10,000 Steps: What They Can and Can’t Do for You

While serving as a host for an art show, I watched a woman quickly walk around the gallery again and again. Pointing to a device on her wrist, she said, “”I’ve got to get my 10,000 steps today. Have you got yours?”

Since then, my children gifted me with a Fitbit for Mothers’ Day, and I have been tracking my daily steps. Each time my tracker buzzes me that I have achieved 10,000 steps, I feel a little surge of exultation.

10,000 steps is a well-known and popular mantra. But is there really magic in 10,000 steps?

I had assumed that this 10,000-steps-regimen came from the American Heart Association or the Center for Disease Control. To my surprise, I have learned that during the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, a company created a pedometer labeled “Manpo-kei, which means “10,000 steps meter.”

Taking 10,000 steps caught on quickly in Japan, and the concept has recently become popular in the United States. Consumers have purchased fitness trackers such as Fitbit, Garmin, Apple Watches, and a variety of phone apps.

10,000 steps equals about 5 miles (the exact distance varies with a person’s length of stride). My morning walk of approximately 3 miles logs me 7,200 to 7,500 steps in that hour. It is then not at all difficult for me to reach 10,000 steps during the day as I clean, shop, garden, or do other activities.

Walking in itself is good exercise. First, it gets you moving. Almost everyone can benefit from moving more. Sedentary people, who may only move 2,000 to 3,000 steps a day, would especially benefit from upping their steps to 10,000. As the Center for Disease Control recommends that adults get 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week, walking easily meets that minimum. Walking is free, only requires appropriate footwear, and can be a social activity if done with a partner or a group. According to Dr. Yoni Freedhof, Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Ottawa, walking is a means to “improving your cardiovascular health, strength, mood, and sleep.” [1] It can also lower the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, noted Ryan Walters, a specialist at Inbody.2

Wearing a tracking device to count how much you move is a good motivator. My Fitbit will remind me that I need another thousand or two steps to get to 10,000, and every step thereafter, I consider extra credit. I have made a concerted effort to add more steps since I started tracking them.

Many people join the “10,000 steps club” for the purpose of losing weight. Research shows that walking 10,000 steps will help you maintain your weight but it will not help you lose weight—unless your caloric intake is reduced and your active time and intensity are increased significantly. Most weight-loss experts suggest that “It’s best to engage in a variety of activities—say, swimming or biking, in addition to walking or running. Be sure to add some strength training to your routine as well,” wrote Barbara Brody, a freelance writer specializing in health and wellness.3

While racking up 10,000 steps a day may not be a magic fix, every step taken is indeed a good step. The rest is up to you.

[1] Yoni Freedhof, M.D., “Why 10,000 Steps a Day Won’t Make You Thin,” health.usnews.com, May 21, 2014.

2 Ryan Walters, “What Walking 10,000 Steps Does (and doesn’t) Do For You,” inbodyusa.com, April 27, 2016.

3 Barbara Brody, “Should You Be Aiming for 10,000 Steps A Day?” cnn.com, December 21, 2015.

By Janet Peterson