What does walking 10,000 steps do for your health?

Walking 10,000 steps – approximately five miles – is a common recommendation to improve your health. Where did it originate and, most importantly, does it actually work?

Rachael Nelson is a faculty member in Central Michigan University’s School of Health Sciences. She shared her expertise on whether walking 10,000 steps a day will help improve your health.

Q. Where did the 10,000-step recommendation come from?

There is a bit of debate regarding the science behind the origin of this recommendation. In the 1960s an engineer in Tokyo, Japan developed a pedometer called “Manpo-Kei.” Translated, this means “ten-thousand step-meter.” This was in response to a growing concern in Japan over sedentary behavior.

While the initial recommendation of 10,000 steps per day may have been an arbitrary recommendation by the manufacturer of this device, there is some data to support it.

Current physical activity guidelines promote nearly daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, as well as regular movement throughout the day. Available data from regular exercisers who meet aerobic exercise recommendations (i.e., 75-150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week) and stay active throughout the day accumulate approximately 10,000 steps per day.

Q. Is 10,000 steps a day a productive goal to improve your health?

Yes, but it is okay to work toward the goal of accumulating 10,000 steps per day. In general, the more steps we take, the greater improvements we see in key health markers (e.g., better blood sugar and blood pressure) and lower mortality rates.

However, these benefits are often incremental where we see improvements in health and reduced mortality risk by taking an extra 500-1,000 steps per day. Therefore, 10,000 steps per day is a great goal, but someone who is currently averaging 5,000 steps per day could see improvements in markers of health by aiming for 6,000 steps per day in the coming weeks and months.  

Q. Is it better to get in 10,000 steps or move for an hour a day?

It depends on individual goal(s) and lifestyle. If the goal is to improve health, staying active throughout the day by accumulating 10,000 steps is an effective strategy. Importantly, accumulating 10,000 steps per day is a significant amount of physical activity equivalent to walking 4-5 miles (depending on stride length).

Also, given constraints on our time, for some people it can be almost impossible to dedicate an hour each day to physical activity/exercise. Therefore, accumulating 10,000 steps per day is a more flexible approach for accumulating activity throughout the day (e.g., parking farther away, taking the long way to the drinking fountain, a brief walk during lunch).

Conversely, if the goal is to improve health and fitness, dedicating a segment of time (e.g., 30-60 minutes) to exercise must be prioritized. Think of fitness as the body’s ability to physically perform more strenuous tasks than normally required for activities of daily living (e.g., running a 5K race).

An improvement in fitness is dependent on repeatedly stressing the body over time. A sufficient amount of repeated stress results in adaptations to the cardiovascular and skeletal system allowing the body to perform at higher intensities. Typically, activities of daily living, like walking, are not performed at a high enough intensity to improve fitness. 

Q. How does walking 10,000 steps a day help improve your health?

Walking influences our body at a cellular, organ and system level resulting in positive improvements in health. For example, skeletal muscle contraction during walking stimulates the movement of glucose (sugar) from blood into myocytes (muscle cells) through a process called skeletal muscle glucose uptake.

In addition, most muscle mass in the human body is in the lower extremities (legs). Therefore, accumulating steps throughout the day is a great way to promote the maintenance of healthy blood glucose levels by stimulating a large muscle mass to absorb glucose. Good blood glucose maintenance also results in lower triglyceride (fat) production in the liver. Regular physical activity also has systemic effects resulting in lower blood pressure values through a process called post-exercise hypotensive response.

Finally, physical activity helps with weight maintenance and the prevention of weight gain. Therefore, meeting the goal of accumulating 10,000 steps per day can help improve blood pressure, blood glucose and lipid levels while preventing weight gain.  

Q. Can walking 10,000 steps a day replace other forms of exercise?

It depends on your goal, and some days – for sure! Again, if the goal is to improve health, aiming for 10,000 steps per day (or more than someone is currently accumulating) is a great goal. However, if the goal is to improve health and fitness, be sure to incorporate some moderate-to-vigorous exercise into your physical activity routine and aim for accumulating 10,000 steps per day on non-exercise days.

About Rachael Nelson

Rachael Nelson is a member of CMU’s health sciences faculty. She received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Eastern Michigan University, her master’s degree in exercise physiology from EMU and her Ph.D. in kinesiology from the University of Michigan.

Her research focuses on promoting physical activity and preventing chronic diseases with an emphasis on Type 2 Diabetes and improving women’s health.