New Study Seemingly Debunks the '10,000 Steps a Day' Advice

The idea of taking 10,000 steps each day to improve your health is widely attributed to a 1960s Japanese marketing campaign in the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympics. Since then, the number has been held in high regard as the gold standard for pedometer watchers. In recent years, however, scientists have found the required number of daily steps to reduce risk of premature death to be lower than previously believed.

A new research review published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology purports to have found the magic number. Polish scientists found that walking just 4,000 steps a day may be enough to help extend your life, with the benefits seemingly only growing with every step you take.

The team analyzed 17 previously published studies on walking and health, looking at data from more than 225,000 adults from around the world with an average age of 64. Some of them were in generally good health while others had risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

After breaking down the numbers, the researchers concluded that mortality risk progressively declines the more people walk. There wasn't even a threshold where it appears to stop having positive effects, with benefits only multiplying up to 20,000 steps per day.

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In the end, they found that the risk of dying from any cause began to significantly decline once participants passed 4,000 steps per day, or the equivalent of roughly two miles. When it comes to lessening the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, that number is even lower at just 2,500. Each additional 1,000 steps per day was associated with a roughly 15 percent lower risk of premature death.

“The main message is that we should have as many steps as possible and we should start as early as possible in order to have the highest health benefits," study lead author Dr. Maciej Banach stated plainly.

More research still needs to be done in this field, but Banach hopes the new findings will prompt people everywhere to get moving. "In a world where we have more and more advanced drugs to target specific conditions such as cardiovascular disease, I believe we should always emphasize that lifestyle changes, including diet and exercise, might be at least as—or even more—effective in reducing cardiovascular risk and prolonging lives," he said.