Is 10K Steps Per Day Really the Key to Health?

How many steps does the average adult get per day versus how many they SHOULD be getting? You hear about the 10K step count everywhere – the gym, ads, Internet, personal trainers… everyone seems to recommend that you reach 10K steps per day in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. So is 10,000 the magic number?

I hate to break it to you guys but… it’s really not! A Japanese researcher in the 60s found through research that the average adult took less than 4000 steps per day, and increasing the amount of steps they took to the nice round number of 10000 steps per day was beneficial for people’s health. And the results? Exercising is better than NOT doing exercise? Hardly a groundbreaking conclusion!

Studies show less than 1 in 5 Australians are getting in their 10,000 steps per day, because let’s face it, it’s not always easy to achieve daily. We suggest rather than struggling and focusing on 10K being a magic number – focus on moving your body, in any way you can, for at least 30 minutes. This way no matter if you end up getting more steps in a day or whether you struggle to get in a lot of steps we can all prioritize to find 30 minutes per day to move our bodies. The 30 minutes doesn’t have to be all at once if that doesn’t suit you – break it up into 5, 10, 15 or 3 minute segments. The important thing is making the effort to move your body and make that commitment to yourself to take CARE of your body. After all, it is the only place you have to live 🙂

It is recommended that you aim to walk 3000-4000 extra steps per day to make sure that you are getting enough exercise to make it beneficial for your body. Fixating on getting 10,000 steps per day won’t necessarily make you lose weight if you aren’t paying attention to everything else (nutrition, mindset). So although getting your “steps up” is important, it’s not imperative to hit the 10K mark every single day – strive to a step goal tailored to your individual needs! Since I am obviously a huge advocate of walking and low impact fitness, here are a few ways for you to get your steps up by simply moving your body with my workout videos.

• Stuck for time? Try one of my 5 minute fat burning workouts! We have workouts to cater to your level of fitness. Try beginner level here or advanced here! Alternatively, for a longer beginner workout, try the new release of my signature walking workout Dance that Walk 2 and you can stream it instantly here!
• Have a little bit longer? Here is my most popular waist-shrinking walking workout set to ABBA tunes. 10 minutes to walk and tone right in the comfort of your own home!
• Sweat and tone to a 20 minute home workout to tunes you know and love here or smash a full body cardio LIIT sesh here! My 10,000 steps walking workout, Dance that Walk: Cardio Party, will give you a great sweat and is also a premium, long workout too.
• Love some Latin energy infused into your workouts? My ten minute Latin Energy segments will have your blood pumping in no time. Do one or do all, depending on your fitness levels and time frames. These are more difficult and will have you burning fat in no time.
• Looking for an intense, low impact HIGH sweat full body workout? Look no further DTW: Total Body Circuit. You will be shredding pounds, sweating up a storm, and toning your body all at the same time. Get your BEST sweat on in a full-length workout with me!

Move to the BEat! 

The takeaway here is that any increased activity is the way to keep your body healthy and happy. 10K steps per day may not be a strict necessity, but you do need to movement goals that can be made up with a step count or a specific amount of activity time that suits you individually. The key is finding something that you love to do in order to maintain your fitness levels and create long term, sustainable, healthy habits. Aim for your own magic number! Maybe that looks like 2000- 4000 steps over what you normally do per day or 10 extra minutes of activity and get that in however suits you: whether it’s dancing, walking or dancing that walk 😉