The 10,000 steps a day has been “debunked” says underperforming journalist Nicole Lou on MedPage Today. She hasn’t done her research properly, otherwise she would know that 10,000 steps a day is for weight loss; it is the title of a great influential book THE STEP DIET by James O. Hill and John C. Peters. I interviewed James for my Ultimate Science of Slimming Summit, back in 2019.
The number 10,000 came originally from a Japanese company that was selling pedometers in 1965, and they gave it a name that, in Japanese, means ‘the 10,000-step meter.’ It became a buzz in Japan but not here in the West, until the publication of Hill’s book (2004).
Lou’s article is reporting on an Australian study in published the Lancet Public Health (2025) investigating exercize for physical wellbeing (particularly heart health), and psychological health, which is not the same.¹
It is no surprise that upping your exercize game and making sure you do at least 10,000 steps a day makes you feel fitter, fresher, brighter. It lowers the risk of dementia. Reduces cancer mortality and the incidence of type 2 diabetes. It’s good for heart health too. However, there is no magic to the number 10,000. Its origin is in marketing, not physiology or science.
And now, to the relief of many, this large meta-analysis demonstrated convincingly that 5,000 – 7,000 steps a day will do the job nicely! That’s great because 10,000 steps a day (5 miles approximately) is all very well for youngsters but for us Boomers, it’s quite a target.
And maybe you live in a neighborhood where being out walking isn’t safe or you feel unsteady on the sidewalks or (as in Las Vegas where I live) whole sections of the sidewalk are missing, forcing you onto the road.
Basically—up to a point—the more you walk the more your health will benefit. There was a significant reduction in risks of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease incidence, dementia, cancer incidence, cancer mortality, type 2 diabetes incidence, depressive symptoms and falls in people logging more steps; the sweet spot was around 5,000 to 7,000 steps per day, with not much extra benefit by doing more!
Compared with 2,000 steps per day, walking 7,000 steps per day was associated with:
• A significant 47% lower risk of all-cause mortality
• A significant 25% lower risk of incident cardiovascular disease incidence
• A significant 47% lower risk of cardiovascular disease mortality
• A non-significant 6% lower risk of cancer incidence
• A significant 37% lower risk of cancer mortality
• A significant 14% lower risk of type 2 diabetes
• A significant 38% lower risk of dementia
• A significant 22% lower risk of depressive symptoms
• A significant 28% lower risk of falls
“Although 10,000 steps per day, an unofficial target for decades without a clear evidence base, was associated with substantially lower risks for all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease incidence, cancer mortality, dementia, and depressive symptoms than 7,000 steps per day, the incremental improvement beyond 7,000 steps per day was small, and there was no statistical difference between 7,000 steps per day and a higher step count for all the other outcomes,” the investigators wrote in Lancet Public Health.
And in case you are wondering, other research has shown that physical activity can be done on a daily or saved for just 1 or 2 days of the week. Either will bring health benefits.
Thing Is We Need Exercize
We are biological movers; lying and dozing in warm water like hippos or crocs is not for us humans! There are two problems with activity as we age: the loss of muscle power and the general slowing down that comes so easy to us, despite trying to keep it at bay.
Fight back, we must. I find that having a PURPOSE to exercize makes it a happier event: walking to the coffee shop, doing a circuit of the local block, or getting involved in a sport, such as badminton, pickle ball or tennis.
Don’t under-estimate dance. It has advantages over and above the energy output: a good sense of rhythm and music, which are enjoyable anyway; a feeling of grace and beauty (over and above the sweating!); and it works well in short bites, which walking and cycling do not!
Fitness Rings
No need to actually count steps! In the old days I used to have a pedometer. They didn’t seem very durable and in any case I was always misplacing them. These days it’s easy! Even your smart phone or watch will count your steps!
But recently I have gone one further and bought one of those ring health monitors. It looks just like an ornamental ring on my finger (right hand) but actually it’s a clever electronic device, which can monitor your heart rate, HRV, breathing, sleep patterns and steps.
While still fairly new, these smart rings have gained momentum in the fitness industry, since these fitness trackers are much more discreet than watches and bands. In recent studies they’ve been shown to be just as accurate as traditional fitness tracker watches and bands (although the level of accuracy may vary brand to brand).²
The Oura Ring is supposed to be the gold standard model. But I think it’s a rip off: you buy the ring and then you have to pay a monthly fee to access the software. A $300 ring with a $10 monthly subscription ends up costing you $420 in the first year, and $720 over three years! Get tired of paying and you waste the purchase cost of the ring!
I have the RingConn, founded in 2021 by three doctors and launched in 2023. It is sold outright (around $300) and you get the software with it, for life. You can get models in gold, silver, black and rose. For just$1 you are sent a box of different size rings to try on and see which best fits your hand.
The RingConn has a unique shape to it; instead of a circular band, the ring has a rounded square shape, which is supposed to fit the contours of your finger better and also help measure metrics more accurately.
The RingConn has three distinct sensors:
• A 3D accelerometer, which tracks movements and aids in activity tracking
• A temperature sensor to detect skin temperature and provide health and wellness indicators
• A PPG (photoplethysmography) sensor that tracks heart rate and cardiovascular health
Thus the device can be used to track and measure sleep stages and give you sleep scores and readiness insights—as well as stress levels, steps, period forecasts (for women), and overall calories burned. It claims to be the first smart ring to detect sleep apnea, a very dangerous and often missed health condition.
The main complaint I have is that the step count is often suspiciously high and I think not quite accurate. But plenty good enough to make day-to-day, not absolute, comparisons.
[I am not an agent for RingConn and earn no commissions from them].
With or without a smart ring, walk your way to happiness and a long life!
To your good health,
Prof. Keith Scott-Mumby
The Official Alternative Doctor
References:
- “Daily steps and health outcomes in adults: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis” Lancet Public Health 2025; DOI: 10.1016/S2468-2667(25)00164-1.
- J Korean Med Sci. 2024 Jan 15;39(2):e18. doi: 10.3346/jkms.2024.39.e18
