The Myth of 10,000 Steps
Walking, and more of it, is great for health, but let’s be reasonable, science says
Back in 1965, a Japanese company called Yamasa Tokei introduced what’s said to have been the first commercial pedometer. The device was called Manpo-kei, which translates to “10,000-step meter.” Over time, the number stuck as a supposedly important minimum daily step goal, even being programmed — annoyingly, in my experience — into modern fitness tracking apps.
But 10,000 steps is a mythical threshold, with no basis in science.
“10,000 steps is kind of arbitrary,” says Daniel Lieberman, PhD, an evolutionary biologist and paleoanthropologist at Harvard University. “It’s a perfectly reasonable goal to shoot for, but there’s nothing, like, special about it,” says Lieberman, who has debunked many exercise myths. “The important thing is to be physically active, because some is better than none, and a little bit more tends to be better than that.”
Indeed, the health benefits of walking — which are profound —level off before 10,000 steps, for adults of all ages. That’s not to suggest you shouldn’t walk that much or more, if you’re so inclined. One compelling reason to walk and walk and walk: Simply being outside, for as many hours as you can each day, is great for setting your body clock to…
