How Important is Hitting 10,000 Steps Per Day?
Ever since Dr Yoshiro Hatano invented the pedometer in 1965, how many steps per day you walk has been a measure of your activity level. The question is though, should I pay attention to my step count?
Dr Hatano said that the average person should aim for 10,000 steps per day. Although at the time it wasn’t especially based in science, it’s a recommendation that has stood the test of time – there’s a good chance your smart phone will have a step counter built into it. It’ll give you a daily target of… 10,000 steps!
A little maths will put 10,000 steps into perspective…
According to a study by the Arizona State University, the average adult male stride length is 30 inches and the average female stride length is 26.4. Let’s split the difference and say it’s 28 inches…
28 x 2.54 (centimetres per inch) = 71cm
71 x 10,000 = 711,200 cm
711,200/100 (to give us the figure in metres) = 7.112km
7.1km = 4.4 miles
So we should be aiming for around 4.4 miles of walking per day. Sounds a lot, but let’s do some further maths…
The average walking pace is just over 3 miles per hour, so you’d need to be on your feet and walking for an hour and a half. Of course this doesn’t mean you have to accumulate all of your steps in one go – you could walk to and from work, you could walk on your lunch break, you could even walk when you get in from work.
The point is to not be sedentary throughout your day.
A good workout will also be enough activity to hit your activity target.
Is 10,000 Steps a Magic Number?
No, absolutely not. But what it is, is a number that is sufficiently high enough that you can’t reach just by lounging around all day. You’ve got to be up and about, unless you just tie your step counter to the dog, but then who does that benefit?!
There’s plenty of benefits to being up and about, walking around that don’t have an immediate or obvious effect….
· Being on your feet activates postural muscles that are weakened with prolonged sitting.
· Movement improves circulation and stimulates blood flow.
· Activity has been shown to improve focus and concentration.
· Walking at lunch time reduces afternoon energy slumps.
These are just a few of the benefits of regular walking, not to mention it’s the simplest form of exercise there is. Just get your shoes on and get going. You don’t need to plan much, you don’t need equipment, a warm up or a psychological pep talk to convince yourself you’ve got it in you! It’s just walking…
But What if I Don’t Hit 10,000 Steps?
Here’s the thing… 10,000 steps isn’t a walking target. It’s an activity target…
Eh?
Yeah, it’s a measure of activity. The reason it was described as a walking target was because it was a marketing tactic for a pedometer, so it made sense to get people interested in a walking target.
If you hit say, 7,000 steps but still get a great workout in, you’ll have smashed your activity target. You shouldn’t be sacrificing the quality of a workout just to make sure you manage 10,000 steps. Think about it as active time on your feet.
It’s part of the reason a workout at AdMac fitness is structured the way it is. Unlike most commercial gyms where there’s a lot of seated equipment, that’s not really how we train. We’re up on our feet, we’re squatting, deadlifting, sprinting, pulling and pushing. In the gym, we’re not counting steps, but you can be sure in an AdMac fitness workout you’re 100% guaranteed to hit your activity target, irrespective of steps!
The message is simple – pay attention to your steps, but use it as a measure of your overall activity, not just how much walking you’ve done. If you’re not training that day, make sure you hit 10,000 steps. If you are training that day, don’t worry if you don’t hit the 10,000, just work hard in your session!
If you’d like any more help with your nutrition and fitness, contact us on 07921465108 or email us on admacfitness@gmail.com.