I can’t even lie, to this day, whenever someone mentions their ‘10,000 steps’, I can’t help but think of the infamous song by the Proclaimers. Don’t lie – now you’re singing it too.
But, what actually is the deal with walking 10,000 steps a day ? Where did this number come from? How does it benefit our health? And would it really make a big difference if we take 9,900 steps a day instead?
One of the first things that surprised me when researching this topic is that walking 10,000 steps a day is not an official recommendation by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, rather they recommend that adults get 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise a week. For context, that’s about 7,000-8,000 steps a day, already invalidating the glorified ten thousand.
So, if ten thousand steps doesn’t really mean anything, then where does it actually come from? The origins of this arbitrary number are unknown, but it’s something to do with Japan and pedometers and the translation being ‘10,000 steps metre’.
Now that’s not saying that we now have concrete proof to become couch potatoes (as much as we wish our could!). There have been several studies carried out about the benefits of walking 10,000 steps. One study in particular, tracked women over 24 weeks and it found that the women who managed to walk 10,000 steps, ended up with improved glucose levels at the end of the study.
However, many other different types of physical activity can also have this effect such as yoga, weight training, running or playing team sport. 10,000 steps doesn’t have these benefits just because it’s 10,000 steps, but more so because it’s a lot of steps and a lot of exercise.
The bottom line is – walk if you want to, run if you want to, hop, skip, jump, spring, dance – to whatever you want to do and just move your body in ways that feel good for you.