Ten thousand steps a day has become a popular goal with an old and odd origin. In 1965, a Japanese company sold a step counter named Manpo-kei which means “10,000 steps meter”. The Japanese character for that looks almost like a person walking.
· How much does it matter for us to get a certain number of steps each day?
· What is the number?
· Is it better to do most of the walking at one time or spread it out during the day?
· Does the walking pace matter?
Wearable devices that track the number of steps we take each day, making it easier than an old school pedometer, have been around long enough for some good study information.
Getting steps seems to affect males, females and different races much the same.
A meta-analysis of 17 studies including 227,000 people over 7 years yielded some very good results.
· Increasing from a baseline of 2500 steps to 4500 steps showed a 45% decrease in all cause mortality.
· Another 15% decrease at 5500 steps.
· The mortality risk continued to go down with every 1000 steps, but the gains continued to level off.
What does that mean for how many steps you should set for a goal? The study does show the more the better, but with a sweet spot in the 5000-6000 range and diminishing returns above that.
Is it better to get most of those steps at one time or spread them throughout the day? The studies consistently show there are more benefits to spreading the steps throughout the day. I suspect this is because of the ill effects of sitting for long periods of time.
Does the pace matter? This one got very muddled. Some studies showed it is better to walk at a faster pace, some showed it is better to walk at a slower pace and just for fun, one showed there was no difference.
What to do with all the information from these studies?
· Set a goal at 4000 steps or 10,000 steps
· Most at one time or spread out
· Fast or slow pace or mixed
Moving and getting steps in as many days as possible is very good for us and not getting too nutty about the exact number is fine.
You can use a fitness tracker like a watch, band or ring. You can use a smart phone with many choices of free apps. You can go old school and get a uni-tasking step counter that doesn't even use Bluetooth and is under $40. The Manpo-kei is no longer available.
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