Doing 10,000 steps a day is ‘a waste of our time’ as boffins reveal actual quantity
There is no point in walking 10,000 steps a day to improve our physical and mental health, say researchers who have claimed anything more than 7,500 steps is a waste of our time
Boffins have said there is no need to walk 10,000 steps a day to improve mental and physical health. The number has long been touted as the goal for people to hit every day in a bid to stay healthy.
But now scientists have discovered that anything over 7,500 is a waste of time in helping to improve people’s moods. The findings, published on Jama Network Open, discovered walking that amount helped cut depression by 42%. The authors said: “Our findings… suggested that small doses of physical activity were associated with a decreased incidence of depression in adults.”
And according to health experts people can put their feet up when it comes to keeping in shape.
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Earlier this year, physiology experts warned that going beyond 8,000 a day may not even provide ‘much additional benefit’ when it comes to cutting the risk of heart disease and diabetes. They said walking faster in shorter bursts could be equally as effective to keep healthy.
Lindsay Bottoms, an exercise and health physiology researcher at University of Hertfordshire, said obsessively aiming for the 10,000-a-day target ‘would certainly’ lull people into a false sense of security about how to stay healthy.
She added: “Step count is difficult and isn’t inclusive of people who aren’t able to walk. Research shows that less than 10,000 has health benefits and 10,000 steps is an arbitrary number. Doing as few as 4,400 steps has been shown to improve life expectancy.
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“We need to encourage people to be active, so if someone regularly only does 2,000 steps a day, having a target of 4,000 is achievable. It would actually motivate them more than having a target of 10,000 which is just not going to happen.”
Professor Tom Yates, one of the world’s leading experts in the field of physical activity and sedentary behaviour at the University of Leicester, added: “Moderate amounts of physical activity can be tremendously powerful in terms of reducing the risk of premature mortality.
“But going beyond these levels may not provide much additional benefit — at least in terms of mortality outcomes. Evidence does seem to be coalescing around 8,000 steps per day as the threshold.”
