Ten thousand steps a day (roughly 5 miles) has been the gold standard for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. This number originated in the mid-1960s when a Japanese company introduced the “Manpo-Kei” to the world. The “Manpo-Kei,” which literally translates to 10,000 steps, was a step-meter that was marketed to the world, right around the 1964 Olympics, which were held in Tokyo.

While this was originally a catchy, clean number to promote a product, over the decades, numerous studies have shown that 10,000 is indeed a magic number.

In September 2022, a notable study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, with a cohort of 78,500 individuals, with a mean average of 61 years old, reported that “(up to about 10,000 steps) may be associated with a lower risk of all-cause, cancer, and CVD mortality and incidence of cancer and CVD; higher step intensity may provide additional benefits” (Del Pozo Cruz et al, 2022).

Some highlights of the study found that 9,800 steps was the optimal dose to lower the risk of dementia by 50%, but risks were reduced by 25% with steps as low as 3,800 steps a day. Overall, the study ultimately found that every 2,000 steps lowered the risk of premature death incrementally by 8-11% up to 10,000 steps per day.

Fast forward to this past month, August 2023, a new study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology found that taking just 2,337 steps a day reduced the risk of dying from diseases of the heart and blood vessels.

Now, does that mean that we shouldn’t have our clients strive for 10,000 steps a day? Absolutely not!

This study, comprised of 226,889 people from 17 different studies around the world, has shown that the more you walk, the greater the health benefits.

The researchers, led by Maciej Banach, Professor of Cardiology at the Medical University of Lodz, Poland, and Adjunct Professor at the Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, found “the more you walk, the better,” says Professor Banach. “We found that this applied to both men and women, irrespective of age, and irrespective of whether you live in a temperate, sub-tropical, or sub-polar region of the world, or a region with a mixture of climates. In addition, our analysis indicates that as little as 4,000 steps a day are needed to significantly reduce deaths from any cause, and even fewer to reduce deaths from cardiovascular disease.”

The research showed that even if people walked as many as 20,000 steps a day, the health benefits continued to increase. They have not found an upper limit yet.

The biggest takeaway from the study is not that just 2,337 steps make a difference, it’s that the risk of dying from any cause or from cardiovascular disease decreases significantly with every 500 to 1000 extra steps you walk. An increase of 1000 steps a day was associated with a 15% reduction in the risk of dying from any cause, and an increase of 500 steps a day was associated with a 7% reduction in dying from cardiovascular disease.

When your clients are not with you, really drill into them that going for a walk can truly have a massive impact on their health.

Professor Banach believes, “In a world where we have more and more advanced drugs to target specific conditions such as cardiovascular disease, I believe we should always emphasize that lifestyle changes, including diet and exercise, which was a main hero of our analysis, might be at least as, or even more effective in reducing cardiovascular risk and prolonging lives.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Remember, it’s not just about taking care of your clients when they are with you for the 1, 2, or 3 hours out of the 168-hour week. I expect IFPA Trainers to guide their clients to success whether they are in the gym with you or in between sessions. Show them the research, help structure their schedule, and find consistent times when they can go for daily walks. I promise the success they find outside the gym without you will only increase their success when you are together.

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