Go to your fridge and back 150 times, do 55 laps around your garden, or just walk to the store: easy ways to take 4,000 steps a day and live longer (and burn enough calories to enjoy a glass of wine too! )
Working out how to get 10,000 steps a day can feel like a slog.
But reaching 4,000 — the new magic number proposed by scientists to prevent an early grave — can be reached without even leaving your home.
It could theoretically mean 150 trips to the fridge and back, a few dozen laps in the garden or just a quick trip to the store.
Scientists found that people who take just 3,867 steps a day – equivalent to about 40 minutes of walking – are less likely to die, compared to people who take in less.
And an even lower number of steps, of 2,300, reduces the risk of dying from cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attacks and strokes, according to Polish researchers.
This is despite this amount falling below the limit for a ‘sedentary’ lifestyle, which has been repeatedly shown to increase the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Reaching 4,000 steps — the new magic number proposed by scientists to prevent an early grave — can be achieved without even leaving your home. It could theoretically mean 150 trips to the fridge and back, a few dozen rounds in the garden or just a quick trip to the store.
Researchers found that at least 3,867 steps a day was the point at which a lower risk of death from any cause seemed to begin
The groundbreaking review, published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, looked at studies, including six from the UK, that measured people’s daily steps for at least a full week.
Volunteers, who had an average age of 64, were followed for about seven years to see how many died prematurely from any cause or from cardiovascular disease.
This allowed researchers at the Medical University of Lodz in Poland to calculate how many steps per day were taken by people who did not die early, compared to the daily number of steps taken by those who died.
This enabled them to estimate the minimum daily steps required to fall into the group of people who are less likely to die.
They found that at least 3,867 steps per day, and at least 2,337 steps per day, was the point at which a lower risk of death from any cause and cardiovascular disease seemed to begin.
But the more steps a person can take each day, the better, the study found.
Every 1,000 additional steps taken per day was linked to a 15 percent reduction in the risk of dying prematurely from any cause.
Every additional 500 steps per day was linked to a seven percent reduction in the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.
The 3,867 steps per day required to reduce the risk of early death is equivalent to walking about 3 km per day.
Assuming a person’s refrigerator is about 10 feet away, they would have to make 150 round trips to cover the distance.
Another option is 55 loops of the yard. This is based on the average circumference of a garden of about 55 yards in Britain, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Alternatively, by going to a store — one that’s about a mile away — and back again, you can take the steps necessary to reduce your risk of early death.
Squeezing this number of steps burns about 150 calories for a woman and 190 for a man — equivalent to an average glass of wine or can of beer.
The average person in the UK took 5,444 daily steps before Covid.
Being active keeps blood vessels healthy, making a heart attack or stroke less likely.
The studies looked at people who walked up to 20,000 steps a day, and more steps were linked to a lower chance of dying early up to the full 20,000 steps.
It’s unclear whether taking more steps would keep things even better, or whether the health effects would level off above a certain amount.
However, walking seems to be better for people under 60, who may benefit from a healthier lifestyle later in life.
The review also found that people’s risk of dying from cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attacks and strokes, begins to decrease if they take at least 2,337 steps per day
Professor Maciej Banach, who led the study, said: ‘People like to track their daily steps and are proud when they increase the number.
“It’s a good way to achieve the critical lifestyle changes that can reduce the risk of death.” We found that this was true for both men and women, regardless of age.’
He added: ‘Our analysis indicates that only 4,000 steps per day are needed to significantly reduce deaths from any cause, and even less to reduce deaths from cardiovascular disease.
“In a world where we have increasingly sophisticated drugs to target specific conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, I think we should always emphasize that lifestyle changes, including diet and exercise, which were one of the main heroes of our analysis , could be at least as important. , or even more effective in reducing cardiovascular risk and extending life.”
The goal of 10,000 steps a day has been touted for decades, with studies showing it can aid weight loss and lower the risk of cancer, dementia and heart disease.
But instead of being based on decades of painstaking research, the figure was actually one marketing ploy by a Japanese company trying to sell pedometers in the aftermath of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
At the time, there was more focus on fitness in the host country and companies had tried to capitalize on the craze surrounding the Games.
One campaign involved marketing Yamasa’s pedometer called the Manpo-kei, which literally means “10,000 step meter” in Japanese.
But the random figure was never based on science. Instead, the number was chosen because the benchmark was a nice round memorable number.