How many steps should you walk per day?
How many steps should you walk per day?
Discover the HUGE impact on your body
Walking, a low-impact exercise, is a simple and effective way to stay active and enhance your health.
Whether you walk for leisure or as part of a structured fitness the benefits are significant!
But how many steps should you aim for each day to make a real difference or even lose weight?
Average Steps In a Day That is Considered Active
This is the target number of daily steps for healthy adults.
But we’ll get back to this later!
Here’s a quick breakdown of the number of steps based on activity levels:
Sedentary: Less than 5,000 steps/day
Low activity: 5,000-7,499 steps/day
Somewhat active: 7,500-9,999 steps/day
Active: 10,000-12,499 steps/day
Highly active: 12,500+ steps/day
So if you’re asking…
“Does that mean I need to walk 10,000 steps per day to be classified as active?”
Why 10,000 Steps?
Okay, going back to the target number…
You may be wondering how long it takes to walk 10,000 steps in a day.
10k steps is roughly five miles or eight kilometers, depending on your stride length, cadence, and height.
Walking 10,000 steps at once takes about an hour and forty minutes.
We understand how much you want to be healthy…
We know you’re thinking 10,000 might not be right for you, and that is true!
Realistically speaking, most people walk 3,000 to 4,000 steps a day, or roughly 1.5 to 2 miles only.
So start by finding out your current daily steps.
Then, gradually work up to 10,000 steps by adding 1,000 extra steps every two weeks!
You can actually have your own target number depending on your current activity level. (check out the quick breakdown above)
Here are the 2 main reasons why 10,000 is the number recommended for walking:
SIMPLICITY
The simplicity of walking aims for 10,000 steps to have an achievable and sustainable goal.
Park further from the entrance to the shops
Take the stairs instead of the escalators
Standing while at work
HEALTHY BENEFITS
10,000 steps is equivalent to about 5 miles of walking, which aligns with the recommended 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week.
Some of the HUGE benefits on your body include:
It helps lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels
It reduces stress, anxiety, and symptoms of depression, enhancing overall mental well-being.
Walking helps regulate blood sugar levels, reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes.
Most importantly, it burns approximately 400-500 calories!
How Walking Can Help You Lose Weight
Regular exercise or walking reduces your risk of health conditions and helps you stay physically fit.
Whether you do a morning walk for 30 minutes or 1 hour per day, consistency will bring you life-changing benefits.
Here’s how:
It burns calories
Walking increases your daily calorie expenditure, which is crucial for weight loss.
To lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you consume. Walking helps create this calorie deficit by burning extra calories.
Although we’re living in a modern world where most of us spend a lot of time sitting, especially if we have an office job…
We cannot let this sedentary lifestyle affect our weight!
Did you know that walking at a brisk pace (4 mph) can burn about 300-400 calories per hour?
So try your best to get up, move your body, stretch those muscles, or walk and get some fresh air!
It reduces belly fat
Walking is an aerobic exercise that helps reduce belly fat and slim your waist.
It lowers stress and cortisol levels, and it decreases visceral fat—the harmful fat around your organs, which can improve overall health and reducing waist circumference.
Improves Insulin Sensitivity
Walking boosts your body's insulin sensitivity, leading to better blood sugar control.
This helps your body use fat as fuel more efficiently, especially during and after exercise.
Nature Walks
Outdoor walks, especially in natural settings surrounded by trees and greeneries, also improve our well-being.
Whether in your most comfortable shoes or barefoot, walking outdoors improves foot strength, balance, and reduces stress.
If you want to learn more ways to enhance your well-being and how you can reconnect with nature through outdoor walking, check out our next blog on how to "Reconnect with Nature"!
Should I Walk Every Day or Rest?
While walking daily is beneficial, experts suggests it might be a good idea to have rest days
This is to prevent injuries and allow your body to recover.
Rest days help with stress reduction and relaxation.
However, it still depends on how much you walk or your activity levels.
Top 3 ways to balance it:
Moderate intensity
Aim for 150 minutes of moderate-intensity walking weekly.
Mix intensities
Combine brisk walks with leisurely strolls.
Listen to your body
Take rest days when you feel sore or fatigued.
Conclusion
Walking is a simple yet powerful way to boost your health and lose weight.
While you’re aiming to walk the target number of steps in order to be healthy…
Remember that you need to follow your own pace and current activity level first.
There’s no need to follow anything, you can create your own target number and goal in walking, as long as you’re taking action.