Dr. T. Rama Prasad, ‘Pay What You Can’ clinic, Perundurai, India
10,000 steps -- Science or Nonsense ?
First, it should be noted that “stepping around (walking)” is not the only physical activity we do, to measure our exercise (muscle contractions) in terms of the number of steps a day. Our physical activity depends on various factors – job, occupation, physical health, sports activity, physical exercises, hobbies, etc. One may or may not need to go for a walk and count the steps. EXERCISE means the work done by our muscles during the wakeful hours, not just the number of steps. A labourer may be digging a well without moving much. His muscles may be working a lot more than that is equivalent to 10,000 steps, within 10 minutes with only 20 steps. So, the number of steps is not the barometer for exerciser, and walking need not be the only exercise for everyone.
Citing a study by the University of Iowa, Healthline says the average step length is about 2.5 feet. That means you’d have to walk nearly five miles a day to hit 10,000 steps. Feel a bit out of reach? There may be a reason for that. Moreover, depending on your age, physical health, stride, and pace, walking 10,000 steps would approximately take one and a half hours. Such a coveted target might be hard to achieve, given the other daily commitments besides walking.
The tech-savvy city folk, these days, wear gadgets on their wrists and do the ritual of 10,000 steps a day. Of course, it is beneficial. A villager may be exercising a lot more in the fields without counting steps. And, the recent research (Annals of Internal Medicine, October 2025) indicates that the way the walking is done is more important than reaching the goal of 10,000. So, fast walking (5 to 6 kmph) for around 30 minutes at a stretch is more beneficial than the usual steps of 10,000.
Now, forget about this research study, as theory. For people of more than 60 years, for whom this fast walking may not be possible, or even hazardous, the ordinary continuous walking for around 20 to 30 minutes, combined with short walks now and then inside or around the home during wakeful hours without counting the steps, would also be of immense benefit.
And, remember that “if a little is good, a lot need necessarily not be better.” While it is said that incremental increase in exercise is beneficial, don’t be over-enthusiastic. Too much of intense exercise may be hazardous, even fatal.
Walking is a full-body movement that burns roughly 100 k calories per mile and requires the use of 200 muscles with every single step.
Health and Fitness
· Step Counts: Taking around 8,000 steps a day reduces all-cause mortality by 51% compared to taking 4,000 or fewer.
· Cardiovascular & Disease Risk: Walking briskly for 30 minutes on most days lowers the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers.
· Lower Injury Risk: Walkers experience a 1% to 5% risk of exercise-related injury, compared to a 20% to 70% risk for runners.
· Bone and Joint Health: As a weight-bearing activity, walking strengthens bones, helps prevent osteoporosis, and lubricates joints to prevent arthritis.
Speed and Statistics
· Average Pace: The average adult walking speed is about 3 to 3.1 miles per hour, while brisk walking is around 3.5 miles per hour.
· Distance Equivalents: Roughly 2,000 steps equal one mile, and the average person walks about 65,000 miles in their lifetime—equal to walking three times around the Earth.
· Brain and Mood: A regular walking routine releases endorphins, boosts creative thinking, and lowers cortisol levels.
Treadmill until exhaustion, Fitbit / Fuel Band pedometers, only yoga and meditation, aerobatics, cable crossover, lats pulldown, seated row, leg curls, pilates, cardio-toxic exercises, heart arrhythmia exercises -- the fashion of the day.
Our forefathers were doing a lot of exercise ‘naturally’ by way of manual work for most part of the day whereas many, these days, slump in chairs during working hours and as soon as they reach home hit the sofa like couch potatoes with remote in one hand and junk food stuff in the other, which is the main cause for most of the diseases these days.
WALKING
Many think that taking just a walk for 30 minutes or so on 5 days in a week would compensate for all our profound inactivity. Walking, no doubt, is good for health. But it is only a minimum basic exercise -- something like getting 40 per cent or so of the marks to be eligible to just scrape through an examination. The desirable exercise depends on the age and fitness of an individual. For youngsters, intensive exercise as in sports & games, running, swimming, jogging, etc. is recommended. For the middle-aged, less of such intensive activity or mild jogging or even brisk walking may be fine. For the elderly, any walking may keep them more fit. The duration and speed of walking depends on their level of fitness and their disease profile. Many may have joint pains and cardio-vascular diseases.
The tech-savvy city folk, these days, wear gadgets on their wrists and do the ritual of 10,000 steps a day. Of course, it is beneficial. But the recent research (Annals of Internal Medicine, October 2025 -- a study in the UK of 34,000 people over a period of 8 years) indicates that the way the walking is done is more important than reaching the goal of 10,000. It is observed that walking fast & continuously for 15 to 30 minutes is more beneficial compared to walking around 8,000 steps intermittently at the usual slower pace over 24 hours. The short brisk (fast) walking (unlike ordinary walking) elevates heart rate into the 'aerobic zone' (a rise of heart rate to 60-70% of the maximum; slightly breathless, but able to talk) improving circulation and insulin sensitivity and burning body fat more efficiently. It also improves muscle strength, balance, metabolism and heart strength, So, fast walking (5 to 6 kmph) for around 30 minutes at a stretch is more beneficial than the usual steps of 10,000. Now, forget about this research study, as theory. For people of more than 60 years, for whom this fast walking may not be possible, or even hazardous, the ordinary continuous walking for around 20 to 30 minutes, combined with short walks now and then inside or around the home during wakeful hours without counting the steps, would also be of immense benefit. Walking just for 10 minutes after breakfast, lunch and dinner would be very beneficial. It reduces the spikes of blood sugar that occur after eating. It is these high spikes that produce more disease.
USE IT or LOSE IT
If you don't use your body, you will lose it ... if you don't use muscles, you will lose them. Underused muscles shrink in size and power. Why is our right hand more powerful than the left ? Because we use it more. Underusing muscles means underusing lungs and heart. And they also become weak. This also means that you are reducing the fitness and lifespan of these organs too. This applies to brain also. To maintain normalcy of certain functions of the brain, the elderly people should exercise the brain with some mental work -- reading, remembering, recalling, writing, conversing, doing something that requires brain power, solving puzzles, answering queries, discussing, debating, lecturing, and a lot of such things. Otherwise, people give the seniors an "old age" tag and ignore them.
" Normal exercise can be done by spending nothing or alternatively by using expensive exercise equipment ! " --- Dr. T. Rama Prasad
For more details, go to > https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/food-exercise-and-sleep_25.html
-- Dr. T. Rama Prasad, ‘Pay What You Can’ clinic, Perundurai, India
Is the 10,000 steps goal a fitness fact or merely a marketing myth?
10th December 2025
Podcast
The Skeptic Podcast – a weekly digest of selected articles from The Skeptic, since its relaunch as online news source in September 2020.
“The article by Elissar Gerges is an admirable analysis and presentation of facts related to 10,000 steps a day as in 2025.” -- Dr. T. Rama Prasad, ‘Pay What You Can’ clinic, Perundurai, India
Author
https://www.linkedin.com/in/elissargerges/
Elissar Gerges is an Assistant Professor at the College of Interdisciplinary Studies with more than 15 years of experience in education. She holds a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership, K–12, from Western University, Canada and a Master of Education in Curriculum Studies and Teacher Development from the University of Toronto, Canada. She is a strong advocate for science media literacy to enable all students, as active citizens, to critically evaluate science in the media to make informed decisions.
Walking is accessible, free, easy, and does not require specific equipment. Numerous studies have consistently shown that it is a low-impact exercise correlated with significant health improvements, including better cardiovascular health and lower mortality rates. Yet, ask anyone about the recommended or ideal number of steps to walk per day, and the answer will most likely be 10,000. Many of us have wholeheartedly accepted this number as a science-based fitness benchmark against which daily activity is measured. This figure has become a fitness gospel but, in reality, it is a marketing invention.
In 1963, amid a fitness boom leading up to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, there was a lot of attention on exercise among the Japanese population. Local companies were trying to profit from the hype and in 1965 the Yamasa Tokei Keiki company released the Manpo-Kei pedometer. They named it “Manpo-kei,” which literally translates to “10,000-step meter”. Far from being an evidence-based number originating from years of rigorous scientific research, the 10,000 figure was chosen arbitrarily to reflect an active lifestyle.
An advertisement campaign for the pedometer was created, spreading awareness of the 10,000 step concept, which has since become a ubiquitous phenomenon. The programme became popular and the number caught on, even though there is no data to back it up. Sixty years later, the fitness industry still promotes it as a universal benchmark. So, why did this number stick so well?
Appeal to round numbers
People are naturally drawn to round numbers like 10,000: it is easy to remember, track, communicate, and market, so it has become the gold standard recommended by fitness trackers and health apps. Its roundness strongly evokes a perception of completeness or totality. People are motivated to reach this specific round number because it signifies a ‘full’ or ‘complete’ daily activity goal. The desire to achieve ‘completeness’ drives the effort towards this round figure, which acts as a psychological threshold, even if a non-round number like 9,876 steps might have similar health benefits. When we reach or surpass a round number, it feels like we have truly accomplished something, which is psychologically rewarding.
Mere exposure effect
The mere exposure effect is the psychological phenomenon of repeated exposure to something increasing our preference for it. Because round numbers are more common in language, media, and culture, we become more comfortable and familiar with them, which boosts their appeal. The proliferation of step-counting devices, fitness wearables, and the well-intentioned advice from health professionals over the past 20 years has treated the 10,000 steps goal as a default target, and social sharing has helped sustain its appeal.
Anchoring bias
Even though studies show health benefits start at lower step counts (e.g. 4,000–7,500 steps/day), the round number dominates the public narrative because it serves as a salient reference point for effort and achievement. The 10,000-step benchmark became a psychological anchor, shaping perceptions of what constitutes ‘enough’ activity. Even health apps celebrate this milestone with virtual fireworks.
Heuristics
Our brain prefers simplicity. Round numbers are easier to process, reducing the cognitive load. When faced with the complex question, ‘How much daily activity is healthy?’, people substitute it with the simpler, heuristic-driven question: ‘Did I hit 10,000 steps?’ Such numbers become rules of thumb that are easy for the public to adopt and adhere to. In this case, the 10,000 steps a day goal serves as a heuristic that simplifies decision-making and goal-setting. For people who are trying to become less sedentary but are not sure how to start, this number may serve as a starting point for a more active lifestyle.
The science: should we disregard this target?
Given that the 10,000-step number is entirely arbitrary and not evidence-based, we might be tempted to disregard it as worthless. However, despite its weak foundation, walking 10,000 steps is a reasonable daily target for an average person as a minimum requirement for physical activity, though the benefit gained by reaching this milestone depends on the person’s fitness level.
The strict 10,000 steps recommendation is not an optimal daily goal for everyone and is not tailored to individual differences and health conditions. For some, it might be very easy to achieve this goal throughout the day; for others, 10,000 steps might be a demanding activity. It might not be an attainable goal for the elderly or those who are new to exercise. Moreover, depending on your age, physical health, stride, and pace, walking 10,000 steps would approximately take one and a half hours. Such a coveted target might be hard to achieve, given the other daily commitments besides walking.
For many, walking 10,000 steps a day can be a kind of challenge to help shift from a sedentary lifestyle and adopt a more active lifestyle. Tracking steps can be a useful method to monitor daily activity levels, but it is not the most significant factor in achieving a healthy lifestyle and it is not the ultimate benchmark for good health. The NHS recommends at least 150 minutes of physical activity for adults over the period of one week, through various activities including walking.
A more accurate estimate
Although scientists and health experts have historically lacked sufficient data to endorse a precise target for the general population, allowing 10,000 steps to persist as an informal benchmark, recent evidence offers clearer guidance. A 2025 meta-analysis of 57 studies, encompassing over 160,000 adults, revealed that 7,000 steps per day is associated with substantial health benefits, including a 47% reduction in the risk of all-cause mortality as well as lower chances of cardiovascular disease, dementia, depression, and other conditions.
While 10,000 steps remains a solid aim for active individuals, 7,000 steps emerges as a more practical and effective goal for most, with diminishing returns beyond that threshold. The analysis further indicates that even 4,000-5,000 steps daily yield notable benefits over a sedentary baseline of 2,000 steps, emphasising that any increase in movement matters.
Despite its marketing origins, the 10,000-step target has proven remarkably effective at motivating behavior change, acting as an ‘invisible ceiling’ that encourages people to move more. The goal’s simplicity is key to its effectiveness. Step counting is relatively simple to monitor and easy to understand. However, the challenge lies in long-term sustainability.
The key question for public health messaging remains: is it an effective goal for everyone? This is where the ceiling becomes problematic. The 10,000 steps recommendation is not based on rigorous research, peer-reviewed studies, or medical consensus. Its origin is rooted in marketing rather than science, but the underlying concept, that more movement is beneficial, is supported by research.
While science does not provide us with a magic number of steps, it is definitive on a key point: as with most fitness goals, there is no one-size-fits-all. What is important is the consistency of staying active and embracing incremental improvements rather than the number itself.
HEALTH More from this author
The problem with Myers-Briggs: personality can’t be put into such neat little boxes
31st August 2026
The anti-fluoridation movement is born of public health mistrust and misinformation
24th January 2025
Debunking the Myths: The Rise of the Anti-Sunscreen Movement
8th April 2024
The pseudoscientific treatments turning athletes and sports stars into influencers for woo
15th December 2023
Greenwashing: The dark side of the sustainable fashion industry
6th November 2023
.
No comments:
Post a Comment