Count steps instead of minutes

More than 14,000 women aged 62 years and older (mean age 71.8 years) were followed up for an average of 9 years. Those who were sufficiently physically active, namely at least 150 minutes per week, developed less cardiovascular disease and less cancer. For one week, the women were given a pedometer that recorded both the number of steps and the number of minutes of moderate to intense activity. Excluding outliers, the women in this study averaged between 3,600 and 7,000 steps per day, which corresponded to 20 to 150 minutes of moderate to intense physical activity per week. So at about 7,000 steps per day, or about 49,000 steps per week, you meet the recommended exercise standard of 150 minutes per week. Those who take even more steps can count on even more health benefits.

For many people, it is more practical to calculate their activity in number of steps, rather than number of minutes. At the same time, step counting is a good way to check if you are meeting the exercise standard. The authors of this study believe the step recommendation gets more people moving than the minute recommendation. They advocate that health care providers, who want to help people move more, convert their advice into steps, people can imagine. A pedometer is in just about every smartphone these days.

Rikuta Hamaya, Eric J. Shiroma, Christopher C. Moore et al.Time- vs Step-Based Physical Activity Metrics for Health. JAMA Internal Medicine,20th May 2024