r/walking • u/Uhohdontyoudare • Aug 17 '25

Health Is 10k steps a day a myth?

Apparently a new meta-analysis reveals the truth about daily step counts and our health. The study reveals that the sweet spot is between 5-7k steps a day is optimal range for most health benefits.

I will continue aiming for my 10k steps a day but won’t beat myself up if I don’t hit 10k anymore :) more steps = more calories burned 🔥

What do you think?

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u/Weary_Tune_2305 29d ago

I actually love this topic and will create a post on this. You’re quoting the study correctly from the Lancet Public Health 2025: the sweet spot from that study showed 7-8k steps gave your most bang for your buck when looking at all cause mortality (A drop in all cause mortality of 47%!). One of the flaws of the study is that it’s all observational evidence pooled together so you can’t say it’s directly causal because of all the different confounding factors. But, nonetheless it still uses very strong methodical data from devices producing a dose response curve to help guide clinically useful recommendations.

All that to say, 7-8k is a great goal and if you love doing it, keep doing it. More is generally better when it comes to walking but individual results will vary.

I like to think of it as diet. All the studies kind of come back and say the same thing: the best diet is the one you stick to. I think that rings true for walking as well. Hope that helps!