10,000 steps... really?

I know you've heard it: You need to do 10,000 steps a day.

But is it true?

Basically, no.

Here's why...

Firstly, the "10,000 steps a day" was a number pulled out of thin air as an advertising campaign to sell pedometers back in the 60's.

No science to back it up. Just a clever marketing tactic.

Secondly, everyone is different. 10,000 steps for someone who's overweight and struggles to walk is not the same as 10,000 steps for a skinny teenager. And the fitter you get, the easier it becomes and the more efficient you get at it.

Thirdly, not all steps are equal. This ties in with point 2 really. 10,000 steps carrying extra weight (be it bodyweight or an external load) is MUCH harder than walking unencumbered.

In the same way walking uphill is much harder than walking on the flat.

So how many steps should you be doing?

Really, it's a range not an exact number target, but actual research suggests there's a lower limit of around 7,000 steps a day.

That's enough activity to lower the risk of all-cause mortality.

Humans are meant to be moving for the majority of the day, not sedentary, so the more active you are, the better your health, and for most people and those who don't "train" recording your steps is the most obvious measure of activity levels.

Is there an upper limit?

Yes.

You see, there's only so much energy your body can produce each day and that energy is needed for recovery, repair and immune function as well as activity. So if you're using it all up on excessive amounts of activity, those other processes will suffer as there's not enough energy to go around.

You'll end up feeling exhausted, even just from walking.

The Metabolic Ceiling

It's been shown that there's a limit to how much energy your body can produce in a day, and when studied, those who did more activity didn't actually burn significantly more energy.

So you can overdo it.

The limit of how much energy you can burn in a day is actually around 2.5x your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate).

You can obviously exceed this if you do more activity than the upper limit, you won't just grind to a halt like a car that's run out of petrol, but it'll have a knock-on effect to your recovery and health.

It's hard to figure out your upper limit "steps"-wise, but you can use HRV to monitor your recovery levels and base your daily activity on that.

Essentially, if you feel tired and lethargic, and lacking in energy, or are getting ill more frequently, you're probably overdoing it.

It's a good idea to simply alternate between your lower and upper limits on a day to day basis (and ideally, base it on your recovery each day).

Also remember that it's not just steps that count (and that not all steps are equal).

Your best bet is to track your energy expenditure across all modalities ("steps", strength training, general movement and/or whatever other activities you do each day).

So, basically, you don't need to do 10,000 steps a day, however, that can be a good target to begin with if you're not doing any other training.

But as I've said before, given the choice between 30 minutes of walking or 30 minutes of meaningful exercise (resistance training), I'd almost always opt for the latter.

Don't sacrifice gym time in order to "get more steps in!"

Sign up at MoveBetter.Club for MY preferred training styles, especially if you hate the idea of hitting the gym and lifting weights like a bodybuilder!

Reach out if you want more help :)

Mark