I'm a little surprised the headlines aren't bigger on this one.

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 I would love to

have you join me for the next 10 minutes. So the cool spell, the cold snap, the cold front,

still with us here in South Carolina,

temperatures for the second straight day are below normal, about 10 degrees lower than what they

should be this time of year. I'm walking just before sunrise, so the coldest part of the day.

The difference between today and yesterday, there's really not much of a wind, so not much of a

wind chill to speak of.

Yes, I'm rocking the shorts, and yes, up on top, I've got my ski cap on.

Got to keep these ears warm.

For years, maybe even decades, if you walk for exercise for fitness, it's been touted that your

goal should be 10,000 steps.

And this goes back to the mid-60s.

There was a Japanese company that made a pedometer.

Spent a lot of money on a marketing campaign, even gave it a name that in Japanese means 10,000 step meter.

And we like big numbers and 10,000 steps just stuck as the goal if you walk.

That's how many steps you should get every day, 10,000.

And as the popularity of step trackers led by Fitbit grew over the last 10, 15 years or so,

more and more people set that 10,000 steps as their daily goal.

And then a few years ago, some groundbreaking research came out that said,

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