The recommendation to take 10,000 steps per day for good health originated in Japan in the 1960s as part of a marketing campaign. A pedometer called the "manpo-kei," which means "10,000 steps meter" in Japanese, was marketed by a company named Yamasa Tokei Keiki Co. in the mid-1960s. The device was named after the Japanese saying "Hakken Issho," which means "10,000 steps a day for good health."
The idea of walking 10,000 steps per day for good health gained popularity in Japan and spread to other countries. The number 10,000 was chosen because it was considered to be a catchy and memorable number, and it represented a challenging but achievable goal for most people.
While the 10,000-step recommendation has been widely promoted as a goal for good health, it is important to note that the specific number of steps required for good health may vary depending on an individual's age, sex, weight and other factors. Regardless of your individual needs, there is no question that walking and staying active in general is a great way to improve overall health and well-being.
Side note: Our lives have changed considerably in the last 60+ years. As such we have become much more sedentary and technology has only made this worse. As such some people will really struggle to get 10,000 steps per day, especially if their job will often require back-to-back meetings.
If this is you and currently you average 3000 steps per day aiming for 10,000 steps makes very little sense. Instead aim to average 1000 more steps per day for the next 2 weeks .
Achieve that? Add another 1000 steps and repeat the process.
Don’t achieve it, look at your current days and see how you can find that extra 5 minute walk in your day.
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