Experts talked about the benefits of daily steps for health

The 10,000 steps per day goal, popular since the 1960s, has no scientific basis. Modern research has shown that much fewer steps are enough to significantly improve health. This is stated in the material published in the journal Popular Science, which Izvestia reviewed on August 10.

The 10,000 steps per day goal, popular since the 1960s, was originally part of a marketing strategy. In 1965, the Japanese company Yamasa Tokei Keiki, a manufacturer of watches and instruments, released the first consumer pedometer, calling it Manpo-kei, which means "ten thousand steps." This tool appeared in the period after the Olympic Games in Tokyo and amid public concern about the lack of physical activity of most people compared to professional athletes. Since then, the 10,000-step goal has become a sustainable symbol of health.

However, as the article says, the goal of 10,000 steps was not the result of scientific research, but rather a convenient marketing ploy. Yi-Min Lee, an epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School, said that at the time of the pedometer's development, no scientific studies had been conducted that would support exactly this number. As she explained, "it was a fictional number because 10,000 steps sound good and are easy to remember."

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In recent decades, scientists have begun to revise this figure, and studies have shown that much fewer steps can bring significant health benefits. As specified, women who walked about 4 thousand steps a day had a significantly healthier body compared to those who walked only 2 thousand steps. Moreover, additional steps further reduced mortality, but the benefits begin to decrease after 7 thousand steps.

"At first, each additional step significantly improves health, but when a certain level of benefit is reached, there is not much," the study says.

As experts explain, it is important to understand that trying to achieve a specific figure can lead to stress. Instead, experts recommend gradually increasing physical activity in daily life.

"The recommendation is to take as many steps as possible, but not try to reach any specific figure. It is important to include movement in daily activities," the article clarifies.

Evgeny Kokin, PhD, cardiologist at JSC "Medicine" (Academician Roitberg Clinic), told Izvestia on August 2 that leg pain after a long walk can be a sign of atherosclerosis. Such pains, called intermittent claudication, occur due to insufficient blood supply to the muscles during physical exertion and are a symptom of obliterating atherosclerosis of the arteries of the lower extremities.

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