According to a new study, getting 10,000 steps a day does not make you live longer than fewer people.

10,000 steps a day may be the goal of the walk for many Fitbit enthusiasts, but new research suggests that the optimal number of steps for women is actually much lower. The Journal of the American Medical Association, published May 29, found that the death rate of women who walked 10,000 steps (or more) a day was not lower than that of those who walked just 7,500 steps each day.

To reach their conclusions, health professionals recorded 16,741 women, aged 72, on average. Four years and four months later, the researchers looked at all-cause mortality rates among women (ie, how many died regardless of the reason they died). of this period) and found that women who walked an average of 4,400 steps daily had better results than those who did 2,700 steps. After 4,400 steps, the mortality rate continued to decrease to 7,500 steps – after that, there was no noticeable change.

So, this arbitrary goal of 10,000 people a day? It could soon be pushed in the dark. Having said that, it is of course beneficial to be healthier if you approach walking several miles a day, as it has been proven that important daily exercise increases everything from your mood to your flexibility. Yet in terms of reducing mortality rates, at least, it seems like 7,500 is the number of steps that women should strive to follow if they want to go longer.

The study also examined the effects of market intensity on mortality rates, but no conclusions were drawn, which means that it does not matter if you walk, run, jump, jog, ride race or if you speed up, as long as you want. take them. However, the study did not investigate whether there was a difference in death rates between successive and sporadic women over a 24-hour period. She also did not provide information on the number of progressive steps for men.

Nevertheless, the results are substantial, given the popularity of the 10,000 step goal compared to the world. According to the study, the official origin of this number is not clear, but we can badume that it started with a first version of the pedometer, a Manpo-kei sold in Japan to 1965, which translates literally to "10,000 steps." Over the years, the growing popularity of the pedometer – especially once the ubiquitous fitness trackers found in smartwatches and smartphones – has made it 10,000 not as an optimal goal, although marketing is more scientific than scientific.

On average, however, Americans are only 4,774 paces a day, which is slightly below the world average of 4,961 paces per day. Still, the results of the study suggest that this seems perfectly OK, at least for women. This should be a relief for those who find 10,000 steps every day (about five miles, for an average adult) dreaded or impossible to redo. For many American women, it is probably much easier to make closer climbs (just over three kilometers, or less than an hour walk each day) to reconcile work, family life and other tedious tasks.

As the World Health Organization has described physical inactivity as a global public health problem, it is more important than ever that people be able to do as much exercise as possible. If you wish, you should not stick to the five-digit step counting goal, but if you do, do not expect to live longer than your peers who follow each other every 7,500 times a day.

(h / t CNN)