For people who want to keep up a healthy lifestyle, “10,000 steps a day” has come to mean effective and worthwhile exercise.
But reaching the five-digit figure might be challenging, which is why many people give up or put their step-counting gadgets away in the drawer.
Bored Panda spoke with Dr. Jennifer Oberstar, an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota Sports Medicine programme, to find out the origins and veracity of this much-lauded bit of advice.
The 10,000-step-per-day notion, according to Dr Oberstar, has its roots in a marketing campaign created in 1965 for a step-counting gadget called Manpo-Kei, which means “10,000 steps metre.”
It’s a widely held belief that in order to lead a healthy lifestyle, one must walk 10,000 steps daily.
Yamasa Toki, a Japanese firm, ran a very successful campaign. People thus started to identify the figure with an effective exercise regimen. Numerous fitness trackers also have the number set as their default setting.
It turns out that we don’t have to constantly check to see if our devices have reached that threshold.
According to Dr. Oberstar, the 10,000 steps per day may be incorporated into the weekly physical activity guidelines suggested by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC).
Depending on your height, stride length, and cadence, 10,000 steps is the equivalent of around 5 miles (8 kilo metres), and it takes about an hour and forty minutes to complete, according to Nuffield Health. This would apply towards the 150 minutes of moderate exercise that the 18–64 age group is advised to get each year.
The CDC recommends between 150 minutes (2 hours and a half) and 300 minutes (5 hours) of moderate-intensity physical activity per week, or 75 minutes (1 hour and 15 minutes) of vigorous activity per week along with two days of strength training in its 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.
According to Dr. Jennifer Oberstar, walking 10,000 steps would contribute towards the 150 minutes of moderate exercise each week that the CDC recommends.
Thus, as long as we exercise for at least two hours and thirty minutes a week and concentrate on muscle-strengthening exercises, we can allocate our time (and steps) as we see fit.
According to Dr. Oberstar, “Older adults over 65 have similar recommendations with the addition of balance.”
Physically active older persons are less prone to fall and, in the event that they do, are less likely to have catastrophic injuries, according to the CDC. Maintaining physical function and mobility can also be achieved through exercise.
Guidelines for school-age children and adolescents (6–17 years old) call for three days a week of muscle-strengthening exercise in addition to at least 60 minutes of daily moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity.
Numerous benefits of walking have been demonstrated, including a decrease in all-cause mortality, a decreased risk of heart disease and stroke, and a decreased chance of specific illnesses such cancers of the bladder, breast, colon, endometrial, oesophagus, kidney, stomach, and lung, according to Dr. Oberstar.
Additionally, it has been demonstrated that engaging in this kind of moderate-intensity exercise during pregnancy lowers the risk of developing gestational diabetes as well as depressive and anxious symptoms.
Thus, as long as you exercise for at least two hours and thirty minutes a week, you can allocate your time (and steps) as you see fit.
We ought to remember ourselves that any kind of exercise is preferable than doing nothing, rather than becoming obsessed on the miraculous figures touted by fitness companies. We should also set a goal for ourselves to walk more than we typically do.
“The emphasis should be on increasing physical activity levels for health benefits.” A person’s health may improve from increasing from 5,000 to 9,000 steps, the professor notes.
Wearing a wearable fitness tracker or pedometer, keeping track of a watch or phone every day, and constantly using the device can all have ups and downs over time. On the other hand, a technology might evaluate a person’s starting point.
“Increasing physical activity and stamina can be achieved by incorporating five to ten minutes of walking into a regular exercise regimen.”
This can be accomplished by using the stairs rather than the lift, walking to work (or getting off a stop or two early when taking public transit), and avoiding the bus and train as much as possible.
