Is 10,000 steps a day good? Yes - but over 40s need to follow one rule, new study reveals

The 10,000-step rule has permeated fitness culture for years, despite being thought up by a pedometer brand in Japan to sell more devices, rather than being backed by any actual scientific evidence.

Perhaps it caught on because it's an easy whole number to aim for on a fitness tracker, maybe because 10,000 steps is thought to burn anywhere between 275 and 820 calories, depending on your weight, or because you could spread your steps out throughout the day rather than doing one walking workout.

While the first two points are true, the third one may not be. According to new research from the University of Sydney and the Universidad Europea in Spain, to reap the benefits of walking, you need to walk continuously for at least 15 minutes in your 10,000-step walk. This is about 1,500 steps in one go.

The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, examined 33,560 UK adults aged 40 to 79 who walked fewer than 8,000 steps per day. 43% walked fewer than five minutes a day, 33.5% walked five to 10 minutes, 15.5% walked 10 to 15 minutes, and 8% walked 15 minutes or more. Their health was then tracked over the following eight years.

It was found that those who walked for longer periods (even those who did under 5,000 steps a day) had a lower risk of early health and cardiovascular disease than those who walked in short bursts.

Those who walked continuously for 10 to 15 minutes every day had a 4% chance of experiencing a cardiovascular event (such as a heart attack or stroke), compared to a 13% risk among those who walked continuously for only five minutes a day.

Is 10,000 steps a day good?

Ideally, we'd all take more steps every day, so if you can do 10,000 steps a day broken up into 15-minute continuous walks, that's ideal. But, there are only so many hours in the day, and the new research suggests you don't need to do that many to improve your wellbeing.

One or two walks a day can be all you need to improve heart health, especially if you're new to exercise or do fewer than 5,000 steps a day, the study's co-lead author, Mr Matthew Ahmadi, said. "There is a perception that health professionals have recommended walking 10,000 steps a day is the goal, but this isn't necessary. Simply adding one or two longer walks per day, each lasting at least 10 to 15 minutes at a comfortable but steady pace, may have significant benefits - especially for people who don't walk much," he said.

Co-lead researcher Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis agreed. He said: "We tend to place all the emphasis on the number of steps or the total amount of walking, but neglect the crucial role of patterns, for example, 'how' walking is done.

"This study shows that even people who are very physically inactive can maximise their heart health benefit by tweaking their walking patterns to walk for longer at a time, ideally for at least 10 to 15 minutes, when possible," he said.

The NHS recommends that everyone gets 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise every week, which includes brisk walking. Alternatively, you can do 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise, such as running.

As with all studies, there are considerations. For example, it's not clear whether those who walked for longer periods already had a high level of fitness. It also only shows a link between walking and improved heart health. The study doesn't prove that walking causes that improvement. However, the researchers did account for smoking, high cholesterol levels, and obesity in participants.

Tips for walking more often

• Go out early in the morning: Why not head out first thing in the morning to get your steps in? Ticking off your walks from your to-do list could give you a hit of endorphins to help boost your motivation in the morning, setting your day off on the right note.
• Keep yourself entertained: Pick up a pair of exercise headphones and collect your favourite music into playlists, or queue up the next episode of your favourite podcast to keep yourself entertained.
• Rope in a friend: Share the heart health benefits with a friend and encourage them to come on a quick walk with you every day. It'll give you the chance to catch up, while being beneficial for your health.
• Track your steps: There's plenty of evidence that logging your workouts and steps with a tracker (like one of the best Fitbits, for example) can have a real benefit to motivation levels, encouraging you to up your step count the more you do.
• Get your steps in at home: If you really don't have time for a couple of 10 or 15-minute walks in your day outside, then you can also do 10,000 steps at home with various indoor walking workouts or by using a walking pad. These mini treadmills go up to about 6km/h and are easy to fold away when you're done.