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Is walking 10,000 steps a day really the ultimate way to reach good health?
Anthony Carboni here for DNews and about a year ago I heard that walking 10,000 steps
a day is better for you than just about anything else you can do. Why? Well, the average person
has such a sedentary lifestyle- sitting at a desk, in the car, in front of the TV or
computer- that doing the recommended 30 minutes of moderate physical activity recommended
by the CDC couldn't possibly counteract all that lying around.
But why 10,000 steps? What's the theory behind it? What research led to this magical, seemingly
way-too-round and simple a number? Well, none. At first. In the 1960s, walking clubs were
super popular in Japan. So popular that everyone wanted pedometers. Those pedometers were marketed
under the name "manpo-kei," which means "10,000 steps meter," because Japanese doctor Yoshiro
Hatano estimated that should be enough to burn 20% of the calories someone takes in.
Good name. Good estimate. The concept stuck.
But does walking 10,000 steps a day actually work? Yes- studies done recently show that
hitting the goal can lower your blood pressure and improve your glucose levels. An Australian
study showed that meeting the goal actually improved their brain function and level of
physical fitness by 2 percent- but so can considerably less, for most people. The average
American takes about 5,100 steps a day.
The CDC says that upping that to 8,000 can still give you the health benefits you need-
and is basically equivalent to adding a 30 minute walk onto your day.
Soooo... what if you already work out? Or jog- even if you get less than 10,000 steps,
running's gotta be equal to walking, right? Not really. Over the last 19 years, obesity
in the US has increased about 57%- and physical activity at work and at home has declined
at a similar rate. We sit around a LOT. Laci did an entire video here on the channel about
how unhealthy long periods of sitting can be.
So if you jog a couple miles and get 4000 steps in, or hit the gym and get 30 minutes
of increased heartrate, but spend the other 23 and a half hours of your day sitting around,
you're not getting the same health benefits you would by hitting the gym but ALSO making
sure you hit your goal.
That's not to say stop going to the gym. It's also not to say jump in now and get 8,000
to 10,000 steps a day RIGHT AWAY. Adding any level of activity can get you immediate benefits.
Colorado has one of the lower obesity rates in the US, and they walk about 6,500 steps
a day. Tennesee and Arkansas have high obesity rates, and they walk 4,500 steps a day. That
2,000 steps makes a big difference.
So no- 10,000 steps is not a magic number, and it's not going to get you in shape on
its own. But a day full of slow, steady, simple physical activity like walking can be extremely
healthy for you. Have you guys tried this? How's it working for you?