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New research shows 7,000 daily steps are as beneficial as 10,000, reducing risks of heart disease, diabetes, dementia and more. The 10,000-step target, born from 1960s marketing, isn’t science-based. Experts say any movement helps—whether parking farther, taking stairs, or indoor laps. The key: keep moving in ways you’ll sustain.
Do you really need to walk 10,000 steps a day?
Author: Hanna Webster
Walking 10,000 steps a day is probably a maxim that’s been drilled into your brain as the ideal target for a healthy lifestyle.
New research suggests otherwise.
Published in the Lancet in July, a meta-analysis out of the University of Sydney finds walking 7,000 steps a day can reduce many dangerous health outcomes just as well as taking 10,000, including the risk of heart disease, cancer, Type 2 diabetes, dementia and falls.
The updated metric may be a relief to those who have found it unfeasible to walk 10,000 steps a day, say experts, and refocuses exercise as a personalized journey tailored to each person’s goals.
“Papers like this show that being physically active and walking more has health benefits in a wide variety of areas,” said David Sarwer, director of the Center for Obesity, Research and Education and a professor at Temple University’s College of Public Health.
The 10,000-step goal may not only be unreasonable for some — it’s also not evidence-based. The idea originated from a 1960s Japanese marketing campaign, when it sold a pedometer called the Manpo-kei, which translates to “10,000 steps meter.”
“The idea of 10,000 steps a day was a goal that was never really rooted in the science, but it just kind of resonated with people,” Sarwer said. “It’s important to see there are health benefits to getting less than 10,000 steps a day.”
The Sydney paper, which looked at 31 studies, adds to the literature that walking 7,000 steps a day not only can reduce mortality but other health indicators as well. It’s the first large analysis of a variety of health outcomes associated with daily step count, said researchers.
A 2019 Harvard study also found that older women who walked 4,400 steps a day saw a 40% reduction in their death rate, a number that leveled off after 7,500 steps.
Melody Ding, an epidemiologist at the University of Sydney School of Public Health and lead author on the new paper, hopes people understand that the findings don’t mean walking 10,000 steps a day is bad for you by any stretch — just that if that number is unattainable, you’re not doomed.
“If you’re already doing 10,000, that’s great,” she said. “Keep doing 10,000. You don’t have to hold back. But for the vast majority of the population, who really struggle to get to 7,000 and feel like, ‘Oh, if I’m not even getting close to 10,000, I might as well not do any,’ I think my research tells you that you can actually aim for 7,000 and it’s still good for you.
“Hopefully this reaches the segment of the population who really needs to be active.”
If you’re already active, she said, “just keep on being active.”
Sarwer added that, while step count has dominated the public conversation on exercise, it’s important to not forget about resistance and flexibility training, which are also crucial for healthy aging and reducing falls and fractures.
“We should be finding ways to exercise our core muscles, as well as our arms and legs, to increase our body strength, particularly as we get older,” he said.
As always, the best approach is the one that you’ll be able to continue doing.
Nancy Glynn, associate professor of epidemiology and co-director of the Center for Aging and Population Health at Pitt School of Public Health, works to make sure her patients can translate 7,000 steps into meaningful actions that work for their own busy lives.
For context, 7,000 steps is about three miles, and can be achieved in one go or in stretches throughout the day.
“If the weather is not good, walk laps around your apartment,” suggested Glynn. “Park farther from the store when you’re grocery shopping, or walk a couple laps around the store before you do your shopping. Taking the stairs instead of the elevator, that’s not negligible. There are so many easy ways to pick up steps.”
It’s a little bit psychologically freeing to know you can walk less and still reap benefits, she said.
Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t hit 7,000 a day. If you regularly walk 3,000 steps, try to walk 4,000 instead.
“It’s just moving,” she said. Just keep moving.”
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