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If you’re interested in health, fitness and staying lean, then you’ve undoubtedly heard that 10000 steps a day is a good goal. It shows that you’re active and not sedentary and decreases your risk of health problems and an early death. But in recently, there’s been some skepticism over the popular 10000 steps a day goal. You may have seen some articles in the last few years suggesting that 10000 steps a day was only a marketing ploy started in Japan back in the 1960s to promote pedometers (step tracker).
It may actually be true that the 10000 steps goal was invented as a promotional tool before there was much science to support it. But then, afterwards, the claim that 10000 steps a day is good was tested and the science did confirm it. 10000 steps a day is a good goal to strive for to achieve good health. We’ve also learned from the research that taking less than 5,000 steps a day (sedentary) is very unhealthy.
10000 steps a day may not be the perfect goal for everyone. Some people who are extremely inactive can benefit simply from increase their steps beyond where they are now. And if you’re already highly active, you might want to challenge yourself with a step goal beyond 10000 a day.
If you know you should exercise more, but struggle to find the time or motivation to do it, tracking steps can be a great way to do it. It’s simple, requires no equipment and doesn’t require painful HIIT cardio, pavement pounding running, or exhausting circuit training.
Walking more and tracking your steps is an easy way to get motivated to move more and burn more. You can get started literally today and you can do it by following 3 simple steps. As I go through the steps, I’ll also show you some of the evidence for why 1000 steps a day is a good goal
1. Get your movement (exercise) by setting a daily step goal.
Did you know there is an official “hierarchy of stepping?” (Steps per day, which you count with a fitness tracker or pedometer).
1. 5,000 steps per day or less (sedentary)
2. 5,000 – 7,499 steps per day (low active)
3. 7,500 – 9,999 steps per day (somewhat active)
4. 10000 – 12,499 steps per day (active)
5. 12500 steps per day or more (highly active)
This actually comes from the research journals, not from the fitness tracker industry).
In the research, low step counts are associated with diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and yes even early death. (It may be a bit sensationalistic, but if you see an article or book that says “sitting kills” it’s actually true).
A systematic review of 14 different studies with 280,000 participants found that all cause mortality was 11% lower for people who met established walking goals. It also found the benefits came in a dose-response relationship, with people who were very sedentary getting the most benefits compared to people already highly active and doing even more. This gave us even more evidence that being sedentary is terribly unhealthy.
A study on the old-order Amish community found that the average step counts were 18000 a day for men and 14000 a day for women (extremely high activity). Their obesity rate is nearly zero… and they don’t diet (they eat pies and all kinds of other goodies).
Health Risks Of Too Much Sitting
2. If 10000 steps a day is unrealistic for you, find your baseline and simply do more than that.
Is 10000 steps a day a good goal? Well, first, according to the experts, it makes you officially “active.” It’s a challenging, but achievable goal for most people. If it seems unrealistic for you, then simply do this: Find your baseline and set a goal to improve above that.
A lot of people only get 3,000 to 4,000 steps a day. If they don’t track it, they might not even realize how inactive they are. This is why I recommend using a pedometer (step counter). Invest in a fitness tracker, or simply download a free app for your phone.
Establish your baseline. Then an excellent goal is try to bump that up by 3000 steps a day. If you were doing only 4000, aim for 7000. That’s still a success.
Research says 10K a day is also a good goal for improving health. That’s because if you walk briskly – at least 100 steps per minute (which is not hard – it’s under 3 mph) – you can get those steps by walking 30 minutes, 5 days a week. And 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week is still the prevailing guideline for good health.
Don’t even have 30-minute blocks? Studies also show that if you break it up 10 minute bouts, you still get the same benefits!
Almost any able-bodied person can do this.
Why don’t they? maybe because the fitness industry has programmed them to think they have to HIIT themselves to death, spin or peloton until they puke, CrossFit until they have rhabdo or run for miles and miles to get healthier (and leaner). It’s just not true.
Nothing wrong with intense cardio exercise if you can tolerate it or even enjoy it. Intense training is time-efficient.
But walking is shockingly good for you too.
If you’re doing resistance training as well (lifting weights, etc) the results are incredible. And the lifting doesn’t take much time either, especially when you use efficiency programs like our best selling TNB TURBO workout.
The New Body TURBO (T.N.B. TURBO) Ultra Time Efficient Training To Build Muscle Faster
3. Make yourself accountable for your step goal.
Accountability produces tremendous motivation, compliance and consistency. Every good coach knows that as soon as you start tracking something that you want to improve, your performance improves, without a single other change. You can’t improve what you don’t even measure!
You start with accountability to yourself. Once you’ve set the goal, track your own steps with a fitness tracker of your choosing (or a free app with your phone). I’ve been using Fitbit – they have a great app and platform.
Then become accountable to others. On apps like Fitbit you can invite your friends to step with you, keeping tabs on each other. If you’re competitive, this is even more motivating.
Using both self accountability and external accountability together is so powerful, that’s why I started sponsoring our own Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle step challenges.
Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle is a bodybuilding-inspired program, but we don’t neglect the cardio health side of things just for the sake of a sculpted physique.
Our community wants to promote good health and high fitness, so we put hundreds of like-minded people together in an online forum, we set stepping goals, and encourage, motivate and support each other as we aim to reach them.
Everyone has different goals, but we named our event the 1 Million step challenge because it’s a 100 day contest, and if you do 10000 steps a day, that’s 1 million steps.
You might be thinking, “Sounds do-able! Sounds great! But these fitness challenges are always expensive.”
Maybe other fitness coaches charge an arm and a leg for a challenge. Not this one. Our challenge is free.
Now it should sound REALLY great.
You can sign up at our Burn the Fat Inner Circle website on this page:
www.burnthefatinnercircle.com/public/1-Million-Step-Challenge.cfm
Hope to see you there.
I’ll be doing it with you! (My goal is 12,500 a day…for the extra mile, and to land it that top category of the hierarchy of stepping).
To your health,
Tom Venuto
Author of Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle
PS. By the way, did you know that research has shown taking a walk is a proven way to kill sugar cravings? When you feel the craving, don’t act on it right away. Tell yourself you will take a short brisk walk (at least 10 minutes). Tell yourself if you still feel the craving afterward, you’ll let yourself have the treat you want. Most people will find after the walk, the craving is gone. Chalk up another reason to step it up!
PPS. Jim, the winner of last year’s 1 Million Step Challenge walked 5 Million Steps! (With a family and time job too). I know, nuts right? See our interview with Jim here where he tells us how he did it:
Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilding and fat loss expert. He is also a recipe creator specializing in fat-burning, muscle-building cooking. Tom is a former competitive bodybuilder and today works as a full-time fitness coach, writer, blogger, and author. In his spare time, he is an avid outdoor enthusiast and backpacker. His book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle is an international bestseller, first as an ebook and now as a hardcover and audiobook. The Body Fat Solution, Tom’s book about emotional eating and long-term weight maintenance, was an Oprah Magazine and Men’s Fitness Magazine pick. Tom is also the founder of Burn The Fat Inner Circle – a fitness support community with over 52,000 members worldwide since 2006. Click here for membership details
Scientific References:
Basset, JR et al, Physical Activity in an Old Order Amish Community. Medicine and Science in Sports And Exercise, Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 36:1 79–85, 2004.
Basset DR, et al., Medical Hazards of Prolonged Sitting, Exercise and Sport Science Reviews, vol 38, No 3 pp 101-102, 2010.
Kelly P, et al. Systematic review and meta-analysis of reduction in all-cause mortality from walking and cycling and shape of dose response relationship. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2014, 11:132
Ledochowski L et al, Acute Effects of Brisk Walking on Sugary Snack Cravings in Overweight People, Affect and Responses to a Manipulated Stress Situation and to a Sugary Snack Cue: PLOS ONE, 10(3): e0119278. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0119278, 2015
Tudor-Locke et al. How many steps a day are enough for adults? International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 8:79. 2011
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