You know the drill now. Get a fitness app or tracker and plan on walking within five figures each day to get healthy. For the past few years this magical figure has been sending celebratory banner and buzz notifications to wrists and smartphone screens around the world – congratulating recipients on another day of maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
But what is 10,000 steps, from a fitness standpoint? Basically, from the perspective of anyone walking between 2 and 2.5 feet with each step, it’s like walking five miles. It’s the same as about 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day, but what about the other 23.5 hours?
Where did 10,000 steps come from?
To start with, make sure you get that 10,000th steps do add an extra digit to your daily tally, and it’s pretty hard to keep that up if you’re driving to and from work and aren’t spending time jogging or using the treadmill. This daily goal really took off in the UK when the National Obesity Forum started recommending 7,000 – 10,000 steps to help people lose weight.
However, long before that a Japanese company created a device called manp-kei. The pedometer took off in Japan, just before the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and residents started trying to get their daily step goal to fit the device (then not much has changed there!).
Although 10,000 steps is still recommended in Japan by the Ministry of Health, there are concerns elsewhere that it’s not actually enough.
Is it really science based?
First of all – yes. There’s no doubt that the results support the positive notion that 10,000 steps daily can be beneficial to health. But realistically it’s based on looking at people who don’t take many steps each day, so really it’s just a case of being more active rather than sedentary. So while 10,000 may be a target for some, it’s by no means stop when it becomes commonplace.
The main problem with the 10,000 step daily goal is that regardless of the intensity of the exercise. For example, someone who works in a large office, and regularly pops around the desk to see coworkers, could easily complete 10,000 steps even while spending most of their time sitting, and the same can be said for spending an hour or so cleaning. home – without even leaving it.
Should I aim for 10,000 steps or not?
Translating the 10,000 step routine a little differently, you can see that the real focus is being active for at least 150 minutes each week. So three sessions at the gym or jogging will achieve this – and you can still try and do 10,000 steps, in the meantime, to improve your fitness. Fitness boot camp by Prestige Bootcamp it’s also a great place to test your current fitness level – and supplementing your activities with a healthy diet is essential.
Basically, this is why 10,000 steps every day does not equate to a healthy lifestyle. Without consistently challenging yourself with more intense exercise, and making sure that the food you eat is healthy, 10,000 steps can keep you active, but it doesn’t guarantee significant improvements to your long-term fitness.
