Why is everyone tracking their steps?
This article is 1401 Words ~ 5-7 minute read
🎧 Listen to the audio version above on your daily walk, while you clean the kitchen or on your commute to workEveryone seems to be tracking their steps lately.
Indeed, it’s become a very popular practice, especially with the growing popularity of wearables.
With good reason! Walking has been associated with many health benefits, and it is considered a form of activity with a very low barrier to entry.
In this article, I’ll discuss the benefits of walking, the relevance of the 10,000 steps a day target, and how walking can and should fit into your weekly activity routine.
💡 You can scroll down to the bottom of the article if you want to skip to the practical applications
Walking matters, but it’s not the whole story.
Most of us live a (mostly) sedentary lifestyle. Even if you work out a few times per week, this is not enough to call your lifestyle active. Our bodies are made to move and function well when we are active. You feel better, you think better, and you are healthier. But it can be hard to structure more activity around the reality of a busy schedule.
This is where walking can be very useful. Beyond work (for some), hobbies, sports, and other activities such as gardening, stretching, etc., walking is the most straightforward, low-cost way we have to structure daily movement. Indeed, it’s easy to incorporate but most importantly, very easy to track. For this reason, it’s also pretty easy to gather data on it and therefore research its benefits as a form of activity.
What do we know from research on walking?
Multiple long-term studies with large cohorts suggest that every 1000 steps you take is associated with a significant decrease in your risk of dying from any natural cause (1)! Adults with the highest step counts had about half the chance of dying as those with the lowest step counts. As you can see below, this is also true for step counts under the mythical 10,000 benchmark.
*(2) Paluch et al. 2022
The main takeaway from this study shows that going from nothing to something is more important than hitting the 10,000 step target, and until about 8K steps per day (a bit less if you are over 60 years old), every extra step you take has a more significant impact. Other studies looking at walking as a specific intervention have shown that it reduces blood pressure (3), lowers cholesterol (4), prevents diabetes (5) and its complications (6), lowers your risk of cancer (7), and decreases the risk of cardiovascular disease (4) and even depression (8).
I’ve added a few resources on this down below if you want some homework.
Multiple long-term studies with large cohorts suggest that every 1000 steps you take is associated with a significant decrease in your risk of dying from any natural cause
The other “less tangible” benefits:
Walking can also be used as a tool to improve quality of life. Consider these other potential benefits:
It can reduce stress levels, and improve your mood and cognition
You can use the time to clear your head and think
It breaks up your daily routine
It can help you disconnect from your screen
It can increase daily sun exposure (think circadian rhythm and vitamin D)
It gives you an opportunity to get outside and breathe in fresh air
Ever heard of NEAT?…a less understood aspect of daily energy.
Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) is part of your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE), the total amount of energy you burn in a day.
I’ll post an article next week to help you understand TDEE a bit more.
You could call it unplanned activity. It represents the energy you use to move around and perform your daily chores, everything that is not quite considered exercising. NEAT can account for hundreds of calories per day in relatively active people, which can really help create the calorie deficit needed for weight loss. Walking is a great tool to structure more activity (and NEAT) into your daily routine without making your way to the gym.
In short: Walk more → Move more → Burn more
“Walking 10000 steps per day takes about 100 minutes…there’s no way I have time for that!”
Before my busy readers freak out! It’s not a death sentence if your schedule doesn’t allow for a daily hour of walking. The reality is that we should all prioritize moving a bit more on a daily basis. Try to do the best you can with the time you have. If you chronically lack movement and time, you can only try to do a bit more than what you are currently doing. See where this takes you over time.
Finally, remember that movement is the goal and any movement is good. If you spent an afternoon cleaning the house, gardening, went on a bike ride and did an hour of yoga, the number of steps on your watch doesn’t need to meet your established target. You replaced it with other activities, which is most likely the end goal, just be more active.
TL;DR: Concretely, what does this mean for me?
Here’s a quick review of the above and a few tips to incorporate into your life.
Why should I walk more?
Walking is a tool to increase daily movement, we all need to move more!
The health benefits of walking are many, from stress reduction to improved health outcomes and mortality
If you want to lose weight, NEAT can be a very useful tool to increase your energy expenditure. Give yourself a step target and track it daily.
10000+ steps a day is great the more active you are, the better. But you’ll get a ton of benefits from 6000-8000/day. Every extra step is good.
If possible, aim to set a baseline of around 5000 steps per day
If you don’t work out (you should), you better be walking a lot. You should also consider walking some of those steps at a brisk pace.
If you need to walk more:
Schedule walking breaks in your calendar
Skip the elevator. Walk up a few flights of stairs a few times per day
Use your watch to set goals for the points above
Park at the end of the lot when you go shopping
Get off the metro one station early
Schedule walking dates with someone you want to catch up with
Go for a 10-minute walk after dinner every weekday
We all need to move more, even those of us who work out >90 minutes 5-6 times per week. Walking is a great way, but not the only way to structure that daily movement. I use it as an important tool when working with clients looking to improve their overall health. I hope this helps you see why and how.
References:
Jayedi A, Gohari A, Shab-Bidar S. Daily Step Count and All-Cause Mortality: A Dose-Response Meta-analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies. Sports Med. 2022;52(1):89-99. doi:10.1007/s40279-021-01536-4
Paluch AE, Bajpai S, Bassett DR, et al. Daily steps and all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis of 15 international cohorts. Lancet Public Health. 2022;7(3):e219-e228. doi:10.1016/S2468-2667(21)00302-9
Kelley GA, Kelley KS, Tran ZV. Walking and resting blood pressure in adults: a meta-analysis. Prev Med. 2001;33(2 Pt 1):120-127. doi:10.1006/pmed.2001.0860
Hall KS, Hyde ET, Bassett DR, et al. Systematic review of the prospective association of daily step counts with risk of mortality, cardiovascular disease, and dysglycemia. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2020;17(1):78. Published 2020 Jun 20. doi:10.1186/s12966-020-00978-9
Iwasaki M, Kudo A, Asahi K, et al. Fast walking is a preventive factor against new-onset diabetes mellitus in a large cohort from a Japanese general population. Sci Rep. 2021;11(1):716. Published 2021 Jan 12. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-80572-y
Del Pozo-Cruz J, Alvarez-Barbosa F, Gallardo-Gomez D, Del Pozo Cruz B. Optimal Number of Steps per Day to Prevent All-Cause Mortality in People With Prediabetes and Diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2022;45(9):2156-2158. doi:10.2337/dc22-0524
Patel AV, Hildebrand JS, Leach CR, et al. Walking in Relation to Mortality in a Large Prospective Cohort of Older U.S. Adults. Am J Prev Med. 2018;54(1):10-19. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2017.08.019
Grassini S. A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Nature Walk as an Intervention for Anxiety and Depression. J Clin Med. 2022;11(6):1731. Published 2022 Mar 21. doi:10.3390/jcm11061731
Hanson S, Jones AIs there evidence that walking groups have health benefits? A systematic review and meta-analysisBritish Journal of Sports Medicine 2015;49:710-715.
