The benefits of walking 5,000 steps a day
The health and fitness world is full of generic ‘recommended dailies’. Some of these have been drilled into us from childhood – eating five fruit and veg a day, brushing teeth for two minutes, trying to get eight hours of sleep. Others are more recent. What do you think of when you hear the figure 10,000, for example? Chances are, it's step count.
Ten thousand has become the gold standard when it comes daily step-count. In the hope of losing weight and boosting health, many chase this target hoping to hear the satisfying beep from their watch or track when they’ve reached their goal. Step-goals have even become commercialised: 26% of Brits admit to owning a fitness tracker, and 34% of owners claim to wear theirs seven days a week.
But if you lead a busy life or don’t have the capacity to walk 10,000 steps, you’re in luck. Science shows that 5,000 steps a day is enough to reap the benefits.
In fact, a recent study from the European Society of Cardiology suggested that walking under 4,000 steps a day reduced the risk of dying from any cause, while 2,300 steps a day reduced cardiovascular diseases. Meanwhile, the University of Buffalo found health benefits from walking just 3,600 steps among women over 60 years old. Walking has also been shown to reduce mental health problems – a recent study discovered that participants with a higher step count (5,000 or more a day) had fewer depressive symptoms.
Certified personal trainer and running coach Amber Sayer, MS, CPT, CNC recommends walking 5,000 steps per day as an 'approachable goal' for many people.
'If you only walk 5,000 steps a day, you are still significantly reducing your risk of dying prematurely and cardiovascular disease. The risk of premature death continues declining until about 7,500 steps per day when it levels off,' she says.
But what does 5,000 steps actually look like? It's time for a little maths.
According to the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, the average step length for women is approximately 26 inches, and the average stride length is 52 inches. Meanwhile, the average step length for men is approximately 31 inches, and the average stride length is 62 inches.
Because a mile is 5,280 feet, the average man takes 2,000 steps per mile, and the average woman takes about 2,437 steps per mile. Therefore, if you walk 5,000 steps a day, a typical man will walk about 2.5 miles, while a woman might walk just over 2 miles.
Walking at a pace of 20min/mile (the average walking speed), this distance should take about 40 minutes. But, with a speedy strut, most people can cover 5,000 in about 30 minutes, says Sayer.
She adds: 'Walking 5,000 steps a day is a fantastic way to jumpstart a healthy exercise routine and pull you out of your sedentary lifestyle.'
So, it turns out 10,000 steps every day is not the be-all and end-all. A 30-40 minute walk a day is enough for you to feel the benefits of keeping active.
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