Ever since step counters began showing up everywhere — on fitness trackers, smartwatches, phones — walking 10,000 steps a day, or about five miles, has become a low-key fitness craze. But while it’s easy to get hung up on the 10,000 number — it’s impressive sounding! — health benefits can happen at nearly any step count. Here’s what to know.
Do I need to walk 10,000 steps a day?
While it’s a great goal, you don’t need to make it your goal. A 2022 meta-analysis found that walking 6,000 to 8,000 steps per day is plenty to reduce your risk for premature death if you are over 60 years old.
More recently, a meta-analysis published in The Lancet Public Health, which reviewed 31 different studies on the health impacts of step counters, found significant benefits at 7,000 steps compared with just 2,000 steps. The key is consistency, since being active on a daily basis can reduce the risk for chronic health conditions, including heart disease, stroke, and depression.
If you’re just getting going and are feeling overwhelmed by such a big step count, experts say you should start small.
“For someone who does not usually get a lot of steps in the day, I encourage them to start with a realistic increase — say, 1,000 or 2,000 steps more than they would normally get” says Michelle Cardel, M.S., R.D., Ph.D., chief nutrition officer at WeightWatchers. “Once they are able to reach this goal and sustain it, they could increase their target to work towards their next milestone. While it may be tempting to set big, lofty goals, setting smaller ones is more beneficial to the journey.”
5 big health benefits of walking
1. It’s good for your heart.
The Lancet Public Health study mentioned above found that 7,000 steps — a little over 4 miles — lowered the risk of cardiovascular disease by 25%. And the benefits are seen regardless of how much sedentary time you have throughout the rest of the day. One reason why: Physical activity like walking increases your stroke volume, or how much blood the heart pumps per beat, according to John Thyfault, PhD, associate professor of physiology at Kansas University Medical School in Kansas City, Kansas. “A larger stroke volume is a sign of greater aerobic capacity, and aerobic capacity is arguably the best predictor of mortality and disease risk.”
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2. It helps reduce body fat.
Per research, walking can also help you lose body fat. This is because when you’re more active, the food you eat is used to fuel muscles, says Thyfault, who has performed studies on how calories are used depending on activity level. If you move less throughout the day, calories are more likely to be stored as fat.
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3. It can help stabilize your blood sugar.
When glucose (a.k.a. blood sugar) gets too high, it’s because your body isn’t efficiently converting food into energy. “That surge of glucose and insulin after a meal is a predictor of who may develop diabetes down the road and also a predictor of cardiovascular disease risk,” says Thyfault. That’s where a daily walking habit comes in. Activity stimulates our muscles to essentially grab glucose from the bloodstream to use as fuel, which can, in turn, lower blood sugar over time. On top of that, research shows that, compared to casual walking, average to brisk walking lowers type 2 diabetes risk.
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4. It can improve how your brain ages.
The ability to learn new tasks, grow new brain cells, and stave off cognitive decline can all be boosted by hitting a daily step goal. Research has found that people who start a walking regimen in mid-life have improved episodic memory (something that is impaired in people with Alzheimer’s disease) and overall cognition when they get older. And it’s never too late to make an impact: Studies show that for adults 65 and over, walking improves executive function (i.e. problem solving) and memory.
5. It can help build a healthy routine.
Small successes build upon themselves, which is why having a daily step goal can be so motivating. “Setting and accomplishing a series of small goals helps increase your belief in your own ability,” says Cardel. “Once you accomplish something once, it increases your confidence in your ability to do it again.” In other words, if you added 3,000 steps to your daily routine yesterday and today, you might find it easier to hit that mark again tomorrow.
The bottom line
Walking around 7,000 steps a day can deliver some serious health benefits, like helping control blood sugar, reducing body fat, and improving your cardiovascular health. But you shouldn’t have an all-or-nothing mindset. Any amount of daily walking can help improve your physical and mental well-being, so you’re still making progress if your daily step goal is closer to 5,000.