The well-known Greek physician, Hippocrates, is often quoted as “Walking is man’s best medicine.” It is so because such an activity is very efficient to lower the risk of non-communicable illness (caused as a direct result of lifestyle and environmental factors) and to improve health. World widely, the guiding principle of physical health suggests that adults are supposed to involve themselves in usual physical activities where they can directly interact with nature. Walking can be a moderate intensity physical activity that has positive effects on fitness. As an alternative, step based walking is up-and-coming around the world. Accordingly, the amounts of walks in steps are interpreted as:
list item less than 5,000 steps per day (sedentary lifestyle)
list item between 5,000 to 7,499 steps per day (low active)
list item between 7,500 to 9,999 steps per day (somewhat active)
list item equal to 10,000 steps per day (active)
list item more than 12,500 steps per day (highly active)
Various health specialists recommend 10,000 (10K) steps in a day (the letter “K” is used to represent 1000, because it represents the prefix kilo which means 1000 of something in the metric system) to boost your energy levels, mood, mental health and to enhance healthiness. The good news is that achieving this target is not as tough and hard as you might generally think. A 10K-steps walk per-day is associated with everyday fitness around the world (a popular notion on media and in practice now-a-days). For example, among Japanese families, it is very common to achieve this goal. A 10K-steps walk is equivalent to approximately eight kilometers, or else 100 minutes’ walk, depending upon your length of stride and walking speed. However, one should not think to do this all in one walk. Now the question is how long it takes to do 10K-steps. Well, the time depends on intensity of steps taken to attain 10K-steps. For instance, 100 steps per minute are taken with moderate intensity; on the other hand, 130 steps per minute are taken with powerful intensity. So, if the activity is in moderate intensity, it would take 100 minutes to make 10K-steps. If the activity is energetic in intensity, it might take 77 minutes to get 10K-steps. Above and beyond. 10,000 to 12,499 steps per day are prerequisite for dynamic lifestyle. Moreover, depending on body size and walking speed, the level of steps per day is roughly equivalent to an energy expenditure of 300 and 400 kcal (kilo calories) per day.
Several reviews and surveys have investigated the advantages of 10K-steps walking on body compositions. A research on adults, aged between 20 to 70, shows a 3cm loss in waist circumference after 6 months of a 10K steps/day walking program. For bone health, a regular walk of 10K-steps is sufficient to maintain bone mineral density in 49 to 64 years old adults. Improvements of blood pressure, anxiety as well as depression are the benefits that have been observed in numerous studies. Another question is how to reach 10K-steps. Obviously, you need to add steps throughout your activities on a daily basis. Then to accomplish the goal of 10K-step, you would probably have to ensure a 100 minutes’ walk (otherwise equal to any other workout) too. For other forms of exercise, Monash University recommends to add up things such as going to the gym, playing any games and swimming. The equivalence is discussed below:
• 1K-steps equals a ten minutes activity of moderate intensity like vigorous gardening, rowing, horse riding, cycling, swimming or else whatever thing that clearly increases heart-beat rate along with breathing. • 2K-steps is equal to an activity of high intensity with ten minutes (let’s say jogging, brisk rowing, circuit training. fast cycling, aerobics, competitive sport or all those things which make you huff and puff).
At present, strengthening facts verify that 10K-steps/day is an amount of physical activity which is correlated with a healthy life. Following points can be considered to achieve 10K-stepsIday target:
Among people all over the world, walking is considered as a popular, acceptable, and accessible physical activity. But, the goal of 10K-steps/day may not be attainable for some groups including older adults, children and those living with chronic diseases. However, walking is a low risk physical activity. A 10K-steps/day walking is well thought as an alternative recommendation on physical activity for public health. In short, a 10K-steps/day walk should be promoted especially among physically inactive people. Future health promotion campaigns should consider behavioral and motivational aspects to meet this step-based goal. Since most often we are used to hear for fitness, -Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food." as well as An apple a day keeps the doctor away."; likewise, 10K-steps a day, keep doctors away should also be our new health slogan.
References:
• Batman DC. Hippocrates: Walking is man’s best medicine!’. Occup Med (Land). 2012 Jul; 62(5): 320-2.
• Korinek, E. V., Phatak, S. S… Martin, C. A., Freigoun, M. T, Rivera, D. E., Adams, M. A., & Hekler, E. B. (2018). Adaptive step goals and rewards: a longitudinal growth model of daily steps for a smarlphone-based walking intervention. Journal of behavioral medicine, 41(1), 74-86.
• Tudor-Locke, C., & Bassett. D. R. (2004). How many steps/day are enough?. Sports medicine, 34(1), 1-8.
• Wattanapisit. A., & Thanamee, S. (2017). Evidence behind 10,000 steps walking. Journal of Health Research, 31(3), 241-248.
• https://www.monash.edu/news/articles/10000-steps-a-day-to-good-health
Recommended steps per day by age
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