Hierarchy of stepping
Go ahead… See where you stack up. See if 5000 steps per day is enough.
- Less than 5,000 steps per day – Sedentary
- 5,000-7,499 steps per day – Low active
- 7,500-9,999 steps per day – Somewhat active
- 10,000-12,499 steps per day – Active
- 12,500 steps or above – Highly active
If you don’t know, then download an app to your phone or get a cheap fitness tracker and do this asap! We suspect that many of you are much lower than you thought. The pandemic and lockdown may have contributed. Many of you may have jobs that force you to spend a lot of time seated. Some of you may train very hard in the gym, do HIIT cardio to boot and think walking or step count is of limited to no value (a phenomenon called the ‘fit couch potato’). All of the above are valid reasons, but poor excuses! Your body and internal health simply do not care, you need to move and move significantly for general health benefits regardless of fitness level.
According to Fat loss coach Tom Venuto, in the US adults walk between 4000-18000 steps per day but the average is 5000-6000, which means most of the population is sedentary and at risk of obesity and other lifestyle diseases. He says, “Being sedentary is terribly unhealthy”, we believe him.
How was the 10,000 step goal derived
So is 10,000 steps a day a good goal? First a bit of history. This 10k goal was derived very arbitrarily in the 60’s but then it was found, and research confirmed it (in studies involving 280,000 participants) that lifestyle diseases (obesity heart diseases, stroke and type II diabetes – the really bad stuff) were 11% lower in individuals that met the target. Even at 7000-8000 steps, significant benefits were derived. Another study which involved Amish people found that they were very healthy and zero obesity despite eating a less than healthy diet! They get 14,000-18,000 steps per day.
So this is what we are saying. If getting 10,000 steps is unrealistic for you do not despair. Just focus on getting 1000-2000 extra steps per day. The benefits will be significant for you! Later on, you can target even more steps and derive further benefits. We at BYM believe and have written about the value of walking and taking it to the next level.
Read the articles here;
So track it and move up the hierarchy. Contact us for help on the chat below.
Credit: Tom Venuto