauge of physical activity, even without evidence of its benefits. Nobody was against the metric since it could get people moving more, which in general means better health. So how much should we do?

In the past, the standard was minutes not steps. Research has shown that adults need 150 minutes of moderate activity per week to stay healthy – for example, 30 minutes, five days a week at a pace that still allows you to talk but not sing. Doing more or more vigorous activity was shown to bring more fitness gains, health benefits and increased weight control or loss. This research-based number in minutes was first recommended in 1995 by the American College of Sports Medicine. This metric, Paluch said, works well, too, and simply depends on individual preferences.

Minutes per week, however, never seemed to catch on like 10,000 steps a day.

Without research to back up the popular measure in steps, Paluch decided to turn much of her focus to step-counting – the public needed to know if this consumer mantra was indeed the right path. In 2022, she published the first evidence-based research that sought to find out if 10,000 steps, which translates on average into a perhaps daunting 5 miles, was indeed a good benchmark. That study appeared in the prestigious Lancet journal, but it didn't truly set guidelines – "More research is needed," as scientists always say. It did, however, add a scientific building block for future investigations and took its own step toward establishing evidence.

That analysis in the Lancet pulled together 15 prior studies after 1999 that looked at step-counting and combined their statistics for a broader single conclusion. Altogether, that meant Paluch's article included 50,000 adults – a large and significant number in the world of science – to draw conclusions.

The result: The number of daily steps for health benefits among adults 60 and older was approximately 6,000 to 8,000 a day. Among adults younger than 60, the number was higher at 8,000 to 10,000 steps a day.

But why does it seem older adults need fewer steps for identical benefits?

"For older adults, the same step count may feel more physically demanding and stimulate the body differently than it would in younger people," Paluch says.

"For example, we can think about walking a half-mile in about 10-15 minutes," she says. "This can be more strenuous for a 70-year-old than for a 30-year-old. So, for the 30-year-old to experience a similar level of health-enhancing stimulus from activity, it would require more steps either by walking faster or for a longer time."

Additional research published in 2023 in the journal Circulation by the American Heart Association added another tidbit: Although fewer steps than 10,000 appears to be just as healthy, more steps seemed to bring greater reductions in the risk of heart disease and no disadvantages, although returns began to diminish.

"Each extra 1,000 steps reduced heart disease risk," she says. "The least active quarter of the adults participating in this study took 2,000 to 3,000 steps — adding more steps brought the greatest benefit. However, even for people who already walked 7,000 steps, adding more still helps, though the incremental benefits are smaller."

Is counting steps and striving for 10,000 not a good thing since scientific evidence is still limited? Not at all, she says. The mantra remains to just move more, and a little one-two-three of steps can push that along. Most adults don't actually get more than about 2,000 to 3,000 steps a day, which on average is only about 1-1 ½ miles. If you are not active, she says, you will experience the most health gains by adding steps in small increments.

"The biggest improvements in health come when people who are least active add more steps," she says. "Once older adults reach about 6,000 to 8,000 steps, they've gained most of the longevity benefits, although more steps can bring smaller improvements," she explains. "For younger adults, the same idea applies, but at about 8,000 to 10,000 steps."

Although counting steps for health is a benchmark that came from nowhere, electronic measurement of how much you move is so simple, it is here to stay. And that has spawned a global research collaborative to find science to back up what many are already doing.

Paluch helped found the Steps for Health Collaborative in 2019 to bring together like-minded scientists from around the world looking at step-counting. With 50 researchers now involved, expect more studies and information in the future about what to do to have a longer, healthier life.

"I'm interested in helping people live more years free of disease, and walking is an activity most of us can do daily, so it has a broad impact," she says.

It seems step-counting isn't just for the lay public, though. Paluch herself wears a fitness tracker, she says, working toward her own step goals daily.

And if counting steps is good enough for her, it's good enough for the rest of us.

Therese Iknoian is a writer and photographer with a master’s in kinesiology. She was named Photographer of the Year by NATJA in 2024. It’s also true she is a former nationally ranked racewalker. She now runs a travel blog (HITravelTales.com) and newsletter with her husband, Michael. As an avid photographer (ThereseIknoian.com), she has exhibited in various galleries and specializes in night skies. Read More