Stepping Up to What Counts

Pedometers Show High Step Count, Low Obesity

How many steps per day are enough to keep you trim and prevent obesity? A pedometer study of an Old Order Amish community showed that their average man logged 18,000 steps per day and their average woman logged 14,000 steps per day, and they had one of the lowest rates of overweight and obesity of any community in North America.

Shoot for 10K a Day

How'd they come up with the goal of walking 10,000 steps per day?
It takes roughly 2,000 steps to walk a mile. In normal daily activity most people cover about 2 to 3 miles, depending on how active they are. That accounts for about 4,000 to 6,000 steps a day for reasonably active people. That means they need to come up with at least another 4,000 steps in a day to reach 10,000. That's about two miles worth, or for somebody walking at a brisk pace--voila--about a 30-minute walk! So the 10,000 step daily goal is roughly analogous to the Surgeon General's recommendation to accumulate at least 30 minutes of additional activity (beyond normal daily life) most days of the week. Remember, the 10,000 step recommendation is your total accumulation of activity throughout the day; the Surgeon General's 30 minute recommendation refers to additional activity, over and above normal daily life.

Week 3: If you haven't reached 10,000 steps, or if your goal is substantial weight loss (for which many experts recommend 12,000 to 15,000 steps a day), then boost your steps again by 20%. Calculate your second week's daily average and multiply by 1.2. If aerobic fitness is a goal, try boosting the speed of at least 2,000 to 4,000 of the steps you're already doing.