Can’t Hit 10,000 Steps? How Fast You Walk May Matter More
New research suggests there's more than one way to turbocharge your daily walk.
Ten thousand steps have become shorthand for a healthy day—and a daunting target when time, mobility, or life gets in the way. But a new study suggests another way to reap the benefits of walking: take fewer steps, but pick up the pace.
The research, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, found that different combinations of step counts and walking intensity were associated with a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease or any cause.
“What I like about this study is that it moves us away from thinking there is one magic number of steps everyone has to reach,” says Denice Ichinoe, a primary care sports medicine physician at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. “The findings suggest that both how much you walk and how briskly you walk matter, and there may be more than one way to get a meaningful health benefit.”
The takeaway, she says, is that a longer, leisurely walk isn’t your only option. A shorter, brisker one may count, too.
In the study, researchers analyzed activity-tracker data from more than 64,000 UK Biobank participants, who averaged 62, and then followed them for about eight years.
They found that people who walked fewer than 5,000 steps a day but moved more briskly during their most active periods had a lower mortality risk than those who accumulated a similar number of steps at a slower pace. Their risk was comparable to that of people who walked 5,000 to 7,500 steps a day more slowly. Overall, however, people who walked 7,500 to 10,000 steps a day had the lowest mortality risk.
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Because the study was observational, it cannot prove that walking faster or taking more steps prevented deaths. But the findings add to previous research showing that you don’t need 10,000 steps a day to improve your health. That figure originated with a Japanese pedometer marketing campaign in the 1960s rather than scientific data. The latest study suggests that step count matters, but walking intensity may also play an important role in health and longevity.
Increasing exercise intensity, including walking pace, can have numerous health benefits. For one, it increases your heart rate and breathing, which, over time, improves cardiorespiratory fitness and enhances cardiovascular health and longevity, Ichinoe says.
As the heart gets stronger, it can pump blood and oxygen more efficiently throughout the body, says Matthew Bowman, a clinical associate professor of physical therapy at Binghamton University, State University of New York. Getting your blood flowing can also lower blood pressure by helping dilate blood vessels and keeping them flexible.
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“I like to think of it this way: step count tells us how much you moved, while intensity tells us how hard your cardiovascular system was working,” says Rosy Thachil, a cardiologist at NYC Health+Hospitals/Elmhurst.
She says the new study results are “encouraging,” showing that “even people who can’t reach a high daily step count may benefit from making some of their walking more purposeful and intense.”
Experts recommend a combination of walking more and walking at a quicker pace, but emphasize that any exercise is good for you. “I would prioritize whatever gets someone moving consistently,” Ichinoe says.
Walking faster may be especially useful for people with limited time to walk long distances but who can increase their pace, Ichinoe says. Increasing walking intensity can place greater demand on the cardiovascular system and, over time, may help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, Bowman adds.
But “you don’t necessarily need to chase a particular number on your watch,” says Ichinoe, whether it’s counting steps or tracking pace. Everyone’s ideal combination depends on age, fitness, level, mobility, and enjoyment level. Bowman recommends checking with your doctor before upping the intensity of your walk, especially if you have a health condition.
Start by walking your usual route a little faster, Thachil says. Alternate between your normal pace and short bursts of brisk walking, or add hills or stairs to boost the intensity. Then gradually increase your steps, pace, or both.
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Check your pace using the “talk test,” Thachil says. “At a moderate intensity, you can generally talk but you may not be able to comfortably sing.” Ichinoe adds that you should feel your breath and heart rate increase but still be able to “speak in sentences.”
Bowman says playing music with a faster beat can also help increase walking speed. So can pumping your arms quickly while you walk, which he suggests doing in intervals if it feels difficult.
Generally, look at your usual activity level and find realistic ways to challenge yourself, Ichinoe says, “either by gradually accumulating more walking throughout the day, adding periods of brisk walking, or doing both.”
