The 10,000 Step Culture - An Obsession with a Certain Number

I read an article published on The Guardian on 10,000 steps.  It shows that there is no good science behind 10,000 steps.  There is nothing to support that 10,000 steps is the minimum benchmark for what you need each day.  There haven't been studies to see if 8,500 steps, 12,000, or 15,000 for instance are just as good or if not better (the latter two being better).

There have been studies done, one on elderly Japanese people who wore pedometers for a period of time, found that getting more steps helped reduce the risk of various things verses those that didn't actively try to get more steps. But those in the western world probably don't think about that. They do it just because that's what we've been told to do. They don't necessarily do it for the exercise.
The problem with the 10,000 step culture is it has gotten people obsessed with needing to get 10,000 steps.  You can get 10,000 steps just by doing things around the house, or by walking around the office or whatever you do at work.  Before I changed it, my phone's health app had 6,000 as the default number of steps and I could get it just by walking around at work and whatnot.  I've said I'm walking to get my steps in.  But that's the wrong reason to walk.  Don't just walk to get your steps in.

The article says that you should get your heart rate elevated and your blood flowing when getting your steps in verses just walking for the sake of getting your steps in.  The former is the better to go about it.  When I go on my walks, I could simply walk.  But I like to do a bit of power walking which elevates the heart rate, blood flowing, and gets me sweating.  I don't even think about the steps as I can easily get over 10,000 steps on my walks.  There have been times I have gotten over 20,000 and even 30,000 steps when walking.  It thought it was crazy I got that many.  But is getting those high amount of steps doing anything more for you than smaller number steps?

A more recent article in the New York Post also says that it is not gospel.  it also says that 10,000 steps is not doing anything more for you then 7,500 steps.  So why obsess over 10,000 steps?  The article isn't saying you shouldn't get 10,000 if you can.  It is saying you will live just as long those who 10,000 steps if you only get 7,500.  The study only looked at mortality not look at quality of life.  So more studies need to be done.

Until reading both articles, I never knew pedometers went as far back as the 1960s.  Both articles said that the device, invented before the 1964 Tokyo Olympics to promote movement, was called a “manpo-kei.” In Japanese, “man” means 10,000, “po” means steps and “kei” means meter. Together, it was the 10,000-steps meter.  That was the earliest known campaign of what people are now obsessed with. 

Again, nobody saying to not go for 10,000 if you can.  All that is being said is not obsess over something that doesn't do anything more for you than a smaller number of steps.  It is better to get educated on the culture of 10,000 steps and not just blindly follow something you've been told.  Don't buy into what you've been led to believe.  Don't buy into the whole 10,000 step culture.  Get steps in for the right reason.  Not every gets steps in for the right reason.

What did these people do before pedometers, Fitbit, Apple watches, and health apps were around? Why do they now need to obsess over 10,000 steps when they didn't before? If they were active before these things were around, why do they need them now? It seems like a cop out and an excuse to be and or remain active.

Don't get steps in to appease the 10,000 step culture.  Some people are doing just that which us the wrong way to go about it.  10,000 steps is not gospel.  10,000 steps is not written in stone. Get steps in because you like walking and not just to achieve a certain number.