Why 10,000 steps per day aren’t really necessary to stay healthy

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - It's been widely accepted that hitting 10,000 steps a day can greatly improve one's health. However, it turns out 10,000 isn't actually necessary and around 7,000 steps may be a better goal.

A study published in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) found that among 2,100 middle-aged Black and White men and women, those who took approximately 7,000 steps per day or more were 50 to 70 percent less likely to die over the next decade compared with participants taking fewer than 7,000.

The researchers did not find anything overly beneficial from hitting 10,000 steps. In fact, the study found after that amount, the risk reductions level off and there's no major increase in health benefits.

So where did the 10,000 step goal come from? Science Daily reports the goal dates back to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and a clever marketing tactic. They say the first commercial pedometer, the manpo-kei, was released in conjunction with the Summer Games. In Japanese, manpo-kei means "10,000 steps meter."

"That 10,000 steps mark was in no way medically sound," said Dr. Ian Tullberg, Medical Director of UCHealth Urgent Care Clinics. "It came out really from advertising, and one of the gentlemen that came out with one of the first pedometers. It's just stuck, kind of like the whole eight cups of water a day thing, which was also never really medically sound."

Doctors from UCHealth and Centura Health both say the news that doing less still keeps you alive, shouldn’t be anyone's goal.

“That's great knowing that, yes, you might be able to get away with a little bit less," said Dr. Tullberg. "But that's not what we should take away from this type of paper. The whole point of exercising and achieving goals is not to say, 'OK, what's the smallest goal I can possibly get to, to get what I need?' It's really 'hey, I'm going to push myself. I'm going to give myself a good goal,' and ultimately, you're getting yourself feeling better."

"I think that none of us has an excuse not to move just because this study shows that we get as much benefit from 7000 steps as we might with 10,000," said Dr. Carolyn Shay Moore, Centura Health Family Physician and Lifestyle Medicine Physician. "It's really getting out there and remembering that if you don't move it, you'll lose it."

If counting steps gets you moving, that’s great. But doctors say a better goal may be to measure how many minutes you're working out doing something you actually love.

"They're saying 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous exercise a week is good, or 150 to 300 of moderate exercise a week is really good," said Dr. Tullberg. "It's also kind of hard to cheat on minutes, right? You can cheat on steps a little bit, but it's a little more difficult to cheat on minutes. I don't want to just say, 'steps and watches are not good.' They do give folks that little extra motivation to just say, 'I'm so close to hitting this, I'm going to go ahead and close this ring for today,' and if that's what it takes, go with it and run with it."

"I always tell my patients, it doesn't matter to me how you're getting your activity, if you are rollerskating or hula hooping, as long as you're getting some movement, then it's beneficial,“ said Dr. Moore.

Overall, the study found increasing steps per day among the least active portion of the population may provide mortality benefits. It didn't find any association of step intensity with mortality.

"The lowest step group people, who got less than 7,000 per day, also had a correlation with higher degrees of heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension," said Dr. Moore. "So, there's potential that sicker patients don't move as much in general, but it also is possible that people who don't move as much get sicker. I think that's it's all related."

Both doctors say there's many ways besides counting steps to reach a healthy lifestyle, and don't sell yourself short by only counting steps.

"I typically stick to the six pillars of lifestyle medicine, in addition to adequate physical activity," said Dr. Moore. "All the guidelines recommend 150 minutes a week of heart rate elevation in addition to twice a week resistance training of some sort or strength training, and balance and flexibility. It's important to also consider plant-forward lifestyle and a good seven to nine hours of sleep per night. Plus, stress reduction, social connection, and an avoidance of risky substances."

"One of the big things with that 7,000 step goal is: don't set small goals for yourself as your ultimate end goal," said Dr. Tullberg. "Do what you can, and again, what you're having fun with, and try to exceed those goals -- not try to set a bare minimum. It's go big or go home, especially when it comes to exercise. Obviously you can overdo some things, but have fun with it and try to hit those loftier goals and you will be satisfied with the results."

Dr. Tullberg also says the study published in JAMA should be viewed with some scrutiny.

"Other side note is, really taking a look at that report in general to see how good was that study that was done," said Dr. Tullberg. "With a little over 2,000 participants, they have the numbers on them for about a year, and then they were just followed medically for about ten years after that. Well, I'll tell you, my exercise is probably a little bit different than it was ten years ago. So they only get this one little snapshot of one year in these folks' lives, and then try to say what is beneficial and what is not. You really need to look at that from a scientific perspective and say, maybe that study wasn't all that great. But with what they did show, yes, you may be able to get away with little less steps."