Friday Feature: 10,000 Steps

Sitting here on my rump after my third Zoom day this week (thank you, winter weather!), I check my Fitbit which informs me that I have about half as many steps in as I usually do by this time of day. While my new Fitbit seems to credit me for more steps and less sleep than my old one did, I'm pretty sure it's right this time around. 

When I was working full time, it was pretty easy to log 10,000 steps a day. Now, when much of my work involves sitting in front of a computer, I find it more challenging. Though I aspire to 10,000 steps each day, I wonder about that number. Why 10,000? Why not 9,000? or 10,550?

A recent article in The Conversation shares evidence that 10,000 steps is, indeed, more random than carved in stone. While an active lifestyle has many benefits, studies have shown that 10,000 steps is far from a magical number and, in fact, about half that has benefits. And, for you overachievers, benefits don't seem to continue accruing at the same level once we hit 7500 steps.

This doesn't mean I'm planning to cut my goal in half, but it does mean that I can, perhaps, cut myself some slack on the days when writing and prep have kept me more sedentary than I'd like. It also means that perhaps my very mushy, non-quantitative goal for 2021 was more on track than I thought.

Move more. And ditch the guilt. It doesn't have any health benefits.