The 10,000-step target is famous, but it was never a scientific threshold. In 2025, researchers pooled data from 57 studies of adults to look at how daily steps relate to health.
What they found
Compared with about 2,000 steps a day, people taking about 7,000 steps had substantially lower risk of dying early, and lower rates of heart disease, dementia, depression and falls. Benefits kept growing beyond 7,000 steps for some outcomes, but more slowly.
These were observational studies, so they show links rather than proof of cause, and the evidence was stronger for some outcomes than others. Even so, the pattern is consistent: going from very few steps to a moderate number brings most of the benefit.
How Ayush uses this
- Your plan starts from your current activity level, not from an ideal.
- Your daily step target rises by about 750 steps each week you keep up the plan.
- Targets top out around 7,000 to 9,000 steps depending on your age and goals.
- Steps sit alongside the WHO advice of 150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity a week and muscle-strengthening on two days.
Easy ways to add steps
- A 10-minute walk after each main meal.
- Get off the train or bus one stop early.
- Walk while on phone calls.
- Take the stairs for one or two floors, if your knees allow.
Sources
- Daily steps and health outcomes in adults: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis. Ding D, et al. Lancet Public Health, 2025.
- WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. World Health Organization, 2020.
This is general information, not medical advice. Keep taking your medicines as prescribed and talk to your doctor about your own situation.