If walking is your preferred form of exercise, you can set goals for activity level based on steps

Is 10,000 Steps the Best Goal for Activity Level? Research Update

Inside: Tracking activity level by steps has become common now that fitness trackers are part of so many devices. But people wonder, “How many steps a day is active?” and “How many steps is moderately active?” Amidst ever-increasing research, this review can help dietitians and other health professionals talk about physical activity as part of an overall healthy lifestyle.

 

Is a goal of 10,000 steps the key to good health? Activity trackers have become part of many people’s lives — in wristbands and small clip-on devices, or built into watches and cell phones. Perhaps you wonder, “Will using one of these activity trackers help me live a healthier lifestyle?” 

First, let’s step back and look at the central premise behind the target you choose. You often hear that you should aim for 10,000 steps a day, right? But how do you know if that’s the right goal for you?

What You'll Find Here

 

How Did 10,000 Steps Become the Health and Fitness Goal?

Although you may often see 10,000 steps a day highlighted as a target, that total amount of movement can be reached in many ways.

  • Do you sit most of the day, but take an hour walk?
  • Do the steps you take involve movement that gets your heart rate up a little (or a lot)?
  • Do you average 10,000 steps a day over a week, but get most of it in big weekend bursts after a very sedentary lifestyle most of the week?

The effects – physical, mental, and emotional – that you get from 10,000 steps a day may differ depending on how you get them. 

What is Moderately Active? Recommendations Focus on Time and Intensity 

Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans helps answer questions like: What is moderately active?The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans provide recommendations based on multiple sound studies. The “headline” recommendation gives a general target for most adults. But you’ll also see that the target can vary among individuals based on current health and health goals.

Recommended for Most Adults: Do moderate-intensity activity (like brisk walking) at least 150 minutes (2 ½ hours) to 300 minutes (5 hours) a week – or 75 minutes (1 hour and 15 minutes) to 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity (like jogging or running).

  • Activity beyond 300 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week provides even more health benefits.
  • These goals are separate from muscle-strengthening activities, which you should also include at least twice a week for additional benefits to health.
  • Try to spread this activity throughout the week. This total amount of activity is the same as the long-standing recommendation for 30 to 60 minutes a day of moderate activity, at least 5 days per week. Providing the weekly total gives flexibility if daily exercise doesn’t work for you. But as you’ll see below, there are specific health benefits for including moderate or vigorous activity at least every other day.

Meeting this recommendation provides many health benefits, regardless of your weight and the healthfulness of your eating habits.

  • You get some benefits right away from the movement each day, and additional benefits that build up over time.
  • The American Institute for Cancer Research recommends accumulating at least 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity throughout each week to reduce cancer risk. And the American Heart Association recommends the same to reduce risk of cardiovascular disease.
  • Current guidelines emphasize that regular physical activity can also help manage many types of existing health conditions.

The Definition of Moderate Physical Activity: How to Know What Counts

These recommendations on how your health can benefit from physical activity are based on a combination of its time and intensity.

Intensity of physical activity is classified into categories such as light, moderate, and vigorous. 

Research studies often use METs. This is a measurable and consistent rating of intensity based on energy that’s used. (It’s expressed in reference to body weight, since the same activity uses more energy – more calories – to move a heavier body than a lighter one). 

  • Light activity, defined as 1.6 to 2.9 METs, includes slow walking, cooking, light housework.
  • Moderate activity, defined as 3.0 to 5.9 METs, is comparable to a brisk walking pace. It also includes vacuuming, raking leaves, water aerobics, and biking on fairly level ground.
  • Vigorous activity, defined as 6.0 METs or greater, includes jogging, running, walking briskly uphill, singles tennis, and biking fast or on hills. 

A relative scale is a subjective rating by an individual of the amount of effort in activity. Coaches and healthcare professionals often use this in talking with people about their physical activity. 

  • In one system, you rate the amount of effort something is taking from 0 to 10. Moderate activity is about 5 or 6; vigorous activity is about 7 or 8.
  • The talk test” is another approach. If you could sing while you’re doing something, that’s light activity. If you could comfortably talk, but not sing, that’s moderate activity. In vigorous activity, you won’t be able to say more than a few words without pausing for a breath. 

Some devices for tracking steps also track pace, expressed as steps per minute. 

Activity Level Based on Steps: How to Track Progress Toward Recommendations

Trackers help you check activity level by stepsYou can think about the amount of walking you do in terms of time, distance, or steps. Once you figure out your typical walking pace and how far you go in a given amount of time, you can convert one piece of information to the others. 

  • How long are your steps? People who are taller and more fit tend to take longer steps than people who have shorter legs or some condition that affects how they move. So, the same number of steps can mean different distances walked.
  • How quickly do you walk? People who are more fit (often younger, but not always) tend to walk faster than others. So the same number of steps can represent different amounts of time.
  • Where are you walking? When you are walking uphill or on uneven ground, you may be getting more intense exercise (more METs) even when going at a slower pace or covering less total distance. If you’re walking city streets and need to stop at traffic lights and dodge around fellow pedestrians, the same amount of time walking may mean fewer steps.

How to Translate Activity Level Based on Steps

Most research involving step-counting uses an average figure based on most adults, or on a particular group being studied. (For example, studies of children, or older adults, or people recovering from a cardiac event may use different figures.)

Studies most often consider the average pace for moderate activity as 100 steps a minute. When this is on a pretty level surface, research identifies this as corresponding to 3.0 METs – the bottom end of the range for moderate activity.

Moderate activity is defined as an intensity ranging from this level up to a much brisker pace. For most adults, researchers categorize moderate activity for healthy adults (including healthy adults over age 60) as a pace of 100 to 120 steps per minute

  • 100 steps per minute corresponds to 3.0 METs
  • 110 steps per minute corresponds to 4.0 METs
  • 120 steps per minute corresponds to 5.0 METs

Since moderate activity includes up to 5.9 METs, it could include 125 or more steps per minute. A pace of 130 steps per minute corresponds to 6.0 METs, the low end of vigorous activity. 

Thirty minutes of moderate walking is typically equivalent to about 3000 to 3700 steps for healthy adults. 

Adding Up Total Steps per Day: You Probably Get Mostly Light Activity

Some occupations or lifestyles may involve brisk activity throughout much of the day. But for most adults, most movement through the day is at a light intensity. Many of the steps you get are likely at a pace of 20 to 60 steps per minute, with some occasional movement at 60 to 65 steps per minute. 

Recommendations for 150 to 300 minutes of moderate physical activity per week (or the equivalent in vigorous activity) refer to amounts in addition to movement that’s part of basic activities of daily living. Walking downstairs to do a load of laundry, walking up the driveway to get the mail, and walking across a parking lot all add up as part of overall movement, even if they’re not at a moderate or vigorous pace.

Your total daily steps depend on how much you move all day long:

Less than 2500 steps are considered “basal”. It includes little activity beyond minimal movement within the home. It is common among disabled older adults and people with COPD or certain other health problems.

✔ Less than 5,000 steps are considered a sedentary lifestyle. People with cardiovascular disease or arthritis, for example, commonly total 4000 to 4700 steps per day.

✔ 5,000 steps per day is reported as an average daily total for many US adults.

 

What about your total step counts for the day if you get 3,000 to 3,700 steps a day in moderate activity?

✔ 3,000 to 3,700 steps from 30 minutes of moderate activity added to a lifestyle with 4,000 steps accumulated during the rest of the day in a sedentary lifestyle equals a total of 7,000 to 7,700 steps.

✔ 3,000 to 3,700 steps from 30 minutes of moderate activity to a lifestyle with 5,000 steps in a typical lifestyle equals a total of at least 8,000 steps.

✔ Adding 6,000 to 7,400 steps from 60 minutes of moderate activity to the 5,000 steps in an average adult’s lifestyle brings total steps to at least 11,000 steps. Or if your baseline activity is only 4,000 steps per day, it brings you to 10,000 steps or more.

Recommendations focus on an overall weekly total of 150 minutes of moderate (or equivalent vigorous) activity per week. You don’t need 30 minutes of moderate activity every day to reach that total. Therefore, by averaging it out across a week, if you reach 7,000 steps every day of the week, that’s consistent with meeting the minimum target – assuming that it includes some combination of moderate and vigorous activity. 

 

Is 10,000 Steps Each Day the Ideal for Everyone?

When tracking activity level by steps, is 10000 the best goal for everyone?Intervention trials and observational studies suggest that people meeting the recommendation of at least 30 minutes a day (or at least 150 minutes a week) of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity likely accumulate a total of anywhere from 7,000 to 10,000 steps daily. 

Yet we often hear of 10,000 steps a day as the target to seek. How do we put current research in perspective?

Best Activity Level Based on Steps? That Depends on the Outcomes You Want

For some people, aiming for 10,000 steps a day may be unrealistic. Activity still brings health benefits even if you don’t reach 10,000 steps per day. On the other hand, getting a little more than 10,000 steps a day can bring additional health benefits, and it is a reachable goal for many people.

 

If you focus on 10,000 steps a day as an all-or-nothing goal, you’re missing the big picture. Click To Tweet

 

  • Reduce risk of premature death with 7,000-8,000 steps a day:
    • In a large population study called CARDIA that followed middle-aged adults, those who averaged at least 7,000 steps a day had a 50% to 70% lower risk of dying in the next 10 years or so. That was compared to people who got less than 7,000 steps after statistically adjusting for age and a range of health risk factors.
    • A similar study followed people in the NHANES national database who averaged about 57 years of age. Those who averaged at least 8,000 steps per day were about 50% less likely to die over the next 10 years or so compared to people taking 4,000 steps per day. An important finding here was that people who got even 6,000 steps per day had fewer deaths than those who got only 4,000. This was especially clear in people aged 65 and older.
    • Is more better? In the CARDIA study, mortality rates continued to decline until step counts reached 10,000 per day. In the NHANES database, people who took 12,000 steps trended for even fewer deaths, but the difference compared to 8,000 steps wasn’t statistically significant. (It might have occurred by chance.)
  • Help fight off chronic inflammation with 7,000 steps a day:  Among thousands of US adults in the NHANES database, cross-sectional analysis shows a linear relationship between steps/day and CRP, a measure of inflammation. People who averaged about 6,700 steps a day had clearly lower levels of CRP than those who got 2,200 steps a day or less. And the linear relationship means each increase in steps was associated with some reduction in CRP, so reaching 8,000, 9,000, or 10,000 steps or more was even better. [Check this review for more about how to measure inflammation and how lifestyle choices can help reduce it.]
  • Promote healthy blood vessels and decrease artery stiffness with 7,500 steps a day – or increasing low activity by at least 1,000 to 2,000 steps:  Analysis combining several correlational or cross-sectional studies found that each 2,000 step increase in total daily steps was linked with improvement in a measure of artery stiffness and vascular health that indicates a lower risk of cardiovascular events (like a heart attack) and cardiovascular deaths. Researchers concluded that some physical activity was clearly better than none, and healthiest indicators of artery stiffness were seen with at least 7,500 steps a day.
  • Improve blood pressure control with 7,500 steps a day:  A large cross-sectional study of Canadian adults shows significantly lower systolic blood pressure in people who averaged at least 7,500 steps per day. And according to the Physical Guidelines for Americans advisory committee’s scientific report, if your blood pressure has been starting to creep up, you will likely see an even greater difference in blood pressure than people with normal levels. 
  • Reduce insulin resistance and keep circulating insulin at a healthy level with 5,000 to 7,000 steps, or even better with 7,500 to 10,000 or more steps a day: The large observational studies of US and Canadian adults noted above each found some reduction in these markers of metabolic health with any step count above that of a sedentary lifestyle. Effects were linear, and lowest levels of insulin and insulin resistance were seen in those at highest activity levels, and certainly over 7500 steps a day. Keeping healthy insulin levels can help reduce cancer risk and development of type 2 diabetes. Regular moderate physical activity reduces incidence of type 2 diabetes, regardless of whether you have normal weight, overweight, or obesity. 

Intensity: Do You Need Moderate Activity or Are Total Steps All That Matters?

What is moderately active? Does your walking speed matter?

Photo by Arek Adeoye on Unsplash

Some people might do enough light activity all day with slow walking or light chores to reach a total step count of 7,000 (or maybe even 10,000) steps. But they miss the specific benefits of moderate or vigorous activity that raises heart rate enough to improve heart-respiratory fitness

Analysis of US adults in the NHANES database shows that for overall mortality, total daily steps is more important than intensity of activity. 

However, many of the specific biomarkers of cardiovascular health and insulin sensitivity are particularly tied to moderate or vigorous activity. And from a practical point, it’s easier to reach a higher step count with at least 30 minutes of walking at 100 to 120 steps per minute, which is at least double the pace of movement in daily life activity for most adults.

 

How to Individualize Goals: When 10,000 Steps is the Wrong Target

Ask yourself: What is my activity level? Is it best for my health?For many adults, adding the steps from 30 minutes of moderate activity to their steps in everyday life activities brings total daily steps to 7,000 to 8,000 per day. [See above on Adding Up Total Steps…]

However, people with physical conditions that limit walking pace or who are recovering from illness and reduced fitness levels may have a baseline of 2000 or 3000 steps a day. And some people, because of either occupation or preference, spend most of the day sitting. In these cases, getting above the 5,000 steps threshold of a sedentary lifestyle might be a good goal, at least as a starting point. And working toward a total of 6,500 to 8,500 steps a day may be an appropriate target.

Does increasing physical activity seem daunting? Benefits of physical activity are not all-or-nothing. For many of the health benefits noted above that are achieved by reaching 7,500 or 8,000 steps a day, even small increases that don’t reach that level seem to be good for health.

  • In an observational study that followed older women for about four years, mortality was lowest in those who totaled about 7,500 steps a day. But even reaching 4,400 steps was linked with fewer deaths than those who totaled only 2700 steps.
  • Each 1,000 or 2,000 step increase is linked with some improvement in vascular health and artery stiffness.
  • Each increase in average daily steps above 5000 per day was associated with improvements in insulin resistance and circulating insulin levels in the studies of US and Canadian adults noted above.
  • In a prospective cohort study that followed older adults for 2.6 years, those with higher daily step count were less likely to develop diabetes. The strongest threshold was getting more than 4500 steps a day,  which was linked with 59% lower risk of diabetes compared to those taking fewer steps. Risk of diabetes continued a steep decline until around 6000 steps a day, then continued a slower decline and leveled off at around 8000 steps per day.

What about Older Adults? 

The Physical Guidelines for Americans emphasize that the goal of 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity each week applies to them, too.

  • Depending on activity level the rest of the day, this could be reached with anywhere from 6,500 to 8,000 or 10,000 steps a day.
  • The guidelines encourage at least 150 minutes of moderate activity even for people with chronic health conditions and older age if possible. However, the advisory committee’s scientific report notes that moderate activity should not be defined only as activities that meet the measurable standard of at least 3.0 METs (see above). In these cases, systems like the subjective 1 to 10 rating system or “talk test” are better choices when something considered “moderate” feels vigorous, and even light activity is enough to slightly elevate heart or breathing rate.
  • According to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, when adults with chronic conditions or disabilities are not able to meet the standard guideline of 150 to 300 minutes a week of moderate activity, they should engage in regular physical activity according to their abilities and should avoid inactivity. 

What About Physical Activity and Weight?

Many adults need to do more than 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity physical activity to lose weight or keep it off, according to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Some will need to do the equivalent of 300 or more minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week to meet their weight goals.  

  • This needs to be combined with healthy eating habits. And these adults can gradually increase minutes or the intensity of aerobic physical activity to reach a point at which the physical activity is effective in achieving a healthy weight.
  • Building a lifestyle with 45 to 60 minutes of moderate activity daily, many adults may most successfully reach and maintain a healthy weight by aiming to reach or modestly exceed 10,000 steps daily.
  • In some studies, a 2,000-step increase in daily steps has produced modest weight loss, even though it may not be enough to achieve the full change in weight or waist someone is targeting. If you’ve been gaining weight, a 2,000-step boost in daily steps may be enough to stop the gain, especially if you cut back by just 100 calories on what you’re consuming.

Time or Steps: Which is Better to Track for Moderate Activity? 

Watching time spent in moderate or vigorous activity is also important for healthTake a well-rounded view of how your activity habits are supporting your health. As reviewed above, current research shows that total activity (which you can measure in steps) and getting some activity that is moderate or vigorous in intensity for you (which you can track in time) are both important for health. 

Each plays a role, and neither can completely make up for the other. People who spend most of the day in a highly sedentary pattern seem to face health risks, even if they meet the time-based recommendations for 30 to 60 minutes of activity.

So, check where you are in active time, sitting time, and steps. Then, once you identify the gaps in your lifestyle, you can focus your attention there. 

Ask Yourself: What is My Activity Level – Really?

to improve activity level based on steps, each increase brings health benefits for most peopleOne group of researchers that studies physical activity and inactivity related to health has developed a scale by which they group people based on the average steps they take.

People who likely meet current recommended levels of physical activity are further classified as:

✔ 12,500 or more steps/day = Highly active

✔ 10,000 to 12,499 steps/day = Active

✔ 7,500 to 9,999 steps/day = Somewhat active

People considered physically inactive are classified as:

✔ 5,000 to 7,499 steps/day = Low active

✔ 2,500 to 4,999 steps/day = Sedentary with limited activity

✔ Less than 2,500 steps/day = Sedentary with only basal activity

 

Volumes of further research have only strengthened the recommendation years ago from Catrine Tudor-Locke and John M. Schuna, Jr., renowned experts in walking behavior and health:

Specifically, we recommend that adults avoid averaging <5,000 steps/day and strive to average ≥7,500 steps/day, of which ≥3,000 steps (representing at least 30 min) should be taken at a cadence ≥100 steps/min. They should also practice regularly breaking up extended bouts of sitting with ambulatory activity. Simply put, we must consider advocating a whole message to “walk more, sit less, and exercise.”

 

What can best help you reach – and keep – a lifestyle with the physical activity that promotes your health and vitality, helping you live the life you want?

That’s a question that each of us may answer differently. Consider your current level of fitness, your health concerns, and what types of changes in activity patterns are likely to make the biggest and most important difference for you.

 

Bottom Line on Setting Goals for Activity Level Based on Steps

Tracking daily steps is a practical strategy for creating and maintaining a lifestyle with the physical activity so important to multiple aspects of health. 

  • A goal of 10,000 steps is a target likely to include activity that promotes better health and lower risk of cancer, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. It’s realistic for many adults. And tracking daily steps is helpful for spreading activity across the week, which especially promotes some of the health benefits of exercise.
  • All steps are not the same. Some benefits are related to including 150 to 300 minutes of moderate or vigorous activity each week, so it’s also important to include that within total steps.
  • Most of the health benefits of physical activity increase gradually as activity increases. 10,000 steps a day may not be the best goal for everyone…. Start with creating habits that go beyond the 5,000 step-threshold of a sedentary lifestyle. Then increase gradually to a total of at least 7,500 steps a day, if possible. Each increase in activity helps.

⇒ Want a free tip sheet? This client-ready guide provides five steps to turn an activity tracker – whether it’s on someone’s wrist, waist, or phone – into a tool that really supports a change in habits. 

To get the tip sheet, How to Get the Most from Your Step-Counter… and get future research updates straight to your email inbox:

Just click here!

 

Resources You May Find Helpful

Resources For Everyone

The Move Your Way® website provides tools, videos, and fact sheets for implementing the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. You’ll find tips that make it easier to get more active in ways that fit individual preferences.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a lot of information on the Basics of Physical Activity and how much adults need.

For Health Professionals Talking with People About Activity Level:

The Compendium of Physical Activities Tracking Guide, by Ainsworth BE, et al., is a recognized and authoritative listing of the METs value of many different types of physical activity.
>> It’s helpful in answering individual questions about specific physical activity and whether it’s categorized as light, moderate, or vigorous.
>> Keep in mind that this is an objective, research-based evaluation. But as noted in my research review, for some people, ratings based on 0-10 intensity or the talk test show that an activity is more intense for them than indicated by METs data.

From the American College of Sports Medicine:

ACSM Exercise is Medicine Resources for Health Professionals

Exercise as Medicine Physical Activity Toolkit for Registered Dietitians

Recommendations for Exercise Preparticipation Health Screening

Physical Activity Guidelines support materials: Check General Health and Recommendations drop-down menu for:
>> PAR-Q+ Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire
>> Physical Activity Vital Sign form
>> Handouts individualized by age and other needs.

The Move Your Way® campaign provides free tools and resources to promote key messages from the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans — including fact sheets, posters, videos, and interactive tools.

American Heart Association Scientific Statement: Physical Activity as a Critical Component of First-Line Treatment for Elevated Blood Pressure or Cholesterol: Who, What, and How?  – Table 4 includes tips and resources to help people increase physical activity.
Barone Gibbs et al. Hypertension. 2021 Aug;78(2):e26-e37. doi: 10.1161/HYP.0000000000000196. 

References:

2018 Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee. 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee Scientific Report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2018.

Ballin M, Nordström P, Niklasson J, et al. Daily step count and incident diabetes in community-dwelling 70-year-olds: a prospective cohort study. BMC Public Health. 2020 Nov 30;20(1):1830. 

Barone Gibbs B, Hivert MF, Jerome GJ, et al. Physical Activity as a Critical Component of First-Line Treatment for Elevated Blood Pressure or Cholesterol: Who, What, and How?: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association. Hypertension. 2021 Aug;78(2):e26-e37.

Bassett DR Jr, Wyatt HR, Thompson H, et al. Pedometer-measured physical activity and health behaviors in U.S. adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2010 Oct;42(10):1819-25. 

Cavero-Redondo I, Tudor-Locke C, Álvarez-Bueno C, et al. Steps per Day and Arterial Stiffness. Hypertension. 2019 Feb;73(2):350-363. 

Hajna S, Ross NA, Dasgupta K. Steps, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, and cardiometabolic profiles. Prev Med. 2018 Feb;107:69-74. 

Lee IM, Shiroma EJ, Kamada M, Bassett DR, Matthews CE, Buring JE. Association of Step Volume and Intensity With All-Cause Mortality in Older Women. JAMA Intern Med. 2019 Aug 1;179(8):1105-1112. 

National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. How Much Physical Activity Do Adults Need? 

Paluch AE, Gabriel KP, Fulton JE, et al. Steps per Day and All-Cause Mortality in Middle-aged Adults in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study. JAMA Netw Open. 2021 Sep 1;4(9):e2124516.

Saint-Maurice PF, Troiano RP, Bassett DR Jr, et al. Association of Daily Step Count and Step Intensity With Mortality Among US Adults. JAMA. 2020 Mar 24;323(12):1151-1160. 

Tudor-Locke C, Camhi SM, Troiano RP. A catalog of rules, variables, and definitions applied to accelerometer data in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2003-2006. Prev Chronic Dis. 2012;9:E113. 

Tudor-Locke C, Craig CL, Aoyagi Y, et al. How many steps/day are enough? For older adults and special populations. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2011 Jul 28;8:80.

Tudor-Locke C, Craig CL, Thyfault JP, Spence JC. A step-defined sedentary lifestyle index: <5000 steps/day. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2013 Feb;38(2):100-14. 

Tudor-Locke C, Ducharme SW, Aguiar EJ, et al. Walking cadence (steps/min) and intensity in 41 to 60-year-old adults: the CADENCE-adults study. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2020 Nov 10;17(1):137. 

Tudor-Locke C, Mora-Gonzalez J, Ducharme SW, et al. Walking cadence (steps/min) and intensity in 61-85-year-old adults: the CADENCE-Adults study. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2021 Sep 23;18(1):129. 

Tudor-Locke C, Schuna JM Jr. Steps to preventing type 2 diabetes: exercise, walk more, or sit less? Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2012 Nov 19;3:142. 

Tudor-Locke C, Schuna JM Jr, Han HO, et al. Step-Based Physical Activity Metrics and Cardiometabolic Risk: NHANES 2005-2006. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2017 Feb;49(2):283-291. 

Tudor-Locke C, Washington TL, Hart TL. Expected values for steps/day in special populations. Prev Med. 2009 Aug;49(1):3-11. 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2018. 

 

2 Comments

  1. […] physical activity may not be enough to reach levels of physical activity linked with good health. In a previous Smart Bytes®, we discussed whether 10,000 steps a day is the ideal target. Even if you’re aiming at the lower end of the range linked with good health, tracking your steps […]

  2. […] that should take no more than another 10 to 20 minutes of walking accumulated through the day. Your ultimate target may vary depending on your health goals. Focus on using this time as a chance to try out different […]

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Karen Collins
MS, RDN, CDN, FAND

I Take Nutrition Science From Daunting to Doable.™

As a registered dietitian nutritionist, one of the most frequent complaints I hear from people — including health professionals — is that they are overwhelmed by the volume of sometimes-conflicting nutrition information.

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