August 30, 2025
2,000, 7,000 or 10,000? The real number of steps you have to do to lose weight and increase your health

2,000, 7,000 or 10,000? The real number of steps you have to do to lose weight and increase your health

In the present day of smartwatches and fitbits, it is difficult to go for more than a few hours without reaching a sneaky climax at your daily level. Regardless of whether it is the endorphin storm from the solemn ping to inform you that you have taken 10,000 steps, or the nifing feeling of shame, which is associated with the knowledge that you have done – as it has been on my desk on my desk, have become part of our lives.

But they are not just a gimmick. Research is increasingly showing that your daily steps count, especially if you are averaged in months and years, makes a big difference for your risk of illness and how long you can expect that you live. And the case that it no longer moves ensures a sober reading: According to the government’s official statistics, the physical inactivity is responsible for one of six otherwise avoidable deaths.

The monitoring shot counts make it easier to pursue whether we are active or not. While 10,000 are often seen as a magical number, it comes from a Japanese marketing campaign before the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games in Tokyo and not from hard science.

How can the increase in your pedestal difference make a difference for your health and how do different threshold values reduce your risk of illness? And what may be more important, what is really the optimal number you should strive for one day?

Go 2,000-3,000 to reduce your risk of heart disease

Two years ago, international scientific cooperation published one of the largest studies to examine the long -term relationship between the step and health. The combination of data from more than 111,000 people from various electronic health records showed that the lower limit for health services in the range of 2,000 to 3,000 steps per day is. This corresponds to a little more than a mile of total walking from the moment you wake up when you go to sleep.

The advantages appear to be acute when it comes to heart health. Published in the Journal of the American College of CardiologyIt was proposed that between 2,517 and 2,735 steps per day, the risk of cardiovascular diseases reduced by 11 percent, compared to those who have only taken 2,000 steps.

Similar results come from another study published last year by researchers at the University of Sydney. Based on data of more than 72,000 British in the early 60s, it was shown that everything that goes beyond 2,200 steps a day is already making a difference for your heart health and even your short -term risk of dying from a different matter.

“Ideally we want 8,000 to 10,000 steps a day, but for people who are inactive, this amount seems like a mountain and an unreachable,” says Matthew Ahmadi, researcher at the University of Sydney. “It is about determining initial goals that can be reached and then gradually moving to more daily steps while building up their ability to cope with more activities.”

Go 4,000 steps to reduce your risk of dementia

If you occur on 4,000 steps a day on the basis of Sydney Research, you can reduce your risk of early death by chronic diseases by 20 percent, especially if you are at middle age. However, one of the most important things when reaching the daily level of 4,000 to 5,000 is that it reduces its risk of cognitive decline.

The monitoring shot counts make it easier to pursue whether we are active or notThe monitoring shot counts make it easier to pursue whether we are active or not

The monitoring shot counts make it easier to pursue whether we are active or not – Getty

Three years ago, a study with more than 78,000 British aged 40 to 79, which were regularly smartwatch or Fitbit, showed that 3,800 steps seem to be at least daily exercise dose for maintaining their mental faculties. People who had this number of steps per day had a 25 percent lower risk of dementia than those who did less.

“This number of step corresponds to about 35-45 minutes lighter to moderate intensity experience per day, depending on your pace, which corresponds well with that [public health] Guidelines, ”says Dr. Borja del Pozo Cruz, a scientist from the European University of Madrid, who carried out the study.

Go 7,000 steps to reduce your risk of depression

This seems to be the threshold on which the advantages become even more important. 7,000 steps correspond to a little more than three miles of walking, and it seems to be very relevant for mental well -being.

A new study published in December, in which research from 33 different studies, which included around 100,000 people, showed that those who take 7,000 steps a day have a 31 percent lower risk of depression. “7,000 steps are considered an active lifestyle, while less than 5,000 steps are a sitting lifestyle,” says Dr. Bruno Bizzozero Peroni, researcher at the University of Castilla-La Mancha, who wrote the study. “It seems definitely that between 7,000 and 10,000 steps has a protective effect against depression, while there is currently no indication of additional advantages for mental health in order to carry out more than 10,000 steps.”

It was also shown that an average of 7,126 steps a day reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases by 51 percent compared to people who have only taken 2,000 steps.

So do you really have to reach 10,000 steps a day?

This goal that goes about five miles or an hour and 40 minutes can be somewhat discouraging if you want to carry out the full number of steps at once. But as so often, the answer in health and medicine is somewhat complex.

In some studies, it was found that around 9,800 steps a day pose the “optimal dose” of the training to a lower risk of dementia. But as with depression, it seems that you can still significantly reduce your risk of various chronic diseases with a little less.

For example, some have found that around 8,800 steps a day reduce the risk of premature death by a whole series of diseases by 60 percent.

“More steps mean better blood vessel function, less inflammation and improved plasticity of the brain – the formation of new connections in the brain – that are of crucial importance for perception,” says Dr. Del Pozo Cruz.

All of this means that 10,000 steps are not necessarily the magical number. It seems that 9,000 are more than sufficient.

How many steps should I take a day to lose weight?

If you lose weight, you must be in the calorie deficit. Dr. Ahmadi points out that steps alone are not enough, but also the amount they consume must reduce. “However, we know that activity can improve our cardiometabolic health, even if you don’t lose weight,” he says.

While the investigations have shown that reaching 10,000 steps a day increases its probability of weight, the intensity of the movement, not the number of steps, the more important aspect of weight loss is. Researchers advise more intensity, but it does not have to go jogging or doing sports.

“You can be intensively intensified with a lively walk,” says Catrine Tudor-Locke, professor at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte. “It doesn’t have to run.”

Burns many calories?

This largely depends on your weight, the more body fat you wear, the more calories you are likely to burn because the body consumes more energy when it comes to being saved in the form of adipose tissue.

However, the following is a rough guide. For example, around two cups of cherry tomatoes, a piece (or 50 grams) Cheddar cheese corresponds to 200 calories, and a Greek salad is 400 calories.

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