Fitness Mantra: 10,000 steps daily may not be required to stay fit

If a new study can be believed, you may not need the 10,000 steps a day to stay fit after all. According to the researchers at Harvard Medical School, older women who took just about 7,500 steps a day had the same mortality risk as those who walked 10,000 steps a day.

In fact, you’d be surprised to know that there is no firm science behind the need to walk 10,000 steps a day and the number is reported to have originated from a 1965 Japanese pedometer promotional campaign. With researchers believing that more data on the step count is needed, monitoring them, however, can help in being motivated. We bring you some expert guidelines to ensure your daily walking is helping your body.

As a rough guide, studies suggest adults to perform moderate-intensity exercise, like brisk walking, at least for 30 minutes on five days of the week, or an intense aerobic exercise, like running, for at least 20 minutes on three days of each week. So, walking is certainly an easy way to begin your fitness routine – without requiring any special equipment. Make it a part of your daily life – walk to your neighbourhood grocery store, bus stops and to your work, if possible. While at work, walk up the staircase, instead of opting for an elevator. Go for a walk after your lunchtime, instead of spending all your time in the cafeteria.

Regular walking not only comes with cardiovascular benefits, but they also help in keeping away depression, dementia, peripheral artery disease, obesity, diabetes and colon cancer. If these can’t get you moving, they are also helpful in keeping cholesterol, blood pressure, vascular stiffness and inflammation under control. Without requiring much skill or any instruction, walking can be a very modest form of exercise that can get you all the benefits of moderate exercise, with a very low risk of injury. So, get walking.