If you’ve either taken part in a corporate health insurance plan in the recent past or made a personal choice to use any of the fitness wearables that are ubiquitous today—tech such as an Apple watch, Oura ring, or even a generic pedometer—you’ve probably been encouraged to set a daily target of walking 10,000 steps.
You’re likely aware that adding daily steps and generally being more active provide physical benefits such as improved body composition and better cardiovascular health markers including lower blood pressure and healthier levels of triglycerides and cholesterol. You may have also empirically observed that your mood is better when your level of daily activity increases.
But did you know that science also backs up that empirical observation? And in the case of daily steps, do you know why 10,000 is the recommended target?
The Mental Benefits of Movement
In her book, The Joy of Movement, Kelly McGonigal (PhD, research psychologist, Stanford lecturer, and award-winning science writer), discusses the effects that exercise has on the brain, specifically its reward system.
Within the first 50 pages—I’m currently just a little farther along—she references both direct research and meta-analyses (analysis of results from multiple studies) that indicate:
- “Exercise has a large and significant antidepressant effect among people diagnosed with major depressive disorder” and “adding exercise to treatment with antidepressant medication leads to larger improvements than medication only.”
- Exercise seems to expand our brains’ capacity to experience pleasure by stimulating the release of relevant neurochemicals. If you geek out on science-y stuff like I do, that means things like dopamine, noradrenaline, endocannabinoids, and endorphins.
- Daily physical activity correlates with a greater probability of having a sense of purpose in life. And people are happier and report feelings of greater life satisfaction on higher-activity days and during moments of physical activity as compared to when they’re sedentary.
- Regular exercisers become more tired, anxious, and hostile roughly two weeks after replacing physical activities with sedentary ones.
- And, almost 90% of adults randomly assigned to a daily step count reduction become more depressed.
In the case of the final point above, the number of daily steps required to induce such feelings was 5,649. In other words, walking fewer steps induced feelings of depression (and a 31% reduction in life satisfaction) while taking more steps reduced the incidence of such emotions. And if you’re curious of the typical American daily average step count, it’s 4,774. 😢
Kelly does not then reference why the common recommendation is 10,000 steps instead of 5,650. But I’ll suggest there are two simple reasons: First, 10,000 is an easy number to remember. And, second, it provides both a motivating challenge—which itself provides a sense of purpose and related mental benefits—and a healthy buffer above the 5,650-step “minimum” below which negative emotions are more likely to occur.
Putting It Into Practice
Whether or not you typically experience feelings of anxiety or depression, everyone could benefit from a little extra daily movement. Yes, even fitness trainers.
Using some type of fitness wearable to track increases to step count and activity is a fine choice. After all, tracking anything typically causes an improvement to whatever is being tracked simply because we become more aware of our actions. So definitely make use of such tools if you feel like you need an extra nudge. But, ultimately, any additional activity is better than none, and tracking isn’t a necessity if we consciously choose to add small amounts throughout the day.
So this week, particularly if you’re feeling a little anxious or depressed†, commit to doing just that.
Park a little farther back in the lot at the grocery store, gym, or at work. Take a lap around the building (inside or outside) over your lunch break or surprise the dog with an extra (or extra long) walk. Or, if you’re feeling adventurous, join the TNT hiking club (see the Activities & Challenges tab) some Saturday for a walk in the woods, and get some additional social interaction along with those extra steps.
Whatever you choose to add, your mood will thank you!
† We all feel a little “down” at times. However, if you either feel extremely depressed or have noticed that you’ve felt that way for a while, please seek out professional help!