Man walked 30,000 steps a day: a conclusion

Man walked 30,000 steps a day
So his body has changed

by Stephanie Pingel

January 27, 2021, 5:15 p.m.

Since many of us in the home office and the fitness center have been closed, exercise often falls by the wayside. Many people have since discovered walking for themselves. One of them is Steven, a YouTuber from the USA who calls himself "Simple Man" and has entertained his followers with a number of more or less questionable health challenges. With his last idea he caused quite a stir: He wanted to walk around 100 miles at a time – that's about 160 kilometers.

Four hours of walking a day

For his challenge, Steven needed one thing above all else: time. In order to meet his own target, he had to run about 23 kilometers every day – this corresponds to a good 30,000 steps. He was on the road for about four hours a day. On the sixth day of his challenge, he had to deal with complaints such as exhaustion for the first time. But he was also able to record successes – for example, his calf muscles quickly became more defined.

Just a week after starting his walking challenge, Steven had already lost two kilos and reduced his body fat percentage by around 0.9 percent. The YouTuber's blood pressure had also improved: before the challenge it was 122 to 88, after seven days it was only 117 to 82. According to Steven, his height has even changed: at the end of the challenge he was two centimeters taller than previously. He himself suspects that walking a lot strengthened his spine, making him stand taller and taller. However, he himself points out that he had not explicitly measured his height before the challenge.

Runner's high from walking?

In the end, the YouTuber ran around 176 kilometers, a good 15 kilometers more than he had originally planned per week. As Steven says, it even benefited his soul. He felt really euphoric similar to runners, for whom this feeling is known as runner's high.

30,000 steps a day – is that even healthy?

It is not clear whether Steven was physically fit before the challenge and whether he had previous experience with daily long walks. Therefore, this challenge cannot be recommended to everyone without reservation – injuries such as fatigue fractures or even tendinitis could result. As a challenge lasting several weeks, the concept probably has the same problem as the typical diet: it may help in the short term, but long-term effects can only be noticed if you stay on the ball.

Beginners should also be careful not to overwhelm themselves and start with small steps. For example, 10,000 steps a day are often recommended to do something for your health. To get there, you can, for example, get off the train or bus one stop earlier and walk the rest of the way home. In this way the body gradually gets used to the strain and you can set yourself bigger goals.