Think you need 10,000 steps a day to be healthy? Think again.
In this episode of the StrongHer Collective podcast, I’m breaking down where that magic number really came from (hint: it wasn’t science), what the research actually says about step counts and health, and why small, consistent movement matters more than hitting an arbitrary target. We’ll dive into the real benefits of walking, the importance of making fitness accessible, and why strength training still reigns supreme for overall health.

Major takeaways:

More steps correlate with better health outcomes, but you don't need 10,000 steps to see big benefits!

• 1,000 steps reduces risk of death by 15%, 500 steps reduces risk of death by cardiovascular emergency by 7%.
• A 2019 Harvard study of nearly 17,000 older women found that those who walked just 4,400 steps per day had a 41% lower risk of death compared to the most sedentary group, with benefits increasing up to about 7,500 steps—after which the impact plateaued, suggesting more steps aren’t always significantly better.
• More recently a 2022 study (Liu et al.) found a similar leveling off of benefits at 7,500. In this meta analysis, researchers found that those who walk 4,000 steps lower their risk by 37%, 6388 lowers by 60%, and 10k has a 75% lower risk. If you graph this, the steepest reduced risk happens around the 7500 mark.

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