Transcript: The 10,000 Steps Scam: How a Marketing Campaign Became Fitness "Fact"
Full transcript for this episode of More Movement Please. For Donato’s structured summary, questions, quotes, and listening profile, go back to the episode page.
4 chapters — tap to expand the full text
Ashley introduces the episode and plays a voice note from Dr. Melissa McDowell, who explains that the 10,000 steps daily target originated from a 1960s Japanese pedometer marketing campaign — not science — and shares what current research actually recommends (7,500–8,500 steps depending on age).
Okay, wait, let me get this straight. 10 ,000 steps a day is a myth? What's up, you guys? Famous Sasha Grant here. Welcome to More Movement, Please, the podcast where I hope to inspire you to move your body more. Today, I want to talk about the 10 ,000 step myth. I received a voice note from Dr. Melissa McDowell all about this 10 ,000 step myth, and I want to play that for you now. I'm Dr. Melissa McDowell. I want to convince you that 10 ,000 steps a day is not your ticket to health. Did you know that 10 ,000 steps a day is a leftover from a 1960s Japanese pedometer marketing campaign? Following the 1960s Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, fitness craze was spanning the country. A pedometer was introduced as a way to keep track of your daily steps. The pedometers that were developed in the 1960s only could go up to 10 ,000 steps, and so they were named as such, creating that 10 ,000 step a day myth.
The great news for modern humans is this number is way higher than what typical science recommendations today suggest that you partake. If you're someone looking to boost your cardiovascular fitness and reduce your risk of all -cause mortality, It's important to walk between 7 ,500 and 8 ,500 steps a day depending on your age. If you are over 60 years old, 7 ,500 is a sweet spot. If you are under 60 years old, shooting for an average of 8 ,500 is really helpful. As you can see, these numbers are considerably lower than 10,000 steps. And what that does is if you're someone who loves to walk, you can top out at 7 ,500 or 8 ,500 and then use the rest of the time you might have spent trying to get to 10 ,000 doing something else. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that adults engage in 150 minutes of cardiovascular exercise per week.
Walking at least 30 minutes a day can achieve this. Additionally, the ACSM recommends two days a week of strength training. So if you're someone who used to be walking more than 10 ,000 steps a day, you can give yourself that time back and turn it into strength training time. That way you can meet both types of recommendations from the ACSM. So again, I'm here to convince you the 10 ,000 step a day marker is a myth. It's a hangover from a Japanese pedometer marketing company. It was never based on science. And today's best recommendations for protecting yourself against early death are either 7 ,500 or 8 ,500.
You can follow me on social media at DrMelissaMcDowellDPT. I'd love to hear from you. I don't know about you guys, but hearing that the 10 ,000 steps is a myth was actually kind of a relief for me. And even though I'm not really focusing as much on just walking per se, just knowing that this message that has been crammed down our throats for so long is actually not accurate. It feels pretty good to know. And it makes me question, honestly, every bit of advice that I'm given on a regular basis. Like, I mean, for a while, whenever I was first starting to look into, you know, how to finally get in shape and finally get healthy, the thing that was being crammed on my throat was protein powder. I know I've told you guys this before. If you heard my influencers are selling you crap episode, I talked about that. But it's just the truth, right? Like people are like, oh, you have to diet. You have to do
Ashley reflects on how relieving it was to hear the 10,000 steps target is a myth, connects it to other fitness misinformation she's encountered (like protein powder hype), and wonders aloud how much common fitness advice is actually marketing rather than fact.
this. You have to do that. And the thing is, it's like. Is it true? How true is everything that we're hearing, everything that we're being told? And so just hearing a doctor tell me that, hey, what you've been hearing was actually part of a marketing campaign. It really makes me want to go back and pay better attention to everything that's being said to me and look at it through a different lens. Because the truth is, if we are just taking everything that's said to us at face value, we might be getting the wrong information. Here's the problem, though. Sometimes the wrong information. actually does work. Because the truth is, if you're working out and doing those 10 ,000 steps a day, yes, you might lose weight. But could it be overkill? Could you be doing too much on your joints? Could you be actually hurting yourself? Who knows? I mean, I do know that myself, personally, I've been working out
between 10 and 16 hours a week at this point. And there are times that, yeah, I am going overboard. And I know that. I fully admit that. And even though I am overdoing a little bit, I am taking those active recovery days to really take care of myself. But anyway, I digress. And I did tell you guys that whenever I was snowed in, I actually did do some walk in place exercises. I did a couple where for 30 minutes, I just walked in place. And I was actually able to do about 3600 steps in 30 minutes. And to me, considering how much I'm working out outside of that, that's pretty good. So If I'd just done it a couple more times, though, I would have gotten to that 7 ,500 to 8 ,500 steps that Dr. Melissa McDowell was recommending. So I want you to start doing your homework and making sure that you're not just taking everything that's being told to you at face value. If you're trying to lose weight
and get in shape, do your homework. Make sure that you're doing something that is actually going to help you, not something that will hurt you. And I mean, that's really the biggest message I've got for you guys today. I am really excited today because I finally, finally was able to get back to the gym after 11 days of being locked in my apartment. I do still have a pretty large sheet of ice that is right in front of my apartment.
Ashley shares her excitement about finally returning to in-person group workouts after being locked in her apartment for 11 days due to winter weather, describing the gym as her therapy, church, and medicine.
I almost ate it as I was trying to get to my car. But I was able to go to the gym and I was able to suffer in person with my workout buddies. And I freaking loved it. I'm so freaking stoked that I finally got to see people in person and suffer with them in person. Because as I've told you guys before, for me, the in -person stuff, the group exercises, that's where the magic happens. That's when I work my hardest. That's when I just really try my best. And I love it so much.
I mean, I worked out through the entire 11 days. I took several classes. I even got my husband in on a few of them and it was it was fantastic. But oh, man, just to finally get out of the apartment and actually work out with people was just so magical. Seriously, if you're like me and you're an extrovert and you need to be around people, I highly recommend you look into some group fitness exercises in your area because it's absolutely wonderful. Like I said, I am on cloud nine right now. I had a fantastic workout today and I'm excited that I was able to do it. So it's just a really wonderful day. I'm very, very excited.
The sun is shining right now. I know we're supposed to get snow tomorrow too. I don't know if you guys know this, but I live in Richmond, Kentucky. And so we've had some interesting weather. And I'm feeling for everybody who's been having all kinds of weather issues as well. I learned today about someone who hasn't had water for the past three weeks because their pipes have been frozen. And oh, my goodness, I can't even imagine. So thinking about everybody and just hoping that warm times come soon and that we can just be out at the gym more often because that is just that's my favorite place. It is my therapy. It is my church. It is. It is medicine. And I freaking love working out. But I hope you guys enjoyed the voice note that I had from Dr. Melissa McDowell.
Ashley wraps up by explaining her plan to feature more expert voice notes on the podcast — specifically from people who aren't selling supplements — and invites listeners to share feedback on the format.
I do plan on sharing some voice notes from other experts in the coming days. And so the whole point of doing the voice notes, in case you guys are wondering, is I want to get other voices. I want to hear what other people are saying. And I don't just want to talk to just the folks that are peddling a bunch of pills and a bunch of supplements and a bunch of protein powder and all that stuff. So that's the whole goal of this is just to be educational. Let me know what you guys think, though. I mean, hit me up on social media. I'm famousashleygrant just about everywhere. Do you like the format? What do you think? I'd love to know. And with that, onwards and upwards, my friends. Have you worked out today?