New Research Suggests Optimal Daily Step Count for Health (and It's Less than 10,000)
It seems so long ago now that we were first told to aim for the ‘gold standard’ of 10,000 steps a day for our health, that this number rarely goes challenged. But is it really a solid recommendation? And, moreover, is step count even a good predictor of health and fitness in the first place? We’ll let the men in white coats take it from here...
A new meta-analysis (essentially a study of dozens of previous studies) published in The Journal of The American College of Cardiology involving over 111,000 individuals has offered up insights into the relationship between daily step counts and overall health, particularly in reducing the risk of all-cause mortality. While the results suggest benefits from even modest daily activity levels, the study also highlights the complexities involved in interpreting step counts as a sole measure of health.
The Study
The meta-analysis reviewed data from 12 studies, examining how daily step counts correlate with the risk of dying from any cause. The researchers found that taking as few as 2,600 steps per day was associated with a reduction in mortality risk. The health benefits appeared to increase with higher step counts, reaching a plateau at around 8,800 steps per day.
One of the most interesting aspects of the study was the comparison between hip-based and wrist-based step tracking. The data showed that hip movement tracking was more closely associated with reduced mortality risk than wrist-based tracking. This doesn’t mean that those who use an Apple watch to track their steps are inherently at a higher risk, but suggests that wrist trackers overestimate overall activity levels, making hip-based tracking a more accurate reflection of true physical activity.
The Results
These findings suggest that, while 8,800 steps per day may seem like a benchmark for optimal health benefits, there’s probably a lot more to consider than how many times you put one foot in front of the other throughout the day. Previous research, which suggests a higher step count generally leads to better health, is at odds with these results. This discrepancy seems to arise because, frankly, step counts are a simplistic measure of activity and fail to capture the full picture of what contributes to health.
The study results are correlational, meaning they indicate a relationship, not a confirmed cause-and-effect link. Healthier individuals may naturally be more active, while those with poorer health might struggle to stay active, meaning the results indicate what healthy people do, not what people do to make themselves healthy. Step counts may reflect broader lifestyle patterns, such as regular exercise, which is known to significantly improve nearly all aspects of health. Step counts might not directly cause improved health but instead serve as a proxy for other beneficial behaviours such as exercise.
One suspected benefit of a high step count comes not necessarily from the steps themselves, but in simply breaking up long periods of inactivity. The simple act of moving, regularly might be more beneficial than just aiming for an arbitrary step count. It could be that taking 200 steps 10 times throughout the working day, breaking up bouts of inactivity, is ultimately healthier than taking a single 2,000-step walk and then remaining sedentary for hours.
What Does This Mean For Us?
The bottom line is that while staying physically active is essential, there is no one-size-fits-all target for step counts. Instead, incorporating low-effort, sustainable activities like cycling to work, walking to the shops at lunchtime, playing sports or simply taking frequent short walks can help maintain a healthy level of activity.
Setting a rigid goal, whether it’s 10,000 steps or 8,800, might not be the most practical or beneficial strategy for everyone, but could, for some, be a good strategy to bring some mindfulness and accountability to daily activity levels, especially for those who work more sedentary jobs.
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