Three reasons why you should walk 10,000 steps.

Welcome to Walking is Fitness.

This is a podcast of action, providing a little extra motivation to help you keep that fitness promise you made to yourself.

Hi, I'm Dave. I've been walking for fitness since 2013, averaging about 21,000 steps a day.

I'm walking right now and would love to have you join me for the next 10 minutes.

I was recently listening to a podcast. The guest was Shane O'Meara. He's a neuroscientist several years ago.

I think 2019, although I'm not absolutely certain of the year,

but he wrote a book in praise of walking.

And it was really a scientific look at why walking is beneficial,

particularly in the area of brain health.

Dr. Romero was asked the question about 10,000 steps.

Should you walk 10,000 steps? Is that a good goal? And his answer surprised me. I mean, really surprised me. And I don't know that it was so much what he said, but it was his tone.

There's no scientific research behind 10,000 steps that actually started with a Japanese company that made pedometers.

And they gave it a name, Japanese name, that means 10,000 step meter.

An advertising marketing campaign behind that, and that 10,000 steps stuck.

Plus, we just like big numbers.

There's just something about that number, along with it being embedded in the public

consciousness for decades, that it has become the default goal. When you get a step tracker,

whether it's a Fitbit, Apple Watch, Garmin, whatever, that you're expected to walk 10,000 steps a day.

And so this research a few years ago was really generated huge headlines.

They found the researchers discovered that the health benefits of walking for exercise really tailed off

after about 7,500 steps.

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