Cardiologists Reveal How Many Steps We Need a Day—It's Less Than You Think

Researchers have revealed how many steps a day are needed to reduce the risk of death and certain diseases—and it's less than most people think.

Walking at least 3,967 steps a day reduces the risk of dying from any cause, while walking 2,337 steps a day reduces the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, according to a new study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

It is widely believed that walking 10,000 steps a day should be the target for everyone to stay healthy. The number actually came from a marketing campaign for a pedometer invented in 1964 as part of the Tokyo Olympics. But since, the number has been widely adopted and what many people aim for in their day-to-day lives.

The new study, however, has shown that walking even a little bit has significant health benefits, although scientists stress that the more a person walks, the better. By analyzing 226,889 people from 17 studies, the researchers found that with every 500 to 1,000 steps, risk of dying reduces.

"[Walking 10,000 steps a day] is in fact still the correct way of thinking, as we also confirmed that the more steps/day, the better health effects we might expect," Maciej Banach, research lead and professor of cardiology at the Medical University of Lodz, Poland, told Newsweek.

An increase of 500 steps a day leads to a 7 percent reduction in death by cardiovascular disease, the scientists found, while an increase of 1,000 steps a day was associated with a 15 percent risk of dying from anything.

In fact, it appears that there is not yet a limit on how many steps a person should walk a day. Health benefits were found to still increase in people who walked up to 20,000 steps a day.

Walking is often an underrated form of exercise. But research shows that leading a more active lifestyle, by as little as just walking to the shops, can have numerous health benefits. Data from the World Health Organization shows that a lack of movement and physical activity is one of the leading causes of death worldwide.

The study is the first to take an in-depth look at the health benefits of walking up to 20,000 steps a day. It also assessed whether health benefits were the same depending on people from different backgrounds, age and gender.

The reduction in death was smaller in people over age 60 than in those younger than 60, the study found.

There was a 42 percent reduction in death in older adults who walked from 6,000 to 10,000 steps a day, while there was a 49 percent reduction in younger adults who walked 7,000 and 13,000 steps a day, the study reported.

"Therefore, the main message should not only be focused on the minimal steps count cut-off point, but especially with the fact that the more steps, the earlier we start, the better effects on health, and the fact that every increase of steps by 1,000 steps/day is associated with a 15 percent reduction in the risk of dying from any cause, and every increase by 500 steps/day with a 7 percent reduction in dying from cardiovascular disease," Banach said.

Researchers believe the study helps showcase how walking even a small amount can help change unhealthy lifestyle habits that ultimately lead to cardiovascular disease.

In the U.S. a person dies every 33 seconds from cardiovascular disease, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.

"Until now, it's not been clear what is the optimal number of steps, both in terms of the cut-off points over which we can start to see health benefits, and the upper limit, if any, and the role this plays in people's health," Dr. Ibadete Bytyçi from the University Clinical Centre of Kosovo, Pristina, Kosovo, senior author of the paper, said in a press release. "However, I should emphasise that there were limited data available on step counts up to 20,000 a day, and so these results need to be confirmed in larger groups of people."

Banach said in a press release that in a world where there are more and more advanced drugs made to tackle cardiovascular disease, it is getting increasingly important to highlight how diet and exercise can be as or "even more effective" in reducing risks.

"Based on the previous studies, we might say that each physical activity should be individualized to our capabilities," Banach told Newsweek. "And I strongly believe, that irrespectively what kind of regular exercise we are doing, we might expect the health benefits.

"Obviously, still the open question is the effect of extremely intensive physical activity on health, i.e., with the number of steps/day [more than] 20,000 to 25,000. We have had also more and more data suggesting that extremely high-intensity exercises might not be associated with the expected health benefits, but even with harmful effect. We have just designed a new prospective study to answer this question."

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