Clock 10,000 Steps a Day

According to Harvard Medical School professor Dr I-Min Lee, the origins of this prevalent figure can be traced back to a Japanese company, whose pedometer is named Manpo-kei, or “10,000-steps-meter”.

Can you count on it?

It’s the default setting on many popular activity trackers, but research suggests that this is an imperfect prescription. Dr Lee’s studies suggest that while mortality rates progressively improve as we get in more steps, they level off at 7,500 per day. A separate study by the University of Texas at Austin, which examined metabolic responses to exercise, concluded that 5,000 steps are too few, but about 8,000 are likely sufficient.

It’s difficult to separate out the benefits of walking compared to exercise in general. A better goal might be to shorten the unbroken periods of time you spend sitting down. “Public health recommendations have typically focused on exercise, rather than how little time we should be spending being sedentary,” says exercise physiologist Tom Cowan (@thomasjcowan). He points to a recent study, which found that the average adult is sedentary for more than half of the time that they are awake. Taking hourly breaks from sitting – to stand, stretch or pace up and down the stairs – can “improve glucose, triglyceride and cholesterol levels, which are linked to a reduced risk of diabetes and heart disease”. Breaking up our movement target has benefits: one research project by Robert Copeland from Sheffield Hallam University concluded that scheduling three brisk, 10-minute walks per day was more beneficial to fitness than aiming for 10,000 steps.

The expert update

Try to fit in at least five minutes of activity every hour. If you’re working, that might mean taking a call on the move, or standing up to stretch while reading emails. This is sometimes called exercise “snacking”.