When did 10,000 steps a day become the holy grail of daily fitness activity ?

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Mojavesunset

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I go on the Fitbit social media and on another exercise/weight loss site called Sparkpeople. I constantly see people lamenting about how they didnt get this many steps in or that many steps in or cheering because they got 20,000 steps in etc.
Is it me or does there seem to be too much emphasis on how many steps a person does in a day ? If an unfit office worker gets in 7000 steps a day and a relatively fit warehouse manager gets in 15,000 steps in a day which one has actually taken enough steps to improve their fitness ? Seems very subjective to me.
I would think that total exercise time spent daily and the associated intensity levels would be a more important gauge than steps.
What think ye ?
 
Mojavesunset said:
I would think that total exercise time spent daily and the associated intensity levels would be a more important gauge than steps.
What think ye ?
Click to expand...

I think you're very correct!

10,000 steps is definitely a bit arbitrary, and you're right, 10,000 steps for one person might be totally different than for another. It really depends on your starting point and the intensity of those 10,000 steps. I think you can change that goal on most fitness devices, though?
 
I think it started as a recommendation for diabetics... I do tend to adhere to it since I consider it the minimal daily activity I should do. It amounts to 2:30 or so hours walking. My pace is slow, though. I have a podometer app and track it every day
 
i just recalculated... 10,000 steps is 87 trips from my desk to the refrigerator and back .... ok, that's possible... :)
 
No idea... I consistently do 25-30,000 steps daily because of my job and have no problem maintaining 30+lbs overweight :p Perhaps because I do walk so much for work it does not seem to have any impact on my weight or overall health, except that my feet hurt at the end of the day lol. Fitness is a result of a combination of cardiovascular activity, flexibility/mobility and strength training. Likewise, weight loss is due to calorie deficit, much less than low intensity activity level.

Maybe 10,000 steps is more like the RDV (recommended daily value) for basic health, like the recommended daily amount of Potassium etc??
 
overlandflyer said:
i just recalculated... 10,000 steps is 87 trips from my desk to the refrigerator and back .... ok, that's possible...
Click to expand...
Now I'm picturing you making the 87 trips, and counting the steps every time, all in the name of science! ;)

But in reply to the opening question - I agree that it's pretty arbitrary but I guess the point of it is to alert people who move much less than that to pay attention to how much activity they're managing, and to give them a goal to work towards.
 
Here’s a recent NPR story on the 10k number and a recently published study on steps in older women.

NPR Choice page
 
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