How Many Steps Do We Need?

Last week, we talked about how to lower blood pressure using a form of weight training called isometrics. As I made clear, you won’t look like a body builder, but it can help your cardiovascular health. This week, we’ll look at two recent studies to clarify how much aerobic exercise we need to reduce the risk of all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality.

The typical recommendation for aerobic exercise is 10,000 steps per day. That was based more on marketing than on science, but it has stood as the standard for years—until recently. Several studies have shown the actual amount may be between 4,000 and 7,000 steps per day.

In a recently published study, researchers included data from 17 studies and over 225,000 subjects. They tracked the subjects for just over seven years to find out all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease mortality. One more thing: all the data were collected electronically as opposed to relying on some sort of mechanical device that underestimates or overestimates steps per day.

After using meta-analysis, the researchers used 3,900 steps per day as a baseline for the median risk of mortality. For every 500 additional steps per day, the mortality risk decreased 7% and for every thousand additional steps per day it decreased 15%. As the number of steps increased, the cardiovascular and all-cause mortality risk decreased until about 12,000 steps where it leveled off.

Going with our theme of doing just enough to reduce our mortality rate, it would seem that 4,000 steps per day, whether as part of your regular day or in addition to your everyday activity, gives a baseline of protection. But do you really have to invest that much time? We’ll check that out on Saturday.

What are you prepared to do today?