How many steps do you really need to take each day

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

If you feel like stopping a bystander on the street and asking him how many steps an average person should take a day to feel good, then the most popular answer is likely to be "Ten thousand." It is generally believed that this is the case, but it is not clear whether this is a lot or a little, and in general, why exactly so much?

Contrary to popular belief, this is not so much. Armed with a modern pedometer, you will be surprised to find that you can easily complete this norm in half a day, and it is only 5-10 kilometers (depending on the length of the stride). Of course, if you do not sit idle all day and are not used to taking a taxi to the bakery.

But is there a scientific basis for this figure - 10,000? Not really. For example, this will clearly not be enough for several generations of Americans who grew up on fast food and lead a predominantly sedentary lifestyle.

By the way, for the first time, the recommendation for 10,000 steps appeared in an advertisement for a pedometer released in the 60s of the last century in Japan. And most Japanese, except, of course, sumo wrestlers, eat right and consume less calories.

“Actually, it all started in the run-up to the Tokyo Olympics in the summer of 1964,” says Professor Catrine Tudor-Locke, who studies the benefits of walking at the Pennington Biomedicine Research Center, Louisiana, when the Japanese inventor Yoshiro Hatano introduced to the world a device he called “manpo-kei” (万 歩 計), which literally meant “10,000 steps pedometer”.

“It turns out that 10,000 is a very favorable figure for the people of Japan,” continues the theme of our discussion today, Theodore Bestor, a Japanese culture researcher at Harvard. "It is generally accepted that these numbers can bring good luck, and therefore there is no reason not to classify them as marketing gimmicks."

The opinion about the number of steps quickly spread around the world, and its echoes are still heard to this day. What, in fact, is the problem with this norm? Yes, the fact that the generation of the Japanese sixties is very different, say, from the current generation of modern inhabitants of America.

"In those years," explains Bestor, "the life of ordinary Japanese people was less high-calorie food, animal fats and transportation by cars."

According to figures obtained by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, in 1964, Japan averaged 2,632 kcal per day per capita, while the average for Americans was 3,639 kcal. This means that in order to successfully burn them, you will need to take a longer walk of 20,000 steps, no less.

Although these numbers could vary greatly depending on the region, demographics and a whole host of other factors.

Nutritionists agree that 10,000 steps are too general. Everyone with whom we managed to talk about the health-improving effect of walking agreed that covering this distance would still be more useful than walking a shorter distance or completely abandoning physical activity.

There cannot be a universal solution in this case, theory and real life are different things.

Catherine Tudor-Locke

In the first place, the Tudor-Lock scope targets a part of the population leading a predominantly sedentary and sedentary lifestyle (and there are really a lot of them in the USA). For them, 5,000 steps a day may not be the easiest task, let alone 10,000.

However, if you are consistent, gradually advancing, say, from 2,500 steps, then at the cost of small victories you can reach the coveted figure. And this can contribute to a tangible improvement in well-being.

“Everything changes at the very moment when we deliberately disturb the calmness of our measured life,” the professor continues. “Having found the strength to break away from the sofa, you are making a contribution to your own health, which will pay off a hundredfold.”

One of the recent studies, which was conducted by scientists from the University of Cambridge, found that the risk of mortality in people leading a relatively active lifestyle can be reduced by an average of 20-30%. Alas, we cannot please the fans of sitting in front of the TV with such impressive statistics.

The fact is that couch potatoes, who can only be forced to run by being late for the train, will not feel better after walking the ten thousandth standard. On the contrary, according to Professor Tudor-Lok, this may become another argument in favor of refusing to exercise: “People who do not like to do a lot of movements or have chronic diseases, this will only scare away. This is too drastic measures for them. In this case, such a goal will immediately lose its meaning, because from the point of view of health care it will be more useful to fulfill the norm of 5,000 steps, but do it regularly”.

In addition, in countries where the food situation is critical and people are malnourished, it can be dangerous to fixate on a certain rate of steps per day, because there are other aspects of health that should not be neglected.

“It’s naive to think that walking alone will make you feel better, unless combined with other wellness measures,” says Jeff Goldsmith, assistant professor of biostatics at the University of DC's School of Public Health.

Walking 10,000 steps is great. However, if, as a reward for the path traveled, you decide to pamper yourself with a burger with an energy value of 500 kcal, then this walk will not add to your slimness at all. It will make even less sense if you are used to eating fast food regularly.

Dr. Eric Rimm of the Harvard School of Public Health is convinced that scientific research confirms that there is no direct relationship between diet and exercise.

“Many people are overweight and eat poorly, but they still exercise. But there are those who only eat healthy food, without thinking about how important it is to be physically active."

It remains to be admitted that the 10,000-step norm by itself has no practical meaning.

Rimma is echoed by Jean Philippe-Walhin, a researcher at the University of Bath: "After all, 10,000 steps is no longer enough for, say, children, many of whom are overweight today."

So what is our picture? It turns out that 10,000 steps for the world of the XXI century is nothing more than a tribute to history and a clever marketing ploy, given the largely unsatisfactory state of health of a modern person. The time has come for much more drastic measures that require significant physical effort. This is inevitable in the context of an ever-increasing growth in modernization.

Yes, the science of proper nutrition in sports is not always easy for the layman to understand. But the key points from its main ideas can still be distinguished: standing is more useful than sitting still, any run is better than a regular walk, and cross-country acceleration is more effective than a leisurely jogging.

“It's simple,” concludes Professor Tudor-Locke, “move more than before. Don't stop and keep going."

You can't sit still, it kills us. It's a paradox, but the faster life becomes, the less we move and keep pace. It is worth considering.