Fitness trackers and smartwatches recommend taking 10,000 steps a day. But a prominent physician expresses doubts about this recommendation.
If you want to live a healthy life, should you take 10,000 steps a day? Thats not really correct. (Source: Netzwelt)
- The 10,000-step mark is an industry invention.
- According to a prominent sports doctor, 7,500 steps are perfectly sufficient.
- Fewer than 5,000 steps are not recommended in the long run.
10,000 steps are set as a daily goal for many fitness trackers. But according to doctors, it is not necessary to walk that many steps every day. 7,500 steps are completely sufficient, explains the well-known sports physician Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt in an interview with the Bild newspaper.
This is how the 10,000-step recommendation came about
The “10,000 steps” are much more a kind of “urban legend”. The British daily newspaper Guardian already looked into their origin in an article in 2018 and spoke to sports scientists from the University of Tennessee and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, among others.
According to the reporters, the magic number dates back to the world’s first wearable step counter called “manpo-kei,” which was launched in Japan in the 1960s. The name literally means “10,000-step meter”. Through the name of the step counter and clever marketing, the 10,000 step mark has gradually established itself as a natural reference value for an active lifestyle.
According to the Guardian report, it was only later that she was scientifically examined. However, the studies were always designed in such a way that they only clarified whether 10,000 steps are healthier than 3,000 steps, for example.
Movement is still important
It was not checked whether perhaps 6,000 or 8,000 steps would also be sufficient. According to the researchers interviewed by the Guardian, some recent studies suggest this. In general, it can also be said that a sedentary lifestyle and an average of less than 5,000 steps per day can lead to weight gain and other problems. This is also confirmed by Müller-Wohlfahrt in the picture interview. According to him, sitting has become a widespread disease and is now just as dangerous as smoking.
Also interesting…
Using a fitness tracker to motivate yourself to exercise more in the new year is still a good resolution! However, you should not doggedly pursue the 10,000 step goal.
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