How many steps should you walk a day?

28.05.2021

On average, people walk around 5000 steps a day. This is shown by smartphone data from more than 100 countries. For the sake of our health, however, we should take a few more steps, says Petra Jürgens, a doctor at TÜV NORD.

According to the World Health Organization, more than half of the European population is not active enough. In a representative study in the USA, only one in 20 adults managed the half hour of ‘moderate exercise’ per day recommended by the WHO.

Moderate intensity means around 100 steps per minute. That's 3000 steps in 30 minutes. “If you walk briskly, you can do 4000 in half an hour,” says Petra Jürgens, a doctor at TÜV NORD. "For the sake of your health, however, it should be a few more: 8,000 steps a day would be good, 10,000 even better."

The figure of 10,000 steps is a well-known rule of thumb. It goes back to an advertising campaign for a pedometer from 1964, but it also corresponds to today's scientific findings.

A representative long-term study in the USA recorded the daily step count of almost 5,000 adults aged 40 and over. Ten years later, almost one in four had died, most of them from cancer or cardiovascular disease. Taking 8,000 steps a day instead of 4,000 halved the risk of death. It didn't matter whether people walked at a leisurely or brisk pace, how old they were or whether they were overweight or had pre-existing conditions.

Do healthy people simply run more? Or does running actually prolong life? The latter is now considered certain. Because in the studies mentioned, the bonus in lifespan for those who enjoy running was demonstrable even if they were equally healthy or ill as those who do not walk.

You need at least one hour to walk 8,000 steps a day - at a brisk pace. There should be enough time for this at the weekend. But how do you manage this in everyday life, alongside work and family?

Doctor Petra Jürgens recommends: “Start slowly, take your physical condition into account and set realistic milestones.” Even light exercise is good for the heart. This was also the result of a study on men over 70, according to which the length of an individual running phase is irrelevant: it's the total duration that counts. It is therefore sufficient to walk many short distances.

“Take the stairs instead of the elevator, go shopping on foot and walk around the block twice after dinner,” suggests Petra Jürgens from TÜV NORD. A simple trick to get more steps in less time: Music with a brisk beat. “The walking rhythm automatically adapts to the rhythm of sounds,” explains doctor Petra Jürgens. "This not only makes running easier. It's also more fun!"