Is 10,000 Steps a Day Bullshit?

TLDR

1. Everyone's activity needs and capabilities are unique, so don't compare yourself to an arbitrary step count goal.

2. Focus on the quality and variety of physical activity, not just the number of steps.

3. Life circumstances may prevent you from reaching your step goal, so be flexible and prioritise long-term habits.

4. Mental and emotional well-being should be prioritised over obsessing about step counts.

5. Celebrate progress and small achievements each day, rather than fixating on perfection.

6. Step counts are individual and subjective to the idividuals goals. What we can say is this: All movement is good movement.  

10,000 Steps

Walking 10,000 steps a day has been a popular fitness goal for years, but is it really necessary? The answer is no, it's not. The idea that 10,000 steps is the magic number for health and fitness is a myth that needs to be debunked. 

Firstly - he idea of walking 10,000 steps a day originated from a Japanese marketing campaign for a pedometer ahead of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. It has no basis in scientific research! It literally is an arbitrary number. 

The accuracy of the 10,000 steps goal for maintaining good health is a topic of debate among experts. While the goal of 10,000 steps a day has become the de-facto target worldwide that many people associate with being fit, healthy, and aging well, it originated from a Japanese marketing campaign rather than a specific health objective.

New research suggests that a lower daily goal of 7,000 steps can still yield substantial health benefits. Moreover, scientists have come up with evidence-based recommendations about step-count goals, and they suggest that the step count goal may be lower than you think, and even a small increase in daily steps is good for you.

The usefulness of the 10,000-step standard is being called into question, and human health is far too complicated to be reduced to a long chain of numerical imperatives.

Ultimately, increasing daily physical activity by as little as 2,000 steps was associated with positive health outcomes for the elderly women.

Therefore, regular, moderate physical activity is a key element of a healthy life, and can aid weight maintenance no matter what that looks like on an individual basis.