8,000 steps a day can help reduce the risk of premature death

A groundbreaking global study has, determined the ideal step count that maximizes benefits for the majority of individuals, while also revealing the added advantages of walking at a certain pace

Optimal steps for health benefits

The commonly held belief of needing 10,000 daily steps, which originated in Japan in the 1960s, needed more scientific backing. New research led by the University of Granada now offers evidence that to significantly lower the risk of premature death, around 8,000 steps are sufficient. Considering the average stride length, this amounts to approximately 6.4 kilometres per day.

The study highlights that walking briskly is more beneficial than walking slowly, especially when reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. In this context, most benefits are observed at around 7,000 steps.

This week, a groundbreaking study was published in the prestigious Journal of the American College of Cardiology. For the first time, it establishes the ideal step count for maximising benefits and underscores the added advantages of walking at a certain pace. The research was a collaborative effort between experts from the Netherlands (Radboud University Medical Center), Spain (Universities of Granada and Castilla-La Mancha), and the United States (Iowa State University).

“Traditionally, many people thought that you had to reach about 10,000 steps a day to obtain health benefits — an idea that came out of Japan in the 1960s but had no basis in science,” explains the study’s lead author, Francisco B. Ortega, a professor at the UGR’s Department of Physical Education and Sports.

The optimal amount of steps a day

The initial pedometer made available to the general public was called the “10,000 steps meter,” but this number lacked scientific validation. According to Ortega, the lead researcher, their study has now demonstrated that more steps lead to greater benefits, and there is no identified harmful threshold of steps for health. Ortega suggests that achieving a daily step range of 7,000 to 9,000 is a reasonable and healthy objective for most individuals.

The research team comprehensively reviewed the existing literature and conducted a meta-analysis, analysing data from twelve international studies encompassing over 110,000 participants.

Corroboration with previous research

The findings of this study align with other recent research, emphasising that health advantages can be achieved with fewer than 10,000 steps. What sets this study apart is its establishment of specific step targets, as elucidated by Esmée Bakker, a lead author of the study and presently a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Granada.

“In this study, we show that measurable benefits can be obtained with small increases in the number of steps per day, and that for people with low levels of physical activity, every additional 500 steps improves their health.” researchers say

“Not everyone can walk almost 9,000 steps a day, at least not at first, so you can set small, reachable goals and gradually make progress and increase the number of steps per day,”

The study discovered that there was no gender-based distinction in the results. Furthermore, it highlighted that walking faster is linked to a decreased mortality risk, independent of the total daily step count.