We hear all the time, you need to hit 10, 000 steps per day to keep active and healthy. But why 10, 000 and is this really true?
Firstly, we must look to find where the number 10, 000 first came from. Back in 1965 in Japan, a pedometer was created that measured up to 10,000 steps and it seems that this number has stuck as the gold standard in your daily activity measure where we see on our Fitbit, Garmin, Apple Watch etc as the figure to hit.
Some research coming from Harvard suggests that as little as 4400 per day in women is enough to reduce the risk of earlier death, but then their diabetes and heart health ratings increased dramatically once they reached over 7500. So it seems that although 10, 000 may not be the number, the more the better!
Walking 10, 000 steps per day is roughly equivalent to a 7-9km walk which is roughly an hour of exercise. We know that low-moderate exercise is amazing for our mental health, our bones and joints and overall mood due to being out in the fresh air absorbing vitamin D.
