More Proof You Don't Need 10,000 Steps a Day—a New Study Reveals the Actual Sweet Spot
Walking 7,000 steps daily is linked to significantly lower risks of death and heart disease—making it a realistic and effective alternative to the 10,000-step goal.
Younger adults benefit most around 5,400 steps per day, while for older adults, more steps continue to bring more health benefits with no clear upper limit.
Daily walking—especially over time—is shown to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, particularly in older adults.Daily walkers, listen up: you probably don't have to hit 10,000 steps a day to be physically active and enjoy the benefits. According to a new study published in The Lancet, a peer-reviewed medical journal, it is possible to reap the health benefits of daily walks without specifically aiming for a 10,000-step goal—in fact, you could achieve the same results by walking between 5,000 to 7,000 steps per day instead. 'Although 10,000 steps per day can still be a viable target for those who are more active, 7,000 steps per day is associated with clinically meaningful improvements in health outcomes and might be a more realistic and achievable target for some,' the study notes. Read on to learn more—including how and why a decreased number of steps can be just as effective.
Related: 13 Unexpected Health Benefits of Walking and How to Make a Habit of It
Why You Don't Need 10,000 Steps a Day
The researchers conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies on PubMed and EBSCO that examined the relationship between daily steps (measured through a tracking device) and health outcomes among adults. What they found was that 7,000 steps a day—compared to 2,000—was associated with a 47% lower risk of all-cause mortality, a 25% lower risk of cardiovascular disease, and a 47% lower risk of cardiovascular disease mortality.
The research also found that the number of steps you need per day might depend on your age. The link between daily steps and all-cause mortality was non-linear for younger adults with an inflection point of 5,410 steps per day. However, for older adults, there was an inverse linear relationship between number of steps and all-cause mortality. What this means is that for younger adults, about 5,400 steps is the sweet spot for reaping the benefits of daily walking. For older adults, it seems the more steps you take, the better—and there's no clear limit where the benefits level off.
It's also no surprise that the research found an inverse linear relationship between the number of steps walked each day and the onset of depressive symptoms. The researchers specifically refer to one Taiwanese study that found a 5% reduced rate of depressive symptoms when people walked 1,000 more steps each day for at least two years.
Overall, however, the study concluded that 7,000 steps compared to 10,000 steps did not make a statistically significant difference when it came to cardiovascular health and chronic disease prevention. So the next time you lace up your running shoes, remember that you don't always have to hit that 10,000-step goal.
Related: Rucking Is the No-Equipment Way to Get the Most From Your Daily Walk—Here's How to Get Started
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