The POWER of 10,000 Steps: What Does the Research Say?
By now you may have heard me talk about the power of walking in our training sessions. It’s low impact, easily accessible, and when done in the right environment can be a great way to see nature. Whether you are out walking the streets or doing some off road hiking, increasing your daily step count is one of the easiest ways to lose body fat and decrease your blood pressure and cholesterol (Study 1). Additionally, a 15-week study found that participants also saw an improvement in psychological well-being, a benefit not often talked about from daily exercise and movement (Study 2).
Does Walking 10,000 Steps Count as a Weight Workout?
In short, no (Study 3). While walking 10,000 steps a day is very important for overall health and wellness (mostly metabolic), it doesn't replace your weight training workouts, as walking is a poor exercise to build muscle, strength, and power (all things that impact your quality of life and ability to move and function as you age).
How Many Calories Can You Burn Walking 10,000 Steps a Day?
Struggling to lose weight? Increasing your step count is a great way to increase your caloric expenditure without increasing your hunger levels. Low intensity movement, such as walking at a 2-3mph pace, does little to increase hunger, but can be a great way to burn 250-450 more calories per day (average additional calories burned when walking 10,000 steps a day at a slow pace). That number varies based on your bodyweight, but most of you can expect to burn around 200-400 calories extra per day. This doesn't mean you now eat more, but rather you can nudge your weight loss in the right direction with a few leisure walks a day.
How to Train Yourself to Walk 10,000 Steps a Day
Ideally, you would be able to adopt an active lifestyle that includes some walks throughout the day, taking the stairs, parking rather out in the parking lot from the store, and hitting weights in the gym 3 days a week (or more).
I first recommend you figure out how many steps a day you are doing already. This can be as simple as looking at your iPhone “Health” app and taking a look, as most of us carry our phones with us everywhere. You could also use your watch if it tracks that, or honestly just purchase a very cheap pedometer.
From there, assess where you are at and try to increase your step count by 2,000 per day for a full week. Each week, challenge yourself to walk 2,000 more per day than the prior week until you get to 10,000 steps a day.
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Is There a Benefit to Walk MORE THAN 10,000 Steps Per Day?
The answer: It depends.
While there certainly is a benefit to walking, the sweet spot is that 8-12k steps per day. Any more than that and you may be spending a ton of time walking and not taking enough time to hit the weights. If you find you are walking more, and stealing gym time, I would rather have you devote time to both.
Final Thoughts
Walking more throughout your day is about as easy as it gets. Go for a walk with your families, your favorite podcast episode, or simply lose yourself in your thoughts. This does not need to be rocket science, even though the researchers have studied it extensively. Hopefully this article will be the swift kick in the rear you need to move more and improve your health, and hopefully see more of the world in the process!