The famous theory of 10,000 steps a day for a healthy life is not an official number and any amount of activity beyond what you are currently doing would benefit your health, experts have said.
"The origins of the 10,000-steps recommendation are not exactly scientific. Pedometers sold in Japan in the 1960s were marketed under the name 'manpo-kei' which translates to 10,000 steps meter," Catrine Tudor-Locke, director of the Walking Behavior Laboratory at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana was quoted as saying.
Walking 10,000 steps a day is not an official recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP).
The centre recommends that adults should engage in 150 minutes of moderate activity a week such as brisk walking.
You need to walk about 7,000 to 8,000 steps a day, Tudor-Locke added.
If you normally walk about 5,000 steps a day, getting in an extra 30-minute brisk walk would take you to about 8,000 steps.
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According to the researchers, each person has to find what works for them.
The most important thing is to increase your activity beyond what you were doing before, said reports.