How much physical activity do I need? This is a question I have continuously received throughout my career as a personal trainer, and it is a loaded one. The honest answer is that it depends. If we were to get really specific, how much daily physical activity you need is dependent on what your goals are and your current fitness level. Although the exact level is different for every person, there are helpful, research based physical activity guidelines available to make answering this question much easier for the everyday public.
Here is a breakdown of the physical activity guidelines set out by the American College of Sports Medicine:
Cardiorespiratory Exercise
Adults should get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week. This is typically met through 30-60 minutes of moderate intensity exercise 5 times a week.
One continuous session or multiple shorter sessions of at least 10 minutes are both acceptable.
Moderate activity could be briskly walking, gardening, heavy cleaning, etc.
Resistance Exercise
Adults should train each major muscle group two or three days each week using a variety of exercises and equipment.
Wait at least 48 hours between resistance training sessions to allow for muscular recovery.
In addition, ACSM also has separate recommendations to include flexibility and neuromotor exercises into your routine.
So what about the recommendation to walk 10,000 steps per day? Was my Fitbit a worthwhile purchase? The World Health Organization published the recommendation for adults ages 18-64 to aim for 10,000 steps per day as a way to log adequate physical activity. 10,000 steps is not a magic number that applies to every individual, it’s merely an estimate. Research has shown that individuals need to walk anywhere between 4,000 and 18,000 steps a day to see significant improvements in their risk of developing chronic illness such as cardiovascular disease. One study reported a reduction in blood pressure for participants walking at least 10,000 steps a day, regardless of their walking speed or duration. Another study showed an improvement in glucose tolerance in overweight women who followed the 10,000 steps a day recommendation for eight weeks.
10,000 steps per day is not meant to override the current ACSM physical activity guidelines. It is instead meant as a supplement and alternative interpretation of how much physical activity is required for disease prevention. Tracking activity in terms of 10,000 steps a day provides the convenience of tracking “incidental” physical activity, as well as accounting for planned bouts of exercise meant to meet the physical activity minimum guideline of 30 minutes per day.
What needs to be noted is that both physical activity recommendations represent the minimum amount of physical activity needed to prevent inactivity related chronic disease. If your goal is weight loss, your physical activity requirements are doubled; ACSM increases the activity requirements to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week. This amount of activity is unlikely to be covered by hitting 10,000 steps a day. In addition, walking alone does not take into account the need for resistance, flexibility, and neuromotor training to gain strength, improve balance, and prevent pain.
Takeaways
10,000 steps a day is generally enough to help prevent inactivity related chronic disease, period. It is not likely to help you lose weight.
10,000 steps a day is a great start, but it should not be an end goal when striving for overall health.
References:
Iwane, Masataka, et al. “Walking 10,000 Steps/Day or More Reduces Blood Pressure and Sympathetic Nerve Activity in Mild Essential Hypertension.” Hypertension Research, vol. 23, no. 6, 2000, pp. 573–580., doi:10.1291/hypres.23.573.
Swartz, Ann M, et al. “Increasing Daily Walking Improves Glucose Tolerance in Overweight Women.” Preventive Medicine, vol. 37, no. 4, 2003, pp. 356–362., doi:10.1016/s0091-7435(03)00144-0.
Tudor-Locke, Catrine et al. “How Many Steps/day Are Enough? For Adults.” The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 8 (2011): 79. PMC. Web. 5 June 2018.