Results: 10,000 steps a day is a myth — so what's the real number?

Getting 10,000 steps has become a gold standard for healthy living in recent years, but scientists continue to show that there isn't much validity behind it. In 1965, an overwhelmingly successful Japanese marketing campaign was promoting a personal fitness pedometer called the Manpo-kei, which translates to "10,000 steps meter." The Japanese character for 10,000 somewhat looks like a person walking, which might explain how the product got its name and number. In other words, it was never actually based on any science at all but was really just a sales strategy. Have you heard that getting 10,000 steps should be what you aim for daily?

To this day, there's little research to support the idea that you need to take 10,000 strides per day to lead a healthy lifestyle. In fact, many studies show that the sweet spot is closer to 5,000-7,000 daily steps for both older and younger adults. How many steps do you typically get in a day?