Transcript: The 10,000 Steps Scam: How a Marketing Campaign Became Fitness "Fact"
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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.
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.
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
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
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'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.
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
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.
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.
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?