Forget walking 10,000 steps a day—7,000 is enough to halve your risk of early death and improve your heart and cognitive abilities.
And if you are still determined to walk your 10,000 steps, the benefits are marginal, say researchers from the University of Sydney, who took another look at 57 studies that had investigated the benefits of walking, and in particular on the chances of dying from cardiovascular disease and cancer, and developing diseases such as cancer, type 2 diabetes, dementia and depression
Even those who walk only 2,000 to 4,000 steps a day see big health benefits compared to those who walk just 1,000 and fewer steps a day.
The researchers compared the health benefits of walking more steps a day at 1,000 step increments. Compared with 2,000 steps, researchers found that walking 7,000 steps a day reduced the risk of death by 47 percent, while walking 10,000 steps didn’t reduce the risk further. Similarly, walking 7,000 steps reduced the risk of dementia by 38 percent, and this increased by just 7 percent for those walking 10,000 steps.
The biggest benefits were seen in those who increased their daily step count from 2,000 to between 5,000 and 7,000 steps.
If you’re already achieving 10,000 steps a day, keep with it, the researchers say—but many may find that a few steps too far, but could walk up to 7,000 steps, which will still have great health benefits.
Lancet Public Health, 2025; doi: 10.1016/S2468-2667(25)00164-1
Just upping your walking tempo by 14 extra steps a minute can help with overall health and make you stronger and less suspectable to falls and fractures.
Researchers from University of Chicago say that walking 100 steps a minute is the optimum and turns a saunter into a health-giving walk.
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