The oft-repeated mantra of 10,000 steps a day stems from a decades-old marketing campaign. In reality, it doesn’t have to be that many at all.

Do you also try to take at least 10,000 steps every day? With you many others. When you reach this magic number — and the fireworks appear on your pedometer — your health would fundamentally improve. To get straight to the point, this oft-repeated mantra of 10,000 steps a day stems from a decades-old marketing campaign and has never been scientifically proven. A new study reveals how many steps you really need to take every day.

10,000 steps a day

It’s actually quite strange that advice that is so widely known is not even scientifically substantiated. How is that possible? “This advice started doing the rounds in the 1960s and comes from a Japanese pedometer,” explains Amanda Paluch in conversation with Scientias.nl from. “10,000 steps is a nice, round number that is easy to remember and therefore works great for marketing.” Taking 10,000 steps has subsequently become a good target. However, new research shows that it doesn’t have to be that many.

Study

In the study, researchers decided to find out the actual number of steps that would lead to a longer life. The team looked at fifteen studies involving nearly 50,000 people from four continents. And this shows that putting 10,000 is actually not necessary at all to reduce your chance of dying. For seniors 60 and older, 6,000 to 8,000 steps per day are sufficient. For adults under the age of 60, between 8,000 and 10,000 steps daily would be enough. And the following applies to both groups: taking more steps than recommended does not lead to extra years of life.

Difference

This means that older people over sixty need to take slightly fewer steps than adults under sixty. “This has to do with the fact that older people who take fewer steps are already making comparable efforts,” explains Paluch. “Imagine that both a 70-year-old and a 40-year-old woman cover a kilometer in 10 to 15 minutes. This is probably a lot heavier for the older lady. If the 40-year-old woman wants to achieve the same level of physical challenge, she should walk faster, or longer.”

pace

Surprisingly, the researchers found no association with walking speed in their study. This means that if you take the recommended number of steps every day, regardless of the pace, you already reduce the chance of premature death. “The relationship between the speed and the total number of steps is quite difficult to determine, as those who walk faster often also take more steps every day,” says Paluch. “However, we found that the rate is not consistently associated with the probability of death.” Whether you take the steps running or trudging; that does not matter.

Premature death

All in all, the study shows how many steps a day you really should take to live a longer life. Why does this actually reduce the risk of premature death? “Physical movement is good for multiple mechanisms, which in turn affect almost every cell in the body,” says Paluch. “And that benefits our health. The benefits range from stronger bones and muscles, a healthier weight, better mental health and a lower risk of diabetes, some cancers and heart disease. So by being physically active, we lower the risk of the most common chronic diseases that lead to premature death.”

To move

Paluch therefore encourages everyone to get moving. “This research emphasizes the importance of moving more and sitting less,” she says. And that really doesn’t mean that you have to tire yourself in the gym four times a week. Simply taking walks is enough. “Taking steps is very easy,” Paluch says. “In addition, a little more exercise is already beneficial, especially for those who do it very little.”

According to Paluch, if you can take more steps in a day, it is better for your health. You don’t have to exaggerate here, though. The well-known 10,000 steps is really an upper limit. “Again, if you want to reduce the risk of premature death, take between 6,000 and 8,000 steps per day as an older person over 60 and between 8,000 and 10,000 steps per day as an adult under the age of 60,” concludes Paluch.