Episode 26. The 10,000 Steps a Day Recommendation: Truth or Myth?

It seems like common knowledge that we're supposed to get 10,000 steps per day to maintain good health—but where did this recommendation come from? You might be surprised!

Let's chat about if 10,000 steps per day is actually beneficial to our health, how to include more movement in your day if you struggle, and how to adjust our mindset and expectations about exercise and movement.

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-Ashley & Carrie
This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice. 

Transcript

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hey it's Carrie and Ashley we welcome
you to the self-care Cafe we are both
health professionals and moms and nature
lovers and food lovers and love helping
women get over dieting and just start
living we think that talking about
bodies and perfect bodies and dieting is
just
boring did we put you to sleep there
Carrie yes so if you are ready to ditch
dieting and get to living and talk about
more important things then you are in
the right place we don't put shame and
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have to tip us
nope come hang with us the advice is
free we want to have have a bunch of
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get real with and it's time to start
living
ladies hey Carrie hey Ash how are you
doing I'm great how are you doing good
wonderful what's on the menu this week
well you know we've been talking about
wanting to do that the 10,000
steps idea such a common recommendation
right like make sure you get 10,000
steps in each day um but there are some
new research that shows
that you probably don't have to get
10,000 steps to improve your health and
to um just live
longer
um so yeah there's it's um what's really
interesting and maybe a little scary is
that the 10,000 steps recommendation
isn't even based on science so where did
it come from well in the 60s this
Japanese company came up with a
pedometer and um the Japanese
interpretation for it meant 10,000 steps
and because in the 60s it wasn't digital
right it was just like a step counter
thing and um it only went up to 10,000
steps so um that's why it was called
that and that's where it came from so it
was wasn't even based on science so
we've been stressing ourselves out
trying to get 10,000 steps a day no
reason
correct well and and let's not forget
that movement is important period right
but the 10,000 seems a bit
um like a lot I guess I don't know well
it equates to about five miles a day oh
right so right so
give or take um so yeah that's a lot and
it's hard to get if you have a job where
you're more
sedentary to try you know in the past I
would be like oh my gosh I haven't I've
only gotten like 2,000 I need to get
moving and start you know marching in
place or just doing crazy things to try
to get it
and like we said like Ashley said
movement is important right like that
and exercise is my background so I'm
it's important movement our bodies are
made to move but the way that we go
about it and stressing ourselves out
over it is not healthy right it's
actually
probably um not necessarily like um
discounting the exercise that we're
doing but it isn't helping with our like
stress hormones and right all that right
right exactly yeah so go ahead well I
was going to ask you so what does
research show because there's new
research out that has actually tested um
how many steps a day um we is like kind
of that sweet spot right that where we
do get some health benefits and um it
decreases the risk of dying early in
other words it increases longevity um
and things like that and the new
research
shows it's about 7,000 steps a day
instead of that 10,000 so Carrie do you
know what the mile equivalent is on that
one um that would be
about hold on you're asking me to do
math Under Pressure
um like well four be like probably three
okayish right because what's a five
three to three and a half yeah okay well
that sounds much more reasonable and
like you said we we're gonna find that
we're doing the movement that our body
will benefit from and also
probably our health as well as our
mental health with mood and things like
that too because exercise can help with
all of that and we're not going to have
that extra layer of okay 7,000 is
reasonable but 10,000 is just super
difficult to meet and so we're not
having that extra layer of stress or
Panic yeah and here here's another
little Pearl that will help too um
because one of the studies that we're
talking about is in the Journal of the
American College of
Cardiology and it was a metaanalysis of
12 smaller studies so it was a review of
all these other studies that were
previously done and what those
researchers found was that as few as
2600 steps per day demonstrated some
cardiovascular B so some heart benefits
for your heart and uh reduce the risk of
early
death and then those benefits so 2600
was sort of the the minimum right and
then the more you got the benefits did
increase but once you hit about
8,800 so
8,800 um steps per day they kind of
leveled off interesting that is so
interesting so as little as not that
2600 steps is nothing um right but also
it's so interesting that after the 8,800
you said it doesn't really matter how
much more you do it's like oh well
10,000 is way more than that and we
don't necessarily need to so anywhere
between that 2600 to 8,800 is helpful
and I think taking it back also to like
do we need to track these
things right I feel like most of us are
getting fairly close to that 2600 a day
like I sometimes check my I have an
iPhone so I check my health app and it
tells me my steps and I just do it out
of curiosity for the most part I don't
have like a goal that I try to meet
every day or anything it's just like
okay I wonder what this looks like or
what have my patterns been and I feel
like excuse me most days just working
from home and taking my dog for one 15
20 minute walk sometimes I'm definitely
meeting that 2600 so it doesn't seem
astronomical and it seems much more
attainable for people that are super
busy people that are working desk jobs
people that are like on the go but not
physically active if that makes sense
like going from one place to another in
your car or sitting at work or whatever
like you might be bouncing around a lot
but we're not
necessarily getting steps
but I feel like just moving around a
little
bit and I think I think it's reasonable
to to
um like you did like check it now and
then just to kind of check in and see
how many steps you're getting um and
then you'll know
like Ashley said just like with food
it's about your patterns right so it's
if if you know like this is how much you
normally move and so you check it maybe
you know once a week or whatever just to
see what your pattern is and you know
okay on my work days I'm averaging about
this many and then you then you know you
don't have to obsess about it and and
you know if you're getting hitting on
the low end and you want increase it
then you say okay well how can I do that
right so how can you intentionally
increase your movement throughout the
day what are some ideas for that I think
we have so
many um I think it depends on where
you're at too
like if you are saying I would like to
include more movement I think we can
just become a little bit more
intentional about it we don't
necessarily have to set up this strict
regimen of we have to do this we have to
do that like you
can and then is that sustainable for you
I guess or if you already do that how is
it serving you are you enjoying it are
you miserable when you're doing it um
kind of looking at your mindset around
the activity and making it more um enjoy
able I'm not sure if that's the right
word for sometimes we
choose sometimes we choose our
activities based on how many calories
we're going to burn right so that's
another whole other issue is what are
you exercising for if you're exercising
to try to sculpt your body a certain way
and you're trying to um burn the fat off
your body and you're trying to burn
calories that makes the movement a lot
less enjoyable right because you're
simply doing it to reduce reduce or
increase numbers depending on what
you're doing um and there's not really
a I feel like if you have sort of more
of an emotional connection to your
movement right like this is something I
really enjoy doing this feels good um I
really like doing this that's different
from
uh shoot I got to go to the gym and I've
got to you know run on that treadmill I
hate doing it it's so freaking boring
and um you know and I feel like
everyone's looking at me or you know or
you get there and you get start compar
the comparison game right and you're
looking at everyone else and and again
not saying that the gym is bad or
anything like that we're saying what is
your intention what are the things you
are struggling with what are your
thoughts going through your head what
you're there um and we both totally get
it right like we've both been there um
and so what is the reason that you're
exercising because if it really is just
to burn calories you have to burn off
what you ate you know because you ate
something you quote unquote shouldn't
have right do you see how this all it we
it rolls right back into all of that and
it makes you feel crappy um um so if if
the exercise that you're doing doesn't
make you feel
better then why are you doing it exactly
and
also um I feel
like that mindset piece is so important
we have to find what works for us like
have you tried different things in the
past look into those
experiences and see what worked what
didn't work what' you like what didn't
you like um because we can be
intentional about our movement without
being obsessive or hyperfocusing on it
right we can say to oursel I want to
move my body because I know it feels
good to me in XYZ ways and how can I do
that this week or this month or whatever
it might be yeah um so when before
Co it's always like that that ruler that
I seem to go by before Co
hit um I was teaching I I pretty much
got my movement my workouts in because I
taught classes and I for years that's
how it was and then Co hit and all of a
sudden everything came to a screeching
halt and I was like
oh like I'm not teaching right now what
am I going to do and um my body started
changing
and I didn't feel good in it and because
I wasn't moving also you know um you've
probably heard me say before I've got
arthritis um and that started acting up
even more because I wasn't moving
regularly um so like even those of us in
this field were right there with all of
you right like it wasn't
like it affected everyone um so I've had
to um find ways
to get my movement
in
because that whole aspect of my life
completely
changed um so it was good though it was
good for me to be reminded how people
who struggle with getting enough
exercise and movement in um because it
took a while to and even now I still
constantly adjusting so I work more from
home
now um and really I only teach one class
a week now um a yoga class
so I've had to adjust what I do so
working from home of course you're more
sedentary right um so I
got a really amazing standup desk I
don't know how I lived without it
before I got it last year um and I love
it so I can stand which means because
I'm a I'm a fidgeter so I'm always kind
of moving anyway moving as we're
recording I'm moving right now um and
so so and then when I sit I use my
stability ball so I'm also always
wiggling and moving so and whereas
before I didn't have a good setup at all
i' sit on my couch with my laptop and my
lap it was awful so um since getting the
right tools right um it's helped out a
lot and even if you can't get tools
there's other ways to do things too like
parking further away whenever you go
anywhere I oh my boys I know my my boys
would complain Mom it's raining can't we
park closer
no walk there was interesting point
there was a study for real that was done
that showed that people if you're one of
the people that drives around the
parking lot looking for a close spot you
do not get in the store any faster than
the person that parked further away and
walks
so if you thinking it TimeWise you're
not saving yourself any
time yeah or like taking the stairs if
you're in a bigger building or even at
home just going up and downstairs but
please be
careful um taking extra trips like
taking groceries in or if you are I used
to use this and do this myself if you
have to go to the next floor up in a
building go actually two floors up and
then back down um that does a little
extra not in the elevator not in the
elevator walking the stairs um if your
family watches TV together you could do
some fun exercise challenges and that's
kind of fun for everybody get some
competition going if you like that or
it's just you you know just moving
around during your shows get up get up
during the commercials right if you have
commercials yes if you have
commercials if not you could do five
minutes here five minutes there because
I think research also shows Carrie that
it's not necessarily about always how
much activity you're doing but it's more
like how often or maybe it's the flip
side where um sitting for longer periods
of time is um riskier for your health I
guess yeah yes yes and yes like we know
we know that sitting too long so um
there have been studies that showed that
sitting too long increases your risk of
heart disease as much as
smoking um so it's a really good reason
to get up and and move
and you we were laughing like because I
we drink so much water I have to get up
it anyway my my old bladder doesn't hold
it as well so I have to get up
frequently um to either get more water
or to go pee um but I also have made it
a habit of making sure so one thing that
I do for work is I edit articles so in
between each article because it's
tempting I just want to get get it done
right so to just move from one to
another but I have purposely made myself
stop and get up and I do laps around the
house if it's nice out I'll go outside
and do it if it's not I just do it right
inside and I just you know it's like
five minutes um and there's other
research that shows taking those breaks
helps you focus better um it kind of you
know gets the blood flowing again um
your um oh my gosh what is it called
your um this is awful and then because
it's GNA be it's all related oh my gosh
never mind okay you'll come back to it
shout it out if you remember
attention
span that was not done on purpose I
swear oh my gosh that's
hysterical Cates improves you know what
really I just kind of is making me think
like the the idea that we have to rush
through work and get everything done and
not take breaks is like that total
productivity or like hustle mindset MH
and a lot of us have that it's just kind
of programmed unfortunately but it's
interesting if we just shift the way we
think about it like car was saying
instead of I need to get all this work
done and if I get up that's taking away
from
work we could change it to if I get up
and move I'm taking care of my body and
I will be able to work better like yeah
your your production is actually going
to improve right um and there's and
there's research that behind that as
well right and not only is the
productivity piece something that's
important to us but taking care of our
bodies really could be more of the
priority there too like we're I feel
like most of us are always looking for
something quote unquote better to do for
our bodies or our health or ourselves
and these are some really simple ways to
do that and it's hard because it's just
like creating that habit piece but also
that mindset
we have to adjust how we think about it
right and it doesn't have to be a you
know if you work someplace where you
can't go and do laps or
whatever then um it can be something as
simple as doing some squats at your desk
or you know keep an exercise band in
your drawer um it's doing leg lifts yeah
leg there's so many desk exercises that
you can do you can do push-ups against
your desk you can there's just there's a
lot that you can do right at your desk
um and you know I know a lot of
companies are going to they ring a
little bell when it's time to take a
break which I think is awesome I wish
more companies did that you could also
um set reminders on your phone or if
you're not supposed to really have your
phone at work um you could do like your
outlook Calendar or whatever scheduling
tool your work uses and set it for every
couple hours or every hour just be like
hey reminder get up and move a little
bit or just stand up or March in place
for a minute or I don't know if you have
a trash can like do toe touches to the
top of it or
something and you could get employees
going you know with it too and or if you
if you have a an employee Wellness
person or committee make these
suggestions to them um right because
these are way more sustainable than like
like The Biggest Loser challenges those
are terrible um or the ones that only
last for a week or one month or whatever
like everyone thinks of it as it's just
a challenge so it's going to be done
when it's over some people might take
some St from it but it's creating those
habits like we always talk about yeah I
hate those biggest loer challenges I
hate
them definitely uh what else did we miss
anything I don't think so I think I
think thinking about and I I find that
this is sort of related to eating fruits
and veggies if you're doing something
for activity whether you feel like it's
quote unquote enough or not it's
probably enough and the same goes for
eating fruits and vegetables I feel like
we all think we have to get so many more
than what is actually quot like
recommended um because we're having such
high expectations for
ourselves well it all counts right like
we get we almost act like well if I you
know let's say you're still using the
10,000 steps if I don't get the 10,000
I've failed you know somehow whatever
you did do doesn't count at all and
that's just not true at all you know
like I said that the studies show 2600
steps a day is going to give you some
health improvements
so it just depends on where you're at
where's your health at what do you you
know like we always talk about start
where you're at um and I think I've
always recommended to people who you
know say I just I hate exercise I don't
want to you know I just hate it um then
just move more by like the the the tips
that we gave earlier just start moving
more and then you you might once you
feel you know you realize oh I really
feel better now that I'm moving more
then that kind of Builds on itself so
start where you're at don't start where
your friend is at or where your for
former self used to be at or where you
want to be right now start where you're
at right now just be honest with that
and um do what you can to start building
in and be intentional with it um it's
not going to just happen if you just
wing it right um be intentional with it
plan it out um plan if you have a
planner you know and you you're listing
things you have to do and and like
Ashley said the research shows that
breaking it up
um it doesn't have to all be done at all
at once you can break the the movement
the exercise up throughout the day and
it all still counts so like I'll have
I'm working at home I'll keep my weights
out and if I you know I'll take a couple
laps and then I'll do a set of Weights
you know and that's how and by the end
of the day I've gotten a whole workout
right it does doesn't have to be done
all at once and I feel like that might
be more helpful for people that have a
tricky relationship with exercise
because if we go all gung-ho and say
we're doing like five reps of Weights we
might feel really tired and miserable
after because it was too much for us but
we had this yeah and so if we break it
up it's much more manageable and not so
miserable and so we might keep going
with
it right and some people enjoy like
again like and I like and I am one of
them like I do a full workout I do enjoy
that um and it I feel better afterwards
but if you're someone that doesn't enjoy
that or you're struggling with finding
the time where do I put in like a whole
hour of exercise whatever it is um
breaking it up throughout the day and
also if you have um
diabetes um or are headed that way
moving throughout the day helps with
your blood sugar control too as long as
you're eating right you have to be
eating too yes I mean there's a lot more
to that but
yes that's that's just the the tip of
the iceberg but
um yeah it it helps with that too def so
to prevent those
Spikes all right anything else I don't
think
so this was a fun one to chat about yeah
this was fun I've been moving the whole
time I
know I dance at my desk oh a dance party
that's another great way to get yes
everybody forget about that or even just
like if you have music on quietly at
your desk you could like sit and dance
you don't have to be like sping it's
like oh you could also do kull your
pelvic floor exercises right no one even
needs to know that you're doing them ex
they're so important and so forgotten
yes I'm doing mine right now perfect
can't tell can you Ash
nope cool awesome yeah so leave us some
love on social media or on your
listening platform um you can find us
all over the place all of our links are
in the show notes and we will chat with
you next time yes ma'am we love
you latte