Anyone with a smartwatch or fitness tracker knows that Walk 10,000 steps a day is the perfect recipe for staying healthy.
He linked that magic number of steps to a variety of health benefits, such as weight loss and a reduced risk of cancer, dementia and heart disease.
But where did this number come from? The truth behind this may surprise you, it’s not about research or science.
Tom Yates, Professor of Physical Activity and Behavior at the University of Leicester in the UK, told the Daily Mail that there is no evidence that this has anything to do with science.
The origin of the story!
And the tale began shortly before the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, as there was a lot of interest in fitness in Japan, and many local companies tried to capitalize on the hype.
In this context, Yamasa devised a marketing ploy to sell a pedometer called Manpo-Kei – which literally translates to “10,000 steps meter”.
Some believe the company chose this name simply because the Japanese character for 10,000, 万, looks similar to a walking man.
1964 advertisement for the Manpo-Kei pedometer.
There was no real reason behind the number other than that it was a round, memorable and cute number.
The company also had no scientific evidence to back it up, they just wanted to sell their products and inadvertently influenced the fitness industry for years to come.
Do we need 10,000 steps?!
In addition, many studies have looked at whether or not people really need to walk 10,000 steps per day to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
However, until recently studies were only done on the effects of 5,000 steps and 10,000 steps were never in between.
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Meanwhile, a major study released in March debunked the 10,000-step goal, suggesting that only 6,000-8,000 steps per day is sufficient, and anything over 8,000 steps doesn’t really count in terms of health benefits.
Speed is more important
Another recent study suggested that the speed at which a person walks may be more important than the number of steps.
Experts in Denmark and Australia conclude that 10,000 steps a day may not be necessary if you walk fast.
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“Step counts are easily understood and widely used by the public to track activity levels thanks to the growing popularity of fitness trackers and apps,” said Emmanuel Stamatakis, a professor at the University of Sydney and lead author.
“But people rarely think about the pace of their steps,” he added.