Episode 37Feb 6, 2026· 8:17
The 10,000 Steps Scam: How a Marketing Campaign Became Fitness "Fact"
About this episode
Think you need 10,000 steps a day to be healthy? That magic number actually came from a 1960s Japanese pedometer marketing campaign and was never based on science. Dr. Melissa McDowell reveals the real step count you need based on current research: 7,500 steps if you're over 60, or 8,500 steps if you're under 60. Yep! Both significantly lower than the 10,000-step target you've been chasing. Ashley breaks down how…
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Full transcript
00:00
Okay, wait, let me get this straight. 10 ,000
00:02
steps a day is a myth? What's up, you guys? Famous
00:10
Sasha Grant here. Welcome to More Movement, Please,
00:12
the podcast where I hope to inspire you to move
00:14
your body more. Today, I want to talk about the
00:16
10 ,000 step myth. I received a voice note from
00:19
Dr. Melissa McDowell all about this 10 ,000 step
00:22
myth, and I want to play that for you now. I'm
00:25
Dr. Melissa McDowell. I want to convince you
00:27
that 10 ,000 steps a day is not your ticket to
00:29
health. Did you know that 10 ,000 steps a day
00:33
is a leftover from a 1960s Japanese pedometer
00:37
marketing campaign? Following the 1960s Olympics
00:40
in Tokyo, Japan, fitness craze was spanning the
00:44
country. A pedometer was introduced as a way
00:47
to keep track of your daily steps. The pedometers
00:50
that were developed in the 1960s only could go
00:53
up to 10 ,000 steps, and so they were named as
00:55
such, creating that 10 ,000 step a day myth.
00:59
The great news for modern humans is this number
01:01
is way higher than what typical science recommendations
01:04
today suggest that you partake. If you're someone
01:08
looking to boost your cardiovascular fitness
01:11
and reduce your risk of all -cause mortality,
01:15
It's important to walk between 7 ,500 and 8 ,500
01:18
steps a day depending on your age. If you are
01:21
over 60 years old, 7 ,500 is a sweet spot. If
01:24
you are under 60 years old, shooting for an average
01:27
of 8 ,500 is really helpful. As you can see,
01:30
these numbers are considerably lower than 10
01:32
,000 steps. And what that does is if you're someone
01:35
who loves to walk, you can top out at 7 ,500
01:38
or 8 ,500 and then use the rest of the time you
01:41
might have spent trying to get to 10 ,000 doing
01:44
something else. The American College of Sports
01:46
Medicine recommends that adults engage in 150
01:50
minutes of cardiovascular exercise per week.
01:53
Walking at least 30 minutes a day can achieve
01:55
this. Additionally, the ACSM recommends two days
01:59
a week of strength training. So if you're someone
02:01
who used to be walking more than 10 ,000 steps
02:03
a day, you can give yourself that time back and
02:05
turn it into strength training time. That way
02:08
you can meet both types of recommendations from
02:10
the ACSM. So again, I'm here to convince you
02:13
the 10 ,000 step a day marker is a myth. It's
02:16
a hangover from a Japanese pedometer marketing
02:18
company. It was never based on science. And today's
02:22
best recommendations for protecting yourself
02:24
against early death are either 7 ,500 or 8 ,500.
02:29
You can follow me on social media at DrMelissaMcDowellDPT.
02:32
I'd love to hear from you. I don't know about
02:35
you guys, but hearing that the 10 ,000 steps
02:37
is a myth was actually kind of a relief for me.
02:41
And even though I'm not really focusing as much
02:44
on just walking per se, just knowing that this
02:47
message that has been crammed down our throats
02:49
for so long is actually not accurate. It feels
02:53
pretty good to know. And it makes me question,
02:56
honestly, every bit of advice that I'm given
02:58
on a regular basis. Like, I mean, for a while,
03:01
whenever I was first starting to look into, you
03:03
know, how to finally get in shape and finally
03:05
get healthy, the thing that was being crammed
03:07
on my throat was protein powder. I know I've
03:08
told you guys this before. If you heard my influencers
03:11
are selling you crap episode, I talked about
03:13
that. But it's just the truth, right? Like people
03:16
are like, oh, you have to diet. You have to do
03:18
this. You have to do that. And the thing is,
03:21
it's like. Is it true? How true is everything
03:24
that we're hearing, everything that we're being
03:26
told? And so just hearing a doctor tell me that,
03:31
hey, what you've been hearing was actually part
03:33
of a marketing campaign. It really makes me want
03:36
to go back and pay better attention to everything
03:38
that's being said to me and look at it through
03:40
a different lens. Because the truth is, if we
03:43
are just taking everything that's said to us
03:45
at face value, we might be getting the wrong
03:48
information. Here's the problem, though. Sometimes
03:50
the wrong information. actually does work. Because
03:53
the truth is, if you're working out and doing
03:56
those 10 ,000 steps a day, yes, you might lose
03:58
weight. But could it be overkill? Could you be
04:00
doing too much on your joints? Could you be actually
04:02
hurting yourself? Who knows? I mean, I do know
04:05
that myself, personally, I've been working out
04:07
between 10 and 16 hours a week at this point.
04:11
And there are times that, yeah, I am going overboard.
04:13
And I know that. I fully admit that. And even
04:15
though I am overdoing a little bit, I am taking
04:17
those active recovery days to really take care
04:19
of myself. But anyway, I digress. And I did tell
04:22
you guys that whenever I was snowed in, I actually
04:25
did do some walk in place exercises. I did a
04:28
couple where for 30 minutes, I just walked in
04:31
place. And I was actually able to do about 3600
04:35
steps in 30 minutes. And to me, considering how
04:39
much I'm working out outside of that, that's
04:41
pretty good. So If I'd just done it a couple
04:44
more times, though, I would have gotten to that
04:46
7 ,500 to 8 ,500 steps that Dr. Melissa McDowell
04:49
was recommending. So I want you to start doing
04:51
your homework and making sure that you're not
04:54
just taking everything that's being told to you
04:56
at face value. If you're trying to lose weight
04:58
and get in shape, do your homework. Make sure
05:00
that you're doing something that is actually
05:02
going to help you, not something that will hurt
05:04
you. And I mean, that's really the biggest message
05:09
I've got for you guys today. I am really excited
05:11
today because I finally, finally was able to
05:14
get back to the gym after 11 days of being locked
05:17
in my apartment. I do still have a pretty large
05:19
sheet of ice that is right in front of my apartment.
05:23
I almost ate it as I was trying to get to my
05:25
car. But I was able to go to the gym and I was
05:28
able to suffer in person with my workout buddies.
05:31
And I freaking loved it. I'm so freaking stoked
05:33
that I finally got to see people in person and
05:35
suffer with them in person. Because as I've told
05:37
you guys before, for me, the in -person stuff,
05:40
the group exercises, that's where the magic happens.
05:42
That's when I work my hardest. That's when I
05:44
just really try my best. And I love it so much.
05:48
I mean, I worked out through the entire 11 days.
05:50
I took several classes. I even got my husband
05:54
in on a few of them and it was it was fantastic.
05:56
But oh, man, just to finally get out of the apartment
05:59
and actually work out with people was just so
06:02
magical. Seriously, if you're like me and you're
06:06
an extrovert and you need to be around people,
06:09
I highly recommend you look into some group fitness
06:12
exercises in your area because it's absolutely
06:15
wonderful. Like I said, I am on cloud nine right
06:18
now. I had a fantastic workout today and I'm
06:21
excited that I was able to do it. So it's just
06:26
a really wonderful day. I'm very, very excited.
06:28
The sun is shining right now. I know we're supposed
06:30
to get snow tomorrow too. I don't know if you
06:33
guys know this, but I live in Richmond, Kentucky.
06:35
And so we've had some interesting weather. And
06:37
I'm feeling for everybody who's been having all
06:40
kinds of weather issues as well. I learned today
06:42
about someone who hasn't had water for the past
06:44
three weeks because their pipes have been frozen.
06:46
And oh, my goodness, I can't even imagine. So
06:48
thinking about everybody and just hoping that
06:51
warm times come soon and that we can just be
06:55
out at the gym more often because that is just
06:58
that's my favorite place. It is my therapy. It
07:00
is my church. It is. It is medicine. And I freaking
07:03
love working out. But I hope you guys enjoyed
07:06
the voice note that I had from Dr. Melissa McDowell.
07:09
I do plan on sharing some voice notes from other
07:12
experts in the coming days. And so the whole
07:15
point of doing the voice notes, in case you guys
07:17
are wondering, is I want to get other voices.
07:18
I want to hear what other people are saying.
07:21
And I don't just want to talk to just the folks
07:24
that are peddling a bunch of pills and a bunch
07:28
of supplements and a bunch of protein powder
07:29
and all that stuff. So that's the whole goal
07:32
of this is just to be educational. Let me know
07:34
what you guys think, though. I mean, hit me up
07:36
on social media. I'm famousashleygrant just about
07:38
everywhere. Do you like the format? What do you
07:40
think? I'd love to know. And with that, onwards
07:43
and upwards, my friends. Have you worked out
07:45
today?
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