10 000 steps – Do you reach them daily and are they adequate?

Where one can easily reach about 5 000 steps a day without having to go through too much effort, adding a mere 30 minutes’ walk to your daily routine is said to get you to the desired 10 000 step target – a fitness threshold initially cemented into public perception by a Japanese company with the launch of their step-counter in 1965.

The question is: Why 10 000 steps and not 9 000?

And, should the steps be low or high intensity?

Should I add some inclines and declines while walking?

What is the effect of 10 000 steps really, if any?

Suret Alive, a personal fitness instructor from Pretoria says the 10 000 threshold could help you increase your total daily energy expenditure.

According to her, 10 000 steps are roughly equal to 500 calories burned.

“This is why it is the recommended daily step target for healthy adults.”

She says it is a rough figure as it depends on your pace, how many calories you can burn, how much energy you have and more.

“Calory burning is already a very vague concept,” says the fitness instructor.

According to her, it’s not so simple to measure calories, but it serves as some form of measurement when it comes to medical aid requirements and more.  

Are 10 000 steps adequate exercise?

Although the 10 000-step goal is laudable for most, serving as encouragement to take part in some kind of physical activity on a daily basis, it has become the only exercise some people engage in.

Readers’ Digest suggests the popular 10 000-step fitness goal may have more than one benefit, including boosting your heart’s health.

According to huffpost.com, studies confirmed that those who take 10 000 steps a day have lower blood pressure, more stable glucose levels and better moods.

A snapshot study of Scottish postal workers also found that those who walked 15 000 steps a day had normal waistlines, healthy cholesterol levels and a lower risk of heart disease.

But, your body needs strength training for its muscles and bones to stay strong too.

Suret Alive says: “10 000 steps are enough movement, but it is not sufficient exercise.”

People require strength training too to exercise their muscles. This is particularly important for pregnant women and ageing individuals as muscle strength is required to sustain bone density for those aged 50 and older. Muscle strength is also important for younger, athletic children.

“Muscles burn fat. If you only do 10 000 steps a day, you will burn calories, but you won’t have muscle or strength and you won’t necessarily burn fat,” says Suret.

This has an influence on a person’s longevity in the long run.

READ: 10,000 steps a day may not actually prevent weight gain – study

Count your steps

For some, 10 000 steps may seem a lot, while for others it might seem reachable.

It’s all about what your baseline is when it comes to the number of steps you take per day.

Once you know what your baseline is, it’s possible to work toward a reachable goal – whether it’s 5 000 steps or 15 000.

Suret Alive says, though: “If you spend a lot of hours seated at your desk or seated in the car, you might really struggle to reach your step goal for each day. The goal encourages the accumulation of activity across the whole day.”

She says that the 10 000-step goal is rather a movement guideline. Her online clients all start on a 10 000-step goal per day, with an additional four workouts per week that they need to do for muscle strength.

Therefore, it seems that the goal should not necessarily be to reach 10 000 steps a day, but rather to increase your number of steps in a day.

Suret Alive shares some ideas on how you can do just that:

• Have a mini trampoline in your bedroom, office, or house. It’s a wonderful way to get the blood flowing on days where you sit for long hours, and it is also a low barrier to entry. You can just hop on and hop off at any moment.
• Do a 10 to 40-minute walk in your neighbourhood or on your home treadmill each morning right after you woke up.
• Whenever you have a choice, choose stairs over a lift.

According to Suret, a mini trampoline is ideal for individuals at any age and any phase of life.

This includes moms who recently gave birth naturally, had C-sections, or moms who struggle with pelvic floor problems.

People who struggle with lymph draining will also reap benefits from a couple of jumps on a mini trampoline.

The bonus of a mini trampoline (or a jumping rope for that matter) is that you can do it indoors when it’s raining and you can do it while watching television or listening to a podcast.

Talking about stairs, she says there are a couple of tips to keep in mind to ensure that you are using the perfect form:

• Step onto each step with a flat foot and rather push through your big toe and the inside of your foot than through the outside.
• Never lock your knees.
• Keep your core engaged and shoulders over your hips.
• Keep in mind that it’s not a race. You can go as fast or slow as you’d like.