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[Dalek]

Should 15,000 Steps a Day Be Our New Exercise Target?

Taking 10,000 steps per day is often suggested as a desirable exercise goal for people who wish to improve their health. But a new study of postal workers in Scotland suggests that that number could be too conservative and that, to best protect our hearts, many of us might want to start moving quite a bit more.

It has been almost 70 years since the publication of the London Transit Workers Study, a famous work in which researchers tracked the heart health of London bus drivers and conductors. They found that the conductors, who walked up and down bus aisles throughout the workday, were substantially less likely to develop or die from heart disease than the drivers, who sat almost constantly while at work.

This study was one of the first to persuasively show that being physically active could lower someone's risk for heart disease, while being sedentary had the opposite effect.

Since then, countless large-scale studies have substantiated that finding, and at this point, there is little doubt that moving or not moving during the day will affect the health of your heart.

But precisely how much exercise might be needed in order to avoid heart disease has remained very much in question. The threshold of 10,000 daily steps, incorporated as a goal into many activity monitors today, has not been scientifically validated as a way to lessen disease risk.

So for the new study, which was published this month in The International Journal of Obesity, researchers at the University of Warwick in England and other institutions decided to refer back to but also advance and expand upon the results of that foundational Transit Workers Study by examining another group of employees whose workdays involve mostly walking or sitting. They turned to postal workers in Glasgow, Scotland.

The Glaswegian mail carriers generally cover their routes on foot, not by driving, and spend many hours each day walking, the scientists knew. But the mail service's office workers, like office workers almost everywhere, remain seated at their desks during the bulk of the workday.

This sharp contrast between the extent to which the workers move or sit during the day could provide new insights into the links between activity and health, the scientists felt.

They began by recruiting 111 of the postal-service workers, both men and women, and most between the ages of 40 and 60. None had a personal history of heart disease, although some had close relatives with the condition.

The researchers measured volunteers' body mass indexes, waist sizes, blood sugar levels and cholesterol profiles, each of which, if above normal, increases the chances of cardiac disease.

Then they had each volunteer wear a sophisticated activity tracker for a week, while at work and at home and during the weekend.

Afterward, the researchers determined how many waking hours each day the volunteers had spent seated or on foot. They also calculated how many steps each person had taken each day.

But the greatest benefits came from the most exaggerated amounts of activity. Those mail carriers who walked for more than three hours a day, covering at least 15,000 steps, which is about seven miles, generally had normal body mass indexes, waistlines and metabolic profiles. Together, these factors meant that they had, effectively, no heightened risk for cardiac disease.

Of course, this study provides a single, limited snapshot of people's health and lives. The researchers did not follow their volunteers for decades to see who actually developed heart disease. This kind of study also cannot prove that walking or sitting caused the differences in people's risks factors for heart disease, only that there were associations between activity and risks.

But the findings do imply that there are good reasons to get up from our desk chairs and move, even more than many of us may already be trying to do, says Dr. William Tigbe, a physician and public health researcher at the University of Warwick who led the study.

”It takes effort," he says, but we can accumulate 15,000 steps a day by walking briskly for two hours at about a four-mile-per-hour pace, he says.

Why don't I just quit my job and walk around all day?

 

[SlimySnake]

thats fucking ridiculous. I have been trying to hit 10,000 steps the past six months and have only gotten to 7k once.

 

[crisdecuba]

Should 15,000 Steps a Day Be Our New Exercise Target?






Why don't I just quit my job and walk around all day?

This is why I got a treadmill desk. Right now it stands as the best purchase of my adult life.

 

[chadskin]

No problem.

 

[Red]

I'm lucky enough to have a job that allows me to walk a lot. 15,000 steps is about average for me. Even 30,000 is not unusual.

 

[entremet]

thats fucking ridiculous. I have been trying to hit 10,000 steps the past six months and have only gotten to 7k once.

Cars are killing us all.

It's not that hard in walkable areas. Problem is we designed our living spaces around the automobile.

 

[Bruce Springsteen]

I walk a lot living in the city, 15,000 steps is a very high daily step goal, I'm usually in the 12-15k range without thinking about it

 

[WaterAstro]

Just do a hard 30 minute workout. Walking is barely effective as exercise.

 

[teh_pwn]

Unless you live in a walking city that's a bit of an extreme target. That's roughly 7 miles. Each day. If you live outside of a walking city, a few miles of cardio and a grocery run maybe gets you 4.5 miles.

 

[Subpar Spatula]

Run 5k each day. Takes like 30 minutes or less.

 

[RSP]

I have trouble getting past 5k steps a day ...

 

[Fenderputty]

Won't happen for me. I struggle to hit 5K-7K on a daily basis. My wife and I walk on the weekends when we have time. We hit 10K+ those days. Work, traffic and a child kinda kill my ability to do physical activity during the week. I sit on my ass all day at work.

 

[Yaboosh]

I'm on my feet walking around all day at work and only average 8000 steps.

 

[hitme]

20k steps/day on average with my new job.

Lost about 10lbs and gained muscle as well.

 

[CrocMother]

How are you guys counting your steps?

 

[crisdecuba]

Won't happen for me. I struggle to hit 5K-7K on a daily basis. My wife and I walk on the weekends when we have time. We hit 10K+ those days. Work, traffic and a child kinda kill my ability to do physical activity during the week. I sit on my ass all day at work.

If at all possible I would recommend a treadmill desk.

 

[hydrophilic attack]

Cars are killing us all.

It's not that hard in walkable areas. Problem is we designed our living spaces around the automobile.

seriously (if "us all" is referring to americans)

my parents easily hit their goal of 10000 each day in stockholm

How are you guys counting your steps?

pedometer

 

[ZOONAMI]

thats fucking ridiculous. I have been trying to hit 10,000 steps the past six months and have only gotten to 7k once.

Go to NYC or Chicago without a car. You'll hit 15k-20k steps without even realizing it.

 

[teh_pwn]

How are you guys counting your steps?

Fancy new treadmill came with an iFit.

 

[Red]

20k steps/day on average with my new job.

Lost about 10lbs and gained muscle as well.

Yeah... my day job pays very little but I get to walk, and that is an immense benefit for me. I am protecting my life now and in the future. It's one of the reasons that despite my frustration about low wages, I am reluctant to look elsewhere. I don't want to sacrifice my health for better pay.

 

[CrocMother]

Just do a hard 30 minute workout. Walking is barely effective as exercise.

Isn't a less elevated heart rate over a longer period of time more beneficial?

 

[Jag]

Anyone know how to translate elliptical time into steps? My shitty machine doesn't even give you miles, just some vague distance measurement.

 

[Veritigo_X]

I walk a shit ton already living in a city and I think 15k is asking a lot. I'll hit that on weekends, but during the week? Nah.

 

[teh_pwn]

Just do a hard 30 minute workout. Walking is barely effective as exercise.

This advice is geared towards people trying to improve their health. These people cannot run more than 1 mile typically, and may be so overweight that a 2 mile run one day means 2 recovery days.

Anyone know how to translate elliptical time into steps? My shitty machine doesn't even give you miles, just some vague distance measurement.

A fast walk is 4 mph, or a mile per every 15 minutes. So light elliptical for nearly 2 hours per day is what they're suggesting.

 

[Fenderputty]

Run 5k each day. Takes like 30 minutes or less.

I drive 1 hour into work in the morning and then 1.25 hours to get home. I work 8-9 hours daily and when I get home I spend whatever time I have left with my child before she goes to sleep. At this point in time my wife and I finally get to spend a little time with each other before we fall asleep and repeat. We can't do late night walks because our child is asleep and if we staggered our physical activity so one walks early while the other walks late, then we would never see each other.

We used to ride bikes and loved it before she got pregnant. I'm thinking of getting those stands that basically turns your bike into a bike machine.

If at all possible I would recommend a treadmill desk.

Not possible, unfortunately. Thinking about getting something so I can move at night and at home.

 

[John Kowalski]

Man fuck the heart

 

[Oppo]

I buy it.

Since Jan 1 I've been using a fitbit to track my shit, and even though my target for steps is 10k, if I really want to hit my calories-burned goal, that's like 3k calories per day, which requires something more like 13k-14k steps to achieve.

Or, three 15-minute dog walks per day, turns out. Honestly, it really isn't that much to do. Plus litte dumb errands I used to resent before now become opportunities to "get my steps". I have fully Jane McGonigal'd myself.

Just do a hard 30 minute workout. Walking is barely effective as exercise.

Are you kidding? the amount of calories burned from a 5 kilometer walk is barely under what you'd burn on a 5 kilometer run. Walking is great.

You walk for an hour a day, it's like getting a bonus meal in calories.

 

[Keyser Soze]

I have lost 27lbs since the start of the year by trying to hit 10k steps a day (and eating better too).

I always break 8k, but do not always hit 10k... most I did was 13k.

I guess 15k would be a good "keep fit" target once I get the weight off I want to. I think I could try to hit 15K a day if I wanted to now, as my legs no longer feel tired after long 8K+ walks

 

[Red]

I drive 1 hour into work in the morning and then 1.25 hours to get home. I work 8-9 hours daily and when I get home I spend whatever time I have left with my child before she goes to sleep. At this point in time my wife and I finally get to spend a little time with each other before we fall asleep and repeat. We can't do late night walks because our child is asleep and if we staggered our physical activity so one walks early while the other walks late, then we would never see each other.

We used to ride bikes and loved it before she got pregnant. I'm thinking of getting those stands that basically turns your bike into a bike machine.

Is it feasible for you to walk with the kid after work? I went on 10+ mile walks with my son after work during the summer he turned one. He loved watching the cars go past, counting birds, and touching leaves on trees that we passed. We did this a few nights a week. Days I had off we walked even longer. I think 17 miles was our longest—basically the whole day. We both enjoyed it. If he happened to fall asleep, I caught up on podcasts and audiobooks. It was really nice.

 

[Goro Majima]

5,000 steps a day I'd imagine would be an achievement for most (myself included). Some days I check my Fitbit and it'll be like less than 2000. Pretty much have to make time to exercise in order to combat that.

 

[jfoul]

I try to average 15k Steps / 7 Miles daily, but I've been doing this for years. It also helps that in my current situation, exercise is extremely convenient. I work from home, get off at 4pm, step outside and I have access to miles of paved trails in Portland.

 

[benicillin]

I just started walking for a lot of my commute and hit around 7k a day, I don't know where I could fit in another 7.

That being said I used to do regularly less than 1k so I guess an improvement is an improvement.

 

[Mully]

I usually do between 12,000-22,000 steps a day, and I usually have no problem sleeping since I switched careers.

I do wonder how much of an impact high activity work environments have on mental health. I'd hypothesize that a more sedentary workplace could be more harmful to one's mind.

 

[Laevateinn]

I live in the city and have a dog. I probably walk twice this every day.

 

[Shanlei91]

Thread made me check out the health app on my phone to see how many steps I do daily, I walk to and from work every day but never counted before. Seems I walk 16-22k every day, nice.

 

[Fenderputty]

Is it feasible for you to walk with the kid after work? I went on 10+ mile walks with my son after work during the summer he turned one. He loved watching the cars go past, counting birds, and touching leaves on trees that we passed. We did this a few nights a week. Days I had off we walked even longer. I think 17 miles was our longest—basically the whole day. We both enjoyed it. If he happened to fall asleep, I caught up on podcasts and audiobooks. It was really nice.

Traffic ...

She goes to sleep at 7:30 to 8. I get home at 6:30-7 most nights. My wife has a similar schedule. When I get home I usually watch the child while she starts dinner. Then I usually finish dinner off while she feeds our daughter. Then we eat dinner and clean and finally put her to bed.

She loves going on walks though. Our weekend walks are rad. It's the weekdays that are hard.

Hopefully my financial situation continues to improve so I can move closer to work and spend less time in traffic a day (almost 2.5 hours)

 

[Clockwork5]

8 miles per day? We're doomed.

 

[Nealand Liquor]

I average between 12-17k at work and I think for the average person 15k is way too high of a goal.

 

[Fantastical]

I live in the city and have a dog. I probably walk twice this every day.

You walk 14 miles every day?

 

[UnemployedVillain]

7 miles a fucking day? I'm easily in shape enough that that isn't a problem, physically, but I don't have however many hours (probably not 3 since I'm not lugging around mail and stopping) it would take to walk that many daily. I try to walk at least 30 mins minimum though

I live in the city and have a dog. I probably walk twice this every day.

Yeah, I'm going to call BS. That's the distance walking from Brooklyn to the Bronx

 

[oti]

Make Pokémon GO better and I'll get there.

 

[Red]

Traffic ...

She goes to sleep at 7:30 to 8. I get home at 6:30-7 most nights. My wife has a similar schedule. When I get home I usually watch the child while she starts dinner. Then I usually finish dinner off while she feeds our daughter. Then we eat dinner and clean and finally put her to bed.

She loves going on walks though. Our weekend walks are rad. It's the weekdays that are hard.

Hopefully my financial situation continues to improve so I can move closer to work and spend less time in traffic a day (almost 2.5 hours)

That's rough. I have about an hour in traffic each day and that's a pain. I've been fortunate this past year to work early shifts (6-230), and if I go in early I can leave early. Which leaves much of the day open. Some days I hate having to wake up at 4:30, but ultimately I appreciate the time I get to spend at home.

 

[perfectchaos007]

Make Pokémon GO better and I'll get there.

Theres a lot of water pokemon out right now as a part of a new event. I caught my very first Lapras yesterday thanks to this event.

 

[samn]

Mass cycling infrastructure would help a lot with integrating exercise into daily activity, but for various dumb reasons it's rarely found even in urban centres.

I have been thinking of walking 90 mins to work - does this seem doable?

 

[Oppo]

I live in the city and have a dog. I probably walk twice this every day.

I also live in the city and have a dog, and that's why i can say with confidence - that is a solid 2h+ of walking to hit 20k steps. I walk my dog 3x daily and that's good for 10k if they are decent. Your math doesn't check out.

15k steps is going to be 90 total daily minutes of walking for most folks i would think.

If you have My Fitness Pal and a recent iphone you can enable auto step tracking without killing your battery easily.

 

[Walter White Walker]

I walk 10,000 steps most days (as measured by my Wii Fit U meter). I don't think 15,000 steps is a realistic goal for most people, though - way too much of a time commitment. Hitting 10,000 steps is much more achievable and realistic.

 

[peteykirch]

My old job had me getting upwards of 25-30k steps a day.

Man I had no idea how much it kept my weight in check versus my new office job.

 

[HeartlessNobody213]

I'm lucky enough to have a job that allows me to walk a lot. 15,000 steps is about average for me. Even 30,000 is not unusual.

Same for me. The building where I work is located in basically a rectangle so pretty much everyone there walks a lot.

 

[siddx]

I do 10k a day but I'm a teacher so I'm on my feet a lot. 15k just doesn't seem like a feasible goal on most days.

 

[Muppet of a Man]

The important information is not 15,000 steps but rather being at least moderately physically active for 3+ hours per day, preferably in an outdoor environment.

This is what our bodies evolved to expect in terms of physically-engaging work and play each day.

If we don't get it, we don't stay fit.

Modern work environments are the problem, as they don't acknowledge this fundamental need.