Counting steps for health? Here’s how many you really need

From pricey wearable devices to your phone, it has never been easier to track your daily physical activity, or lack of it. And if you’re like many Americans — and spend 9-plus hours sitting everyday — chances are you could probably stand to take a few more steps.

But just how many should you aim for if you want to live a longer and healthier life? New research suggests 7,000 is a good target.

Scientists have made big strides in the science of step-taking over the past decade, gathering tons of data.

And no surprise, they find the more you move, the less likely you are to die from cardiovascular disease and other ailments.

But, they’ve also concluded that the widely-cited target of 10,000 steps is not rooted in solid science — it grew out of a Japanese promotional campaign.

In fact, a number of studies have now landed on a new number to keep in our heads as we trudge through the day.

“7,000 steps tends to be the range where there seems to be diminishing return on investment for increasing more steps,” says Melody Ding, a professor of public health at the University of Sydney.

Ding is the latest researcher to dive into the evidence, as part of an effort to update the physical activity guidelines in her country.

Her team reviewed data collected from more than 160,000 adults around the world on the link between step count and a variety of health outcomes.

Among their findings: Taking 7,000 steps per day was associated with nearly a 50% lower risk of dying compared to the bare minimum of 2,000 steps.

The study, published in the Lancet Public Health, also showed the chance of developing cancer fell by 25%, type 2 diabetes 14%, cardiovascular disease 25%, symptoms of depression 22% and dementia 38%.

Now, Ding says there were still some improvements for those who exceeded 7,000 steps, but overall they saw “diminishing returns on investment,” meaning the added health benefits across the population become smaller and smaller.

“It definitely doesn’t do harm if you go beyond 7,000,” she says, “So for anyone who’s already doing 10,000 and more, there is no point of going back, but for the folks who are finding it harder to get there, 7,000 could be a really realistic target.”

The research underscores that, on the lower end, even a modest jump in steps can have a major impact on your well-being.

For example, simply jumping from 2,000 to 4,000 steps in a day was accompanied by nearly a 36% lower risk of dying.

The work from Ding’s team reflects a growing consensus in the scientific literature that around 7,000 steps could be a reasonable target for the public. (There is some variation in the exact number depending on the study.)

Amanda Paluch, who has published two meta-analyses on step count and health, has found a similar range as this latest study, though her work suggests the step targets may also vary with age.

“We were seeing that older adults did not seem to need as many steps compared to younger adults,” says Paluch, a physical activity epidemiologist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Specifically, Paluch’s research shows the decreased risk of dying appeared to plateau between 6,000 to 8,000 steps for people in their 60s and older, versus 8,000 to 10,000 for younger adults.

She says this latest study is one of the first to consider a broader array of health outcomes than just mortality and cardiovascular disease, but cautions some of the results, such as those related to cancer, depression and dementia, are still somewhat “preliminary” because they’re based on only a few studies.

Researchers have also tried to pin down whether speed makes a difference. Here, the new Lancet study could not make any definitive conclusions, in part because there are various ways to measure intensity and differences could simply reflect better overall fitness and physical function.

“We actually don’t see an association once we consider the total number of steps,” says Paluch, who has also looked at this question. “So, essentially, the total number of steps, regardless of how fast you’re walking, seems to have a benefit,” she says.

The federal government’s current physical activity guidelines don’t actually recommend a daily step target. Instead, they focus on time, recommending 150 to 300 minutes of moderate intensity exercise a week for adults, or 75 minutes to 150 minutes of vigorous exercise.

But Dr. William Kraus, who worked on those guidelines, would love to see steps included the next time they are updated.

“Because they’re objective measures that anyone can get off their phone, right?” says Kraus, a cardiologist whose lab studies exercise and health at Duke University.

He says ultimately both approaches to measuring physical activity reflect the same thing — the amount of energy being burned up through movement.

“What you’re seeing is the more energy expenditure that you consume with physical activity, the greater benefit you get,” he says.

And because the point is to get physical activity – and expend energy – it doesn’t have to be just steps. Kraus says you can translate one mile of walking into one fifth of a mile swimming, or five miles cycling.

Melody Ding at the University of Sydney says she likes to think of movement in the same way as diet.

“Just like we need a balanced, healthy diet, it’s important for us to have balanced physical activity, training throughout the week as well,” she says.

In other words, get those steps, but also make time for mobility and strength training. All of it adds up.

If you are counting steps, Kraus emphasizes that the evidence pointing to roughly 7,000 steps a day should not discount the value of doing more steps, even if the upsides that have been studied so far become incremental above that number.

“Everybody wants to know how little I need to do. That is the wrong question,” he says, “Anything is better than nothing, more is better than less.”

What’s more, the calculations appear to change when you factor in how much time people spend sitting.

He cites evidence that suggests people need to aim higher than 7,000 or even 10,000 if they spend eight hours in a chair.

“If you can get 13,000 steps, you can get rid of all the negative risks that are associated with sitting, ” he says.