Conventional wisdom would have us believe the journey to a long and healthy life begins with 10,000 steps.
Saved you a click: Per the article it’s closer To 6,000
If you are 60+, otherwise it’s 8-10k
Or 7,000, or 6,000-8,000. If we’re going to nitpick there’s a lot of numbers tossed out in the article, but then somebody who reads it doesn’t really need to be saved a click.
the optimal number is probably closer to 6,000 steps per day, depending on your age.
In 2021, Paluch and her team published research based on a cohort of more than 2,000 middle-aged individuals living across the US. They found taking at least 7,000 steps a day reduced chances of premature death by 50 to 70 percent.
For adults aged 60 and older, this reduced risk topped out at around 6,000 to 8,000 steps a day. Pushing further might have other benefits, but a reduced chance of death isn’t one.
The study found that those who are younger could do well to walk a little more, but there wasn’t evidence that they’d necessarily live longer by walking more than 8,000 to 10,000 steps a day.
But if nothing else, setting our sights on at least 6,000 to 8,000 paces before bedtime could be a far easier step towards a longer life.
I think we can all agree, that we can just do 10k and be on the safe side of exercise. It’s nice to know that not reaching it won’t be as bad though.
Which is what the app on my phone is based on already. I manage it most days easily by walking from the bus station to work and back, which is ~1 mile. And that doesn’t include the time I’m actually at work, because I can’t wear my smart watch actually in the office.
Not surprising. The 10K steps idea was first set by a Japanese maker of pedometers as a marketing exercise with zero research to back it up.
It’s because the kanji for 10.000 looks like a walking person, I believe
Kanji for 10.000: 万
That makes sense.
I say it’s because it’s a single character
6k would be too easy to motivate buying pedometers, I guess.
The pedometers are all so imprecise though that it showing 10k may well be 6k real steps.
~6000
I just glanced, and could be wrong.
6-8000, so maybe best to just pin it at 7000.
Here’s a quote from the actual study. Emphasis added.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(21)00302-9/fulltext
In this meta-analysis of 15 studies, seven published and eight unpublished, we found that taking more steps per day was associated with progressively lower mortality risk, with the risk plateauing for older adults (aged ≥60 years) at approximately 6000–8000 steps per day and for younger adults (aged <60 years) at approximately 8000–10 000 steps per day. We found inconsistent evidence that step intensity had an association with mortality beyond total volume of steps.
for younger adults (aged <60 years) at approximately 8000–10 000 steps per day
So… it is 10 000.
But how many glasses of water are you supposed to drink when you’re doing all those steps? ;)
Believe it or not, it’s 10,000
Don’t drink enough water, straight to jail.
A swallow for each 20 steps
European swallow or African swallow?
What? I don’t know that!
Mom?
They forgot to complete that title.
“… It’s approximately 6000 depending on your age”
Ew, begone Clickbait bot.
TIL I’m a clickbait bot. Here I just thought I was posting an interesting article I read.
Damn. Guess I’m gonna die. I really gotta change my routine
It honestly isn’t as hard as it sounds. I started taking walks over traditional exercise years ago and it’s done wonders for my physical and mental health.
Listen to your favorite podcast and just walk down the block and back. Keep it short.
The most important thing is consistency. After you do this for a while, you’ll naturally find yourself wanting longer walks, different routes.
But the key is consistency so better to start with something short but do it everyday.
You and me both, neighbor.
@pineapplelover Which way though? Increase or decrease?
Causality.
Some people aren’t unhealthy because they don’t walk enough, they don’t walk enough because they’re unhealthy or have an underlying condition.
Someone in a coma ain’t walking much, but that’s not the main reason they’re more likely to die sooner rather than later.
I don’t understand why they use steps. Who counts steps? It is more individualized than a distance, but my gosh, who is out there saying 4,981, 4,982, …? I know roughly the distance of my pace and could convert.
It really sounds like we need folks to get out and do it, tho!
who counts steps?
Anyone with a phone in their pocket and who wants to know
Hmm now I know and will have to investigate this option, thanks!
It’s really funny (in a good way!) that you somehow missed the whole step counter thing and thought people are manually counting steps, haha. But yeah, as others have mentioned phones can act like pedometers, and this is also one of the main features people use on Apple Watches and fitbits and stuff (along with the heart rate sensor on those devices). It’s kind of useful to just get a sense of how active you are throughout the day, and having a step goal can be a nice little motivator to get out of the house sometimes.
Part of what was confusing for me was that there was this person, Bob Marshall, who was known for counting a lot of things while out hiking, and then logging the data. Something like “at 458 paces I came across a stream in which there were four large boulders and a log jam just upstream of the crossing consisting of five logs and 17 branches. At 1,209 paces I saw a Robin’s nest with three eggs…” He was almost certainly on a spectrum but he died nearly 100 years ago.
Anyway, looked at some apps, I hike for work in season and would like to match that now. These programs seem ideal for that since I am limited to the streets mostly rn.
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