The hidden cost of walking 10,000 steps a day.

Welcome to walking as 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 started walking for fitness in 2013 and still take an intentional fitness walk every single day. I'm walking right now.

I'd love to have you join me for the next 10 minutes. 10,000 steps. It is often held as the gold standard goal of walking for fitness has been that gold standard for years.

The history is rather interesting.

You have to go back to the mid-60s.

It was a Japanese marketing company promoting a pedometer,

and they actually gave it a name that meant 10,000 step meter,

kind of stuck and became the goal of, you know,

how far you and I should walk every day, 10,000 steps.

And then recently, as the popularity of step trackers, fitbits, and the like grew,

people began asking the question,

so is there a science behind this 10,000 step goal?

And they discovered, really, not so much.

It was more than marketing campaign.

Plus, we just like big round numbers.

And then a handful of years ago, some research came out

that indicated that, no, you don't

need 10,000 steps a day, that the long-term health benefits actually plateaued after about

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