What I Learned from Walking 15,000 Steps Per Day

First off, I know. There's actually an older Get-Fit Guy episode and article on whether you really should self quantify your fitness goals. It mentions the value of sometimes just unplugging and ignoring the dizzying and often enjoyment-minimizing host of calorie- and step-counting apps and wearable fitness trackers.

At the same time, I have also been known to wear an Apple Watch and I have used and written about a device called a Whoop that tracks a fair share of self-quantification variables, including sleep, heart rate, distance, speed, heart rate variability, and more. Aside from that, one of the easiest numbers I’ve been tracking for a while now is (as boring as it may sound) the number of steps I take each day.

So, what have I learned by counting steps? And how many steps have I been striving to take each day? You’re about to find out.

Research on 10,000 steps per day

Let’s start with a quick history lesson. I mentioned this in my article about whether 10,000 really is a magical number of steps: While fitness tracker manufacturers like Fitbit and Garmin might very well be responsible for the current 10,000-step fixation, the hype actually started in Japan back in 1965. Dr. Yoshiro Hatano, who worked for a company called Yamesa, invented a pedometer. The device was named Manpo-kei, which translates to "10,000-step meter" in English.

Now, lest I throw poor Dr. Hatano under the bus for starting a somewhat misleading craze, let me say this: I'm sure he wasn’t trying to perpetrate the greatest hoax ever pulled on the fitness community. Marketing is marketing, and the device needed a name that would stick. Mission accomplished!

Interestingly, legend has it that this “magic” number was specifically selected after research revealed that men who burn at least 2,000 calories per week by exercising have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. That breaks down to approximately 300 calories burned per day, which most people can achieve by taking—you guessed it—10,000 steps. That's equivelant to about five miles or eight kilometers.

Since that initial research, there have been plenty of other studies showing that 10,000 steps a day can help your overall...

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