It seems like every few months a new study on step counts comes out — and they all seem to say something different.
Walking 5,000 steps a day can have a significant impact on your health. But wait: one study suggests that it actually takes just 2,300 steps to see significant improvements in your cardiovascular health. Other studies suggest that the magic number is 9,000.
Which one is correct? Probably all of them are correct because they measure different things.
It's true that even a little walking can improve your health if you're starting from a sedentary state, but to get the most health benefits, you need to take between 6,000 and 10,000 steps a day, depending on your age.
Rather than relying on a single study, Barron's based its recommendations on a 2022 Lancet meta-analysis of 15 high-quality studies on step counts in people around the world. It also interviewed two of the authors of the Lancet study.
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The Lancet analysis found that for people under 60, health benefits plateaued at between 8,000 and 10,000 steps a day, while for those over 60, health benefits plateaued at between 6,000 and 8,000 steps a day. Older people need fewer steps because each step is harder for them, explains study co-author Yimin Lee, a professor of epidemiology at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.
“If you take a Kenyan marathon runner and a 90-year-old grandmother and have them walk the same distance at the same pace, it will be a walk in the park for the Kenyan runner,” she says, “and for the grandmother it may be a maximum effort.”
Amanda Palchi, lead author of the Lancet study and an assistant professor of exercise physiology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, agreed: “Young people may need more intense exercise to reap the overall health benefits,” she said.
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Here are some other key takeaways from the Lancet study and interviews with the authors:
Walking is a matter of life and death
During the study period, the mortality rate in the top quartile (10,901 steps per day) was 40% to 53% lower than that in the bottom quartile (3,553 steps per day). In other words, all things being equal, walking more would cut your mortality rate in half.
That's because walking benefits your cardiovascular system, lungs, muscles and even bone health, Palchi explains. “Walking has such a big impact on mortality rates because it affects so many parts of the body. It's like a magic pill,” she says.
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Speed ​​doesn't seem to be that important
It seems that it's the number of steps that matters, not the intensity. If you want to push yourself, walking fast is the best aerobic exercise you can do and will get you in tip-top shape, and walking fast will help you rack up steps faster. But when it comes to health benefits, The Lancet analysis found that it's the average number of steps you take per day that matters most.
What's more, it doesn't seem to matter whether you take one long walk a day, several short walks throughout the day, or even every day a week — it's the average number of steps that matters, say Lee and Paluch.
“Whether it's accumulated over a few days or spread out over a week, it seems to have a similar effect,” Palchi added.
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Walking more than 10,000 steps is clearly not a good thing.
Some studies have found health benefits for up to 12,000 steps per day, but more research suggests the health benefits are greatest at around 8,000 to 10,000 steps.
Why? It's typical of everything we do to improve our health, says Lee. In the long term, the benefits diminish as we age and our health declines. “You can't live forever,” she says. “Your body kind of adapts on its own.”
Research on the health benefits of different step counts is still ongoing. Most studies to date have looked at the relationship between step counts and mortality or cardiovascular disease rates observed over the study period. Future studies may find that increased step counts can benefit other areas of health, such as improved mental health, dementia prevention, and cancer prevention, Palchi says.
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Walking isn't the only exercise
Walking can be done by almost anyone, and it's easy to measure. “You don't need to buy any special equipment,” says Lee. “All you need is a pair of comfortable shoes.”
But if you prefer swimming, biking, or pickleball, by all means, any exercise that burns calories will help.
“There's nothing magical about different activities,” Lee says. “The energy you expend seems to be good for you.”
Walking research continues to grow thanks to technology
For a long time, exercise researchers had to rely on the amount of time people reported exercising. When the government issued its recommendations in 2018, minutes of exercise became the standard, recommending at least 75 minutes of vigorous exercise or 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week.
William Krauss, a cardiologist and professor at Duke University School of Medicine who helped develop the 2018 guidelines, told NBC News that there wasn't enough evidence to make a recommendation on steps at the time, but he predicted that would change in the future.
In fact, that may be different the next time the government issues physical activity recommendations. Millions of Americans wear devices that track their steps. “It's easier than ever to measure how active you are,” Lee says.
Contact Neil Templin at neal.templin@barrons.com.
