10,000 steps. Daily.

Or, at least, that’s the typical reply to the question, "How many steps each day should I be walking?"

But if you’re like most people living a modern, obsessed-with-convenience life (we can get anything delivered to the doorstep these days!), 10,000 steps daily is a herculean task.

Sometimes, even hitting 5,000 steps can be a struggle.

Guess what, though? That's perfectly OK.

You need waaaay fewer than 10,000 steps to see serious health and weight loss benefits.

How many steps each day?

That said, how many steps each day you should take (exactly) ultimately comes down to your goal.

How many steps each day for overall health

For example, if it’s for overall health?

A 2023 meta-analysis of 12 studies published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that you could:

A further increase in step count was associated with progressive risk reductions in both outcomes (up to 8,800 steps for mortality and 7,200 steps for cardiovascular health).

Meaning?

You don't need to think, "Omg, I need to hit 10,000 steps daily to get healthier," get overwhelmed, and then end up not moving throughout the day.

Instead, know that you can start small — and will still see benefits.

And that is why your mindset is so, so important:

5 Crucial Mindset Changes That’ll Help You See Results

What separates those who get results from those who don’t? One word: mindset. Discover the 5 mindset changes you need to join the “do-ers” here.

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For reference, if you're 170 cm (~ 5 ft 7 in) and walk at a pace of 5 kmph (~ 3.1 mph), just 2 km (~ 1.24 mi) would already get you 2,783 steps in the bag. Not bad at all.

Input your stats here to determine how many steps you'd clock for specific distances.

How many steps each day to lose weight

Now, what about weight loss? It ultimately comes down to your current total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) and target calorie deficit.

Let’s work through the (hypothetical) numbers together:

• TDEE: 1,800
• Target calorie deficit: 300

Doing some quick math, your daily calorie intake should thus be 1,500.

Speaking of … should you be counting your calories?

Counting Calories for Weight Loss: When Is It Ever Okay?

Your calorie balance determines your weight. That’s for sure. But does that mean you should count calories in your food for weight loss purposes?

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For some people, this could be a totally workable calorie intake, while for others, 1,500 measly calories will be misery-inducing and quite literally feel like starvation.

If you relate (hard) with the second group of people, there's another way to "create" the necessary calorie deficit.

Which is increasing your TDEE via taking more steps.

Think about it this way. Every additional calorie you burn by walking is an extra calorie you can eat.

So, if you burn an additional 150 calories through walking — this brings your TDEE to 1,950 — you’d be able to consume 1,650 calories daily while maintaining a 300-calorie deficit.

Um … but how many steps each day would you need to walk to burn 150 calories? Wouldn’t it be, like, so many?

Not really.

Once again, if you’re 170 cm (~ 5 ft 7 in) and weigh 73 kg (160 lb.), you’d burn 158 calories just by hitting 4,000 steps.

Check out how many steps each day you’d need to walk for your specific calorie-burn goal here.

Of course, if you’re purely looking at efficiency or calorie-burn-per-minute, walking will never win other, arguably more “strenuous” cardio forms, such as:

FYI: walking from point A to point B has a MET value of 2.5.

*1 MET is the energy you spend at rest (i.e., your basal metabolic rate); an activity with 6 METS means you’re burning 6x the energy than you would if you were sitting still.

But total calorie burn isn’t the only thing that matters

Given those MET values and assuming your BMR is 1,500 (which works out to 62.5 calories per hour), 1 hour of:

Huge difference — especially when comparing walking and running.

Despite this, there are still a handful of compelling reasons you should consider walking as your primary form of cardio and/or way of staying within your calorie deficit for weight loss purposes:

1. Makes for easy recovery + low impact, minimizes the cardio and strength training interference effect
2. Unlikely to ramp up your appetite as other cardio types (psst: here are 5 ways to better manage hunger levels)
3. You can spread it out throughout your day (e.g., 1,500 steps each in the morning, afternoon, and evening)
4. In other words … it’s possible to do it every day

Tips for squeezing in more steps

Regardless of whether you’re averaging far less or close to your target step count for health/weight loss benefits, here are a few tips that’ll help you get more steps in:

Your daily steps are just a piece of the puzzle

Of course, optimizing your health and/or weight loss journey calls for more than getting enough steps daily. It’s also about:

• What else you do to move your body. A special mention goes to resistance training. The muscle mass it helps you maintain and/or build is vital for optimal health and appetite regulation.
• How you fuel your body. Not every calorie is created equal. For example, 300 calories from an ultra-processed food, like potato chips, is unlikely to satiate and nourish you as much as the equivalent calories from a well-balanced meal of carbs, fat, and protein with a pairing of fruits and vegetables.

And if you need help with your training and diet plan? Check out GymStreak. This smart, AI-powered (nope, not by ChatGPT!) personal trainer app will tailor your workout and nutrition plans according to your training goals, experience, dietary preferences, etc.

It's a real game-changer. You should check it out.