Do You Really Need to Walk 10,000 Steps a Day?

You may have heard that you should walk 10,000 steps every day to stay healthy. That number shows up on fitness apps and smartwatches all over the world. But scientists are now saying that goal might be higher than it needs to be. New research suggests that walking around 7,000 steps a day can already give your body major health benefits.

So where did the 10,000-step goal come from? It did not start with a doctor or a science study. It actually came from a marketing campaign in Japan in 1964, when a company was selling a pedometer — a small device that counts your steps — before the Tokyo Olympics. The number 10,000 was chosen partly because, in Japanese writing, it looks a little like a person walking. There was no real science behind it at all.

A large new study published in 2025 looked at 57 different research papers about walking and health. Researchers found that walking more steps each day is good for you in many ways. People who walked 7,000 steps a day had a 47% lower chance of dying early compared to people who only walked 2,000 steps. They also had a 25% lower risk of heart disease and a 14% lower chance of getting diabetes.

Even small improvements in step count can make a real difference. Going from 2,000 steps to 4,000 steps a day cut the risk of early death by 36%. But the benefits do slow down after a certain point. Melody Ding, a scientist at the University of Sydney who led the study, says that after about 7,000 steps, each extra step helps less and less.

Walking speed also matters, not just how many steps you take. Scientists measure walking speed using something called cadence, which is the number of steps you take per minute. A study from Monash University in Australia tracked more than 64,000 people for about eight years. It found that walking at a faster pace gave health benefits similar to simply walking more steps.

Experts say the sweet spot is walking between 7,500 and 10,000 steps a day, with some of those steps at a faster pace of about 100 steps per minute. The most important message is simple: any amount of walking is better than none. If you cannot walk far, try walking faster to get more out of your time. And if you are short on time, look for small chances to add steps — like parking farther from a store and doing a brisk walk to the door.