10,000 Steps: Myth or Health Goal? – What Science Says

You may have heard that taking at least 10,000 steps is crucial for maintaining quality health. But where did that number come from and is it actually accurate? Most of us use our step count as an indicator of how active we are. For years, we’ve been told that 10,000 steps are the key to good health, but the origins of this figure, and its scientific basis, are now being questioned.

These questions were discussed on the HuffPost Am I Doing It Wrong? podcast, featuring Heather Milton, a physiologist at NYU Langone Health in New York. “We always hear about 10,000 steps, and I actually read that the number originated from a pedometer created in Japan in the 1960s,” said podcast host Noah Michelson. While the specific number wasn’t based on medical or scientific research, it has remained a benchmark for daily goals for decades.

“There’s more recent research looking at the relationship between 10,000 steps a day and the recommended 30 minutes of moderate physical activity per day,” Milton explained. “The idea is that if you maintain the right intensity during those 10,000 steps, you’re meeting the recommended amount of aerobic exercise.” However, not all steps are created equal. “When you’re counting steps, does that include getting up to go to the kitchen for water and back? That’s hardly moderate intensity,” she noted.

That’s why Milton emphasizes that to maximize the benefits of walking, our pace needs to be fast enough that we can’t comfortably hold a conversation. She calls this “the talk test.” “If you’re trying to have a conversation, can you only answer my questions with ‘yes’ or ‘no’? Or can you talk freely?” she asked. “There’s a threshold of intensity that contributes to health improvement. Looking at heart rate, that’s the zone of moderate intensity – around 64 to 76 percent of your maximum pulse.”

Beyond intensity, a different number of steps can lead to different outcomes depending on other factors, such as age.

A 2019 study involving nearly 17,000 women between the ages of 62 and 101 found that “4,400 steps per day were associated with a 41% lower risk of mortality compared to 2,700 steps, and about 7,500 steps with a 65% lower risk.” Another study showed a progressively decreasing risk of mortality for people under 60 who took between 8,000 and 10,000 steps daily. Given the many factors at play, Milton suggests we stop focusing so much on steps and instead focus on another number: 30.

This is not only the number of minutes of moderate activity we should aim for each day, but also the maximum number of minutes we should allow ourselves to remain seated or inactive at any given time. “Time spent sedentary is a completely separate risk factor for health,” she noted. Lack of activity can contribute to countless medical problems, including obesity, high blood pressure, some types of cancer, and mental health issues. The less time we spend sitting, the better our health may be. “The ideal interval for breaking up sedentary time is to move every 30 minutes,” Milton said. “If you’re walking, your steps contribute to that and help your health in another way.”

That’s why she likes using steps as a “simple tool – an objective measure of whether my client has had any activity during the day, or not.” If the step count is low at the end of the day, it could indicate we’ve spent most of the day sitting. “Your goal may not be 10,000 steps,” Milton said. “It might just be to increase them by 200. Then you can slowly increase over time to have more active time. That may not be structured exercise, but It’s physical activity. And that can help your metabolism and overall health.”

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