Physical exercise, no matter how simple, is essential to lead a healthy life. Not only does it strengthen muscles, but it has multiple benefits, such as reducing stress, regulating blood pressure or making us sleep better, among others. When a sedentary or overweight person begins to exercise, it is recommended that they walk 10,000 steps a day. This amount has been set as the target to beat, but it has never been scientifically backed. In fact, the latest research indicates that it is not necessary to reach that figure and that between 7,000 and 8,000 steps are enough to enjoy good health. Beyond that number, the benefits stagnate and even with very high levels of exercise these are drastically reduced.
The famous 10,000 steps figure has no scientific basis. In fact, according to one investigation 2004, was born in an advertising campaign of a Japanese company in the 1960s. The company launched a pedometer called Manpo-kei, whose name can be translated as “10,000 step meter”. Also, the Japanese letter used to represent this number resembles a man who walks. As the campaign was copied to other countries, the figure was maintained.
Going back to science, the first recent study to address this question was published in mid-September in the journal JAMA Network Open. In it, the researchers followed 2,110 people for about 10 years. Thanks to different pedometers, the researchers differentiated those who took fewer than 7,000 steps, those who walked between 7,000 and 9,999, and those who walked more than 10,000. After analyzing the results, the experts discovered that the second group had between 50% and 70% lower mortality rate. The closer to 9,999 steps the participants were, the more this rate was reduced. However, after 10,000, profits stagnated.
Experts found that those who took between 7,000 and 9,999 steps had a 50% to 70% lower death rate
A second work, published this summer in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, tried to calculate the hours of exercise necessary to have a longer life. To do this, they used data from a Danish institute that since the 1970s has asked citizens of Copenhagen how many hours a week they play sports. Of the 8,697 Danes they sampled, those who exercised 2.6 to 4.5 hours a week had a 40% lower death rate. Although it is complex to transform the hours of physical activity into a specific number of steps, the researchers estimated that those 2.6 hours were divided into about 30 minutes of exercise on five days a week. In addition to daily tasks, these people would walk between 7,000 and 8,000 steps. Among those who achieved 4.5 hours of exercise per week, the majority were around 10,000 steps a day.
As with the first study, the benefits stabilized from that point on. However, the experts found that in those people who did more than 10 hours of exercise a week these benefits decreased. For Francisco Ortega, professor at the Faculty of Sports Sciences of the University of Granada and co-director of PROFITH research group, we must clarify this research: “When we look at the previous scientific literature, what we see is that most of the benefits are obtained by doing a range between 150 and 300 minutes of moderate activity a week. From there, even if you do a lot of activity, you don’t have many more benefits, but at no point does a lot of physical activity become harmful ”.
A third study, presented in 2019 and carried out by the Oxford School of Public Health, focused on elderly women. For 4 years, 15,000 women with an average age of 72 were followed. The researchers found that women who walked more than 4,400 strides on average were less likely to die than those who stayed shorter than 2,700 strides. As the number of steps increased, the risk of mortality also decreased. But as other studies showed, after 7,500 steps the benefits stagnated. “In this age group, the benefits are found in a much smaller number of steps, because these people have a much more limited functional capacity,” explains Enrique García Artero, professor at the University of Almeria and member of SPORT research group. The study suggests that above that level there are no additional benefits, although the researcher notes that the conclusions should be limited to that age group.
There are several studies that agree that from 7,000 steps they begin to find important health benefits compared to those other groups of people who walk less “
Enrique García Artero, professor at the UAL
For Amelia Carro, coordinator of the Sports Cardiology working group of the Spanish Society of Cardiology, the number of steps is important, but it is not the only factor to take into account: “I believe that the prescription does not only go through the number of steps. We will have to define not only the minimum of movement, but also how many interruptions must be made, how long, at what speed, how long is the minimum movement ”. Like the rest of the experts consulted, he agrees that it is not necessary to reach 10,000 steps. “It is true that after 7,000 steps you already make a profit, but that main dish has to be seasoned. It is a good message that people are encouraged to walk, but not only with that is it worth it, ”he says. “You have to give the message that it is good in general and that sport does not kill,” says Carro.
García Artero points to that same amount as the most appropriate. “If I had to give a figure, there are several studies that agree that from 7,000 steps they begin to find important health benefits compared to those other groups of people who walk less than 7,000,” he explains. Ortega, for his part, opts for a higher range: “I would say that between 7,500–8,000 and 12,000, most of the population should move. Below 10,000 steps there begin to be great benefits, but between 8,000 and 12,000 is the range in which most of the benefits will be obtained. If you are older, if you reach 8,000 you will be better. If you are younger, maybe you have to try to reach 10,000 or even 12,000 ″, explains Ortega. “The message is that some exercise is better than nothing, and more is better than less,” he sums up.
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